11-29-2020 Update - Rubber Bands

 Hello again, I suppose I owe an update-

When I went into the orthodontist in late September I was expecting to get my last 10 aligners and be merrily on my way. NOPE. They decided to do some more refinements and I ended up committed to 24 more aligners and rubber bands. Joy. 

This involved sitting with my mouth stretch open for an hour while they glued on more buttons and what look like snaps to my lower back teeth. The rubber bands loop around these snaps and into a slit in my top tray, 1 on each side. 

Overall, it's fine. It's really not bad. I just hoped I'd be all done by my birthday at the end of the year. The rubber bands are definitely pulling my jaw to the right which does hurt a bit. Both sides take turns hurting and popping and sometimes I wake up and need an ice pack, several times now I've needed some OTC pain meds. I bite the inside of my left cheek often when I chew. I feel like I chew like a cow because my bites off again. But, it's still pretty OK. I just had different expectations. At least they are really not any more noticeable than the aligners themselves and also I wear a mask if I'm around anyone.

When this is all said and done I am going for a cleaning and some whitening. I feel that will be the icing on this painful little cake so I have a nice bright smile to look forward too.

Reminds me of:

K bye.

MSE REMOVAL - 7/30/2020

 My apologies for not updating sooner- I've actually been quite busy.

BUT, it's finally out 😀

So, July 13th I went to have it removed but only had 2 screws removed. See a couple of posts back for that fun story. 

July 30th, EXACTLY 1 year tot the day from it's install, I had it fully removed!

I went it, no anxiety because I knew what to expect, and I didn't drag someone to drive me home or anything. I knew it would be a breeze, and it was. I got the mega pain shots again, still the worst part but she went right in and we didn't even wait 5 minutes for those to kick in. She was on a mission. The office even called and asked if I could come 20 minutes early. Cool, let's do this! It only took a few minutes for her to figure out the extension for her wrench tool thingy. (She had to order it just for me so that's why I had to wait for the front 2 screws to come out).

The tool she used this time was a powered drill. Before she used a socket wrench type deal and hand cranked the screws in and out. This time it was BRRRRRRRR and what I thought to be pretty quick compared. So they just spun right out. I was in and out in no time, perhaps a half hour total. 

After the first screw though, we had a 10 minute hold up. The first screw came out OK but it sort of cold welded itself to the tool. She had to have an assistant take care of that, so there was a brief moment of "Freakin really!?" But, no biggie. She got it off the tool and the 2nd came right out. I did feel the last few twists of it coming out which was weird but not overly painful.

And then I was done. Poof, it was all over. Feeling the roof of my mouth was weird, and it seems like there are some ridges/wrinkles there now, but still normal. I also have my old silly sneeze back- I didn't realize this for a couple of weeks, but when you sneeze your tongue goes right up to the roof of your mouth, or at least mine does. It was funny and caught me off guard the other day when I let out a big sneeze and realized it sounded stupid, then immediately realized that's how I had always sneezed lol. I don't miss water picking the food out of it, that's for sure. It was always pretty sensitive and I dreaded it. 

Just started week 36 of Invisalign. That's going just fine. I'll update in late Sept after my next appointment. I have Trays though week 40, but then I get my mouth re-scanned to fine tune the trays after that. Then I should be all DONE by the end of the year! 

Pics- screws are 11 mm long.

Sides were cut on in November when I had the SFOT done.

And you can see how I bent this thing by over expanding. It's broken and can't un-expand. 

I got 11.8 mm from a 10 mm MSE - impressive 😛

7-14-2020 Before and Today

TLDR:

1. Before and Today Photos.
2. Hopefully I am done with Invisalign and treatment by the end of the year.
3. Actual comparison photos will be posted after 9-22-2020, because that's when I get them taken by the doc again. Go back to my earlier posts if you want to see the "Before" pics the doc took. 

BEFORE

I RARELY ever smile with my teeth showing so "Before" photos were hard to find. Here are some of my wedding photos from October 2015. It was a very happy day so my teeth came out, but alas, my divorce date was much happier, I assure you. I was also 15 lbs lighter than I am today here:

I rarely smile this big, I had no idea it was so gummy.

Best profile shot I could find, sorry my hair is in the way.

TODAY

Excuse the post shower mehh look. But notice how much more upright my teeth are already!

I am on week # 30 of Invisalign. The ortho was super pleased with my progress and gave me trays through # 40. Then I go back in on 9-22-2020 and get more accurate, professional photos taken, that will be comparable to the original ones when we started. Also on 9-22 I will get another 3D scan of my mouth and then trays after #40 will be fine tuned to finish me up and get the most expansion, up-righting, etc that we can do without more SFOT. So, by all rights, I could be DONE with all this by the end of the year! That would be the best birthday gift for me this year :D Now I am expecting a total of 50 trays. (1 tray a week).

And here is one with my Invisalign in, just so you can see it's really not that obvious to most people you meet or talk to throughout the day. I only notice them on people if we're 1. talking, 2. we're relatively close and 3. I actually stare at their mouth. They are very doable and I really appreciate them. Especially because up until 3 weeks before I got them, I was told by countless docs that I wasn't a candidate and would need traditional braces. 

Also, even though I am 15 lbs heavier than the Before pics, I like my face better!

Next Post- after I get the rest of the MSE removed -_-