Apparently though, that is the case. I don’t mind that at all- as far as I am concerned if my teeth can help other orthodontists to improve their Invisalign technique I will be delighted. It is more the title of the lecture that bothers me. My orthodontist cheerily informed me yesterday that my teeth are the basis for a lecture he is giving next week, entitled…”Silly things to try and do with Invisalign braces” That makes me feel so, so much more confident! My only consolation is that he might need to provide an update to the students in the future, so perhaps this will encourage him to do his best work… How much do I wish I could be a fly on the wall and hear what he has to say!

Other than that, my 6 weekly visit was short and uneventful. I asked my query about flouride and he said that as we have flouridated water here now flouride probably isn’t necessary for most patients. However, in patients with large amounts of fillings (i.e. me) it can do no harm. He actually suggested a weekly flouride rinse. His only stipulation was that it should be a ph neutral one.

I picked up three more sets of Invisalign- sets 6, 7 and 8, and immediately put set 6 in. They are tight. For the first time since set 1 at the beginning of this process I actually felt I really had to take a painkiller. I should probably explain something here. I have Crohn’s disease which is an inflammatory stomach disorder. As a consequence I have a lot of stomach ulcers and try and avoid painkillers as much as possible.

When I do take them I try and stick to paracetamol. So I don’t take them lightly, taking one maybe 2 or 3 times a year (as opposed to 2 or 3 times a week like my husband!). Lots of people, I know, always pop a painkiller when they put in a new Invisalign tray in, but generally I haven’t found it necessary. This time though the pain became so much that I had the sense that it was going to give me a migraine, so I decided to preempt that. It seemed to work because by next morning they felt a lot better.

I have had the usual difficulties of removing them with the attachments, and have noticed that there is a tiny crack in the side of one of my molars on the bottom arch. I am ignoring this unless it gets worse as it doesn’t seem to be compromising the strength of the tray. I know that probably I should call my orthodontist, but I know that he will only have two options- to order a new tray, which I don’t want to wait for, or to push me forward a set, which I don’t want to do. So, I am going to try and wear these as long as I can of the two weeks. If they get weaker or snap I will, of course, call him.

I live in Australia, having emigrated here four years ago. Consequently all my family are still in the UK, and haven’t yet seen my Invisalign. They are all arriving next week, and I am particularly looking forward to the comments from my Mother In Law who utterly despises me and will no doubt have some interesting things to say about my braces-I’ll keep you posted!