General Update

This will be short and quick...

I can't wait for my orthodontist appointment tomorrow.  I should be getting my 11th - 14th trays and making a new appointment for sometime in March--I'm guessing sometime during spring break.  Cool!

I've been using all things bubblegum these days.  I just finished my Aquafresh kids toothpaste (found for maybe $0.30/tube at Meijer on clearance) and thus bought a Crest kids bubblegum flavor with Sesame Street characters on the front.  The Sesame Street tube tastes better than the Hello Kitty, which was also Crest kids bubblegum.... hmmm....

My mouthwash is currently Listerine for kids (ha!) bubblegum flavor with Barbie on the front.  I can say that it doesn't taste much like bubblegum, but it's not nearly as harsh as the mint flavors that I've had before.  And the bottle has this really cool function where you can squeeze the bottle, allowing liquid to fill the fop cylinder, and then release, allowing some liquid to be let back into the bottle until the exact amount that should be taken is left.

During busy days at work, I've been chewing some Trident really quickly after lunch, then maybe brushing with Colgate wisp, then swishing my mouth with water from my water bottle, then putting my trays back in and swishing with more water before tightening them.  This sounds like quite a hassle, but 1.) I can continue working while doing this, and I pretty much need to work through my lunch these days 2.)  I don't have to go to the bathroom (student or staff) and risk dropping my trays or anything on the floor 3.)  I don't have to deal with splashing water all over myself and the bathroom like I do on those press-to-release-water-sinks that are in the bathrooms.  My trays don't seem any more gnarly than usual at the end of a two-week cycle, so I think I'm doing alright.

I've been having some clenching/grinding headaches lately, but I'm attributing that to my stress level (see that part about working through lunch).  I've been trying to be more conscious of it... we'll see how this week at school goes!

I've also been looking up other Invisalign blogs, seeking to find anyone whose teeth sort of resembled mine at the beginning... I want to see how they turn out!  I have so many ideas about what my smile could be, but I'm just not sure what it will be!

Tenth Trays

On Monday night, I put my tenth trays in.  I'm already two weeks away from my next orthodontist appointment, and they are spaced at 8 weeks apart!  Time is flying by.

The biggest difference with my tenth trays is that there are no longer fake teeth in the tray where my teeth were removed.  I've been a little nervous about this--mostly because I worry that spaces like that will make me look like a teenager.  (You see it more often than you think in a high school.)  I've been worried that the gaps will be visible when I laugh (which is often). I was also not sure why the fake teeth bubbles are no longer there since it doesn't seem like the teeth around the spaces have moved THAT much.  Here's a picture of my new top tray:

I feel like I have seen some huge changes in my smile.  I'm really looking forward to seeing how it turns out in the end!  Here are pictures of my smile from the front and from the sides so you can see what the gaps look like when smiling.

And here are my normal pictures of my bite from the front and sides.

I'm looking forward to my appointment in a few weeks when I will hopefully get trays 11, 12, 13, and 14!