Week 1 (Including Pictures)

It's been just under a week since getting my first set of aligners and I thought I would share the ups and downs of my first week and a few before/so far pictures.

My aim was to keep the same lighting for any pictures but unfortunately during our bathroom update the light was changed and it's difficult to see the results of any whitening I've done. I can definitely already see a few differences. The gap between my front teeth is remarkable smaller, the rotated lateral incisor now has a gap between it and the front tooth that I can actually get floss between!!!!!, and some of the lower are also a little more upright.

So let's start from day one. I went in to my orthodontist in the morning and have the first aligners fitted. It was pretty straight forward: orthodontist came in, put the first set in, was happy with the fit, and left me in the hands of his assistant to give me the run down on care. I could definitely feel an immediate tightness and pressure, especially on my two front teeth. I momentarily panicked wondering what on earth I had gotten myself into, but just as fast as I panicked the majority of the pressure went away and they felt totally fine.
I will have 26 upper, 23 lower, and 9 attachments. This is shorter than I first expected but including refinements I'm looking at about 15 months. That is a heck of a lot better than the four years I was told I would need in fixed braces!
I was instructed on cleaning (water and soft toothbrush/vinegar and water once a week if you wish), the 'rules' (take them out for anything other than water, including carbonated water, then brush/floss/mouthwash/rinse before putting back in), and very, VERY clearly told to never remove them without putting them into a case.
I was then asked to take them out myself to make sure I was able to. I have read many stories of people struggling for 10 minutes at a time getting extremely frustrated trying to get them out but I managed to get them out in one go with relative ease. I was asked if I had any questions. I enquired about whitening because I was told at my consultation I would be able to whiten at either the beginning of treatment or at the end, but not during due to attachments. I was given a bleaching kit called Nite White (the 10% ACP version) and instructed to put a small amount in each section of the aligners and to wear them overnight however I was expressly told that I would have to stop bleaching when I change to the second tray as they need 2 full weeks between bleaching and putting on attachments. For those of you wondering the Nite White was an added cost, however it was only $45 and came with 3 syringes of approximately 6-8 treatments in each.

Before I left I was given my next set of aligners, an Invisalign patient starter kit that includes 2 cases (one red and one blue), a few sample size toothpastes, a patient dvd that included photos, clincheck videos and any other relevant information, and Nite White.

From there I headed out for a day of errands and quickly realised that skipping breakfast that morning was not a smart idea. I went to find myself something to eat in the food court of where I was and realised I was going to have to conquer brushing my teeth in a public bathroom much sooner than I had thought. No issues though. Aligners out, food in, to the bathroom, teeth brushed, weird look from cleaning lady, aligners in, and on my merry way I went. I'm definitely glad I had taken toothbrush/toothpaste etc with me so I was able to eat while I was out otherwise I'm sure I would have given up very quickly and gone home.

The first few days were achy but nothing a little ibuprofen couldn't fix. I did have a slight lisp but it was barely noticeable and no dry mouth or excess saliva as some have reported. By day 3 I had very little discomfort, still no dry mouth/excess saliva, and still no real lisp. Day 3 was my first day back at university that week and involved a lot of talking and discussions using medical terminology which was a little difficult. By the end of the day I had noticed I was starting to develop a heavier lisp and the inside of my bottom lip and tongue were very raw from a few rough edges. Day 4 and 5 involved no talking as I was at home working on assignments, but the edges were giving me a lot of grief. I called my orthodontist for advice (as well as searching for help from the lovely members from the Braces Review forum) and was advised to gently file any rough edges with a nail file. I attempted it but unfortunately the spots that were rubbing were in parts that were too narrow for the file to fit. I called back my orthodontist and they told me to come on in that afternoon and they would fix it up for me. I took my second set of aligners with me as well just to be safe which turned out to be good as they file both my current set and the next set.

Since they filed the problem areas my lisp has dramatically improved, the rawness is completely gone and all is well. I have whitened them 4 times now and have noticed a little patchiness but that's how my teeth always seem to whiten when I've used whitening strips and the like in the past so I'm not really concerned or bothered. The only other thing I have noticed is tenderness when I first take them out which makes it a little difficult to eat at first but its getting better as time goes on.

All in all it has been far easier than I had expected and I'm really impressed with how much of a difference I've been able to see in just a week. I know I have a long way to go and I'm sure there will be times that I get fed up or annoyed with them but I just have to keep looking at what my alternatives were (4 years of fixed braces, jaw surgery, or cracked/chipping teeth needing crowns and implants eventually) and I remind myself that this has been by far the best decision I have ever made for myself.