Invisalign Braces set 1
Set 1
Set 7
Set 7
apologies for the lack of focus.
I’m beginning to feel that my Invisalign braces and I are a bit like an old married couple. We muddle along through life quite happily with each other, they irritate me every now and then, but generally I just ignore them and they don’t bother me too much. The only problem is that I probably neglect them a little these days, and don’t shower them with attention as I did in those first few heady weeks.
At the beginning of this experience I used to read on the various Invisalign forums of people who didn’t brush their teeth after meals, sometimes left their braces out for a whole evening and generally didn’t follow their orthodontists advice. I would post my self righteous responses, recommending they wear them more, brush and floss more, generally be more diligent in their care of their teeth. Then one day last week I realised that I was now one of those people. How the mighty are fallen!
The analogy of the old relationship is true. I didn’t mean to, and I’m not even sure exactly when it started but I can feel myself sliding into bad habits. So this week, starting tomorrow (when else!) will be braces boot camp. No more lingering over long coffees. No more taking them out for breakfast and not putting them back in before I leave the house an hour later for the school run. I need to get this relationship back on track before it goes rotten. Before my teeth are filled with cavities and my aligners are filled with air where my teeth haven’t moved where they were supposed to.
Despite my lax attitude over the last week or so the impact on my teeth as far as I can tell has been minimal. I did find the first time I went to insert the bottom aligner that it was almost impossible- in fact I took it out to check the numbering because it was so difficult. Once in however, they felt tight for a few minutes but then were completely comfortable. They weren’t even difficult to remove (although they were a little difficult to insert for the whole first 2 days) Now though, just about a week in, they are as comfortable as an old, much loved pair of trainers.
I have posted pictures above so that you can see the progress from my first to seventh set of aligners. The visible changes are still very minor, although I can probably see them more easily in my mouth. The relationship between my top front teeth and my incisors next to them shows the most change. Also, although you can’t see it in the pictures a gap is starting to open up that my crazy bottom tooth can move into.
The other great event this week has been the much longed for arrival of my mother in law. All I can say is that she has done an admirable job of restraining herself- not a word has been said about my braces, and it must have been so very tempting for her! My father in law, however, took me aside 2 minutes after his arrival and asked me whether I had “new teeth” So much for the invisibility that we all pay so much for! He was probably the only person I know that would be forthright enough to actually ask, so I suppose they must really be fairly visible, at least to people that already know you and how your teeth look.
Still, even if people I know can tell the difference I still think the Invisalign are worth it. I would rather have less visible braces now and my teeth slightly less perfect later, than have metal braces now and have perfect teeth. Isn’t vanity a funny old thing?
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