“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change. ” Charles Darwin
Well, Darwin would be proud of me this week. Not only have I managed to get used to my new Invisalign attachments, I have almost forgotten they are there. Which isn’t to say that I like them, of course, rather that I am learning to live with them in all their visible glory.
Set 3 were diabolical to remove, but now, three weeks into my life with attachments my Invisalign aligners are almost as easy to remove as they were before the dreaded buttons were put on. I can whip them out fairly quickly, and regularly do it surreptitiously in public eating places all over Brisbane. Nobody seems to notice, or perhaps they are just too polite to stare, in which case I am eternally grateful to them. I have still have the problem of my attachments catching occasionally on the side of my cheeks when the aligners are out of my mouth, but even that problem is diminishing as my cheeks toughen up.
Set 4 were tight at first, particularly on my front teeth which were tender for the first 24-36 hours, but not so tender that I couldn’t eat. It was the kind of tender that I have actually come to almost enjoy as I know that it means that my teeth are moving towards their new improved positions! I had some trouble with a sharp edge in place that had never rubbed before, but 24 hours and some sly manoeuvres with a nail file sorted out that problem.
I find now, and yes, it is somewhat pathetic, that I get a little bit excited as changeover day approaches. In the second week of wearing an aligner I get that feeling you have in a job when you have already given your notice. You are just marking time and going through the motions, mentally you have already moved on. I can now understand why people try to speed up their Invisalign treatment time by cutting the time of wearing each aligner to 10 days. It is tempting. You know what though? After $6300 dollars, and all that it has taken to get here, it is not that tempting.
Bring on aligner no. 5….
>Wow, I really like the Charles Darwin quote that started out this blog. Really thought provoking. I agree it really is tempting to keep the aligners on for just ten days. I started to think about it though, and realized I shouldn’t rush it and I want to follow the directions my ortho gave me exactly so there won’t be any complications or regrets on my part.