Saturday, May 20, 2006

Just an update...

I'm on day 3 of my second set of trays and they are already much easier to pull out. Also, it doesn't hurt when I pop them in, as it did on the first two days. I do still feel slight pressure when they first go in, but after that, I don't really notice them.

Anne - thanks for visiting my blog, and for your comments - BTW, I found your blog to be very helpful! And sure, I don't mind you posting a link to my page on your site. :)

Thursday, May 18, 2006

Last night, I finally made the switch to Tray 2. These trays definitely feel tighter than my first set. And, once again, they are very hard to pull out...especially the ones on the bottom. I thought I was going to rip out one of my front bottom teeth when I pulled my trays out before lunch today! For the first time, there was also some pain - not just tenderness - when my bottom tray locked into place. Fortunately, the longer I wore the tray, the pain downgraded to just pressure.

I'm looking forward to getting past this first week since I know that the trays will feel a lot more comfortable and they should be easier to remove.

My teeth still aren't fitting all the way into my trays, which make the trays a lot more noticeable. Also, it doesn't appear that the spaces are above the right teeth. The ones that need to move up vertically actually fit closer to the trays, when it seems like the space should be above those. I will ask about this on my next visit.

Thanks to Tamara for visiting my blog, and for commenting. Also, thanks to those of you who continue to post to the dentistry.com website. Your comments are so helpful.

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Today, I went to the ortho's office to get a button put back on. While I was there, my doc let me view my OrthoView animation (just so you know, I had to request this). Pretty cool stuff. After I watched the OrthoView animation, I asked him about the possibility of moving certain teeth vertically and he once again stressed that unlike Invisalign, one of the benefits of OrthoClear is that the treatment can be changed according to the patient's request, since all the trays aren't made at once. He said that, for example, if towards the end of my treatment I decide I want certain teeth to come down a little further than the final animation shows, he can "select" those particular teeth and have the last few trays molded to accomplish that. Sounds too good to be true, but we'll see...

I was due to change trays for the first time tomorrow, but since one of my buttons had come off about a week ago, my ortho told me to wear Tray 1 for an additional week before switching. Oh, well, I can live with that, I guess. I was just kind of looking forward to moving on ahead tomorrow.

Monday, May 8, 2006

I am now two days away from doing my 1st tray swap, and I'm ready to move on to the next set. Thankfully, most all of the tenderness has subsided, and the trays aren't uncomfortable at all. As a matter of fact, it now feels kind of good ("squishy") to bite down on them. The trays now fit in my mouth so much better. My bite is closing together better, too, so there isn't the big empty space between my top and bottom front teeth like there was in the beginning. Pulling my trays out isn't hard at all now, but after reading numerous posts from other OrthoClear wearers, I anticipate that changing when I get my new set of trays.

One thing I've experienced this past week is waking up (before my alarm clock goes off) to the sound of me biting down on my trays as I sleep. Has anyone else experienced this? I've never been told by my husband that I'm a tooth grinder, but I've definitely been biting down on my trays lately during the night.

Saturday, April 29, 2006

For the first time, one of my buttons popped off while I was removing my upper tray. Fortunately, I had read about this on the dentistry.com message boards, so I wasn't too alarmed.

I am getting a little more used to wearing the trays. I don't notice them as much unless I'm talking. I still notice a slight lisp with the letter "s." If I slow down while I'm talking, it helps...it's still a little frustrating.

I am due to switch trays on next Thursday. I am actually looking forward to it. It's hard to see a lot of progress at this early stage, but I know (and feel) that my teeth are moving.

I hope to post Tray 1 pictures sometime this weekend...depends on how much time I have.