My appointment was right after school, so I had to rush out of my last class to get there in time. Thankfully, I did!
I met with an assistant to learn all about my new aligners. I got the first three sets of trays to take home with me. I am to change them every two weeks (as long as my teeth fill in the gaps in the aligners). Any empty space left is supposed to be where the teeth will end up after that aligner. At my six-week appointment, I will get 5 attachments on my top teeth. That will be for tray 4. I have 43 trays in my treatment. (I read the average is between 18-30... and the maximum I've read about is 48. Haha.)
The assistant at the office showed me how to put my aligners in and how to take them out. We went over basic expectations for them. I should only drink water with them in, but I can drink unsweetened tea at the risk of staining the aligners. I need to wear them around 22 hours each day, only taking them out to eat and brush my teeth.
I spoke with the orthodontist briefly, and then I was on my way! I went to the gym immediately afterwards and tried to speak as little as possible... I have a little bit of a lisp right now. I'm hoping that goes away by Open House tomorrow night! (Info packet says it takes about 2 days.)
I haven't really experienced much discomfort. Yes, the aligners are tight, but I really like that feeling. I love knowing that they are working. I've waited half my life for this feeling!
I went home and took some initial pictures for this blog. Here they are!
From what I've read, the ridges on the two front teeth are "power ridges" which are "designed to help deliver lingual root movements" and are "automatically built into case set-ups when 3 degrees or more lingual root torque is detected." Basically, I think they're there to stop my teeth from pointing inward.
This is my bite currently, which is WAY different than without the aligners. I have a pretty deep overbite without the aligners in. I'm not sure if this is happening because of the bulkiness of the aligners or because they are shaped in a way to correct it. Nevertheless, I kind of really like this part.
(Power ridges are more visible here.)
This is one view of my bite now. As stated previously, my overbite is not nearly as deep. You can also see where I had a tooth removed here. The spot on the aligners likes to fill with spit bubbles.
This is the other view of my bite. You can see the healing gums from the other tooth removal here. The orthodontist told me that because those two teeth are gone, my top teeth will move pretty quickly. I was really excited to hear that!
Here is my smile (not as close-up) while wearing the aligners. Since my overbite isn't as severe, (I think) you can see more of my teeth. Which is already awesome. I'm pretty sure my smile looks different now.
(Also... if you are a baseball fanatic, the Cardinals shirt is just workout gear. I think I'm cheering for the Rangers this year.)
Here are my top and bottom tray #1. I have nothing else to say here. I figured some would like to see them!
Close-up of bottom tray.
Close-up of top tray.
These are Chewies. They allow me to put on the aligners as tightly as possible. Amazing.
Chewie in action.
Overall, I'm incredibly excited to start this process. I know the ridges make my aligners much more noticeable than I thought they would be, but I'm excited about what they're going to do to my teeth!
Let the games begin!
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