I thought I had really made progress at that point, but I have come a long way since then! Here are some BIG updates:
-In my last post, I mentioned some "filing" that I would have done to make room for some teeth to move. I had that done. It was the single worst part of this entire experience. It was way worse than a filling. It doesn't help that I think one of my bottom teeth was nicked on accident, which caused lots of pain, especially when brushing with minty toothpaste for weeks. The dentist noticed the place at my last visit. I think the filing would not have been as bad without that experience, but still, the feeling was not pleasant.
-In January, my teeth next to my two front teeth still weren't moving down as they should have. That meant I had to restart my Invisalign process. I had scans done over again (thankfully electronically and not with molds this time!) and waited, waited, and waited some more for my new trays to come in. This meant that I didn't get new trays from sometime in January until sometime in March.
-In March, when my new trays came in, I had to get some attachments removed and others added. This ended up being a particularly long appointment, and I missed part of my next class because of that. Thankfully, I have a great friend who covered for me!
-I currently visit the orthodontist every 7 weeks and get 3 sets of trays at a time. This allows for 2 weeks per tray plus a buffer week in case any of them need more time. I have needed a little more time with my chewies for the stubborn teeth from before, but they are doing much better now that they have attachments on them as well.
-My gaps are finally starting to close, and food gets caught in them less and less.
-My headaches have been decreasing because of less time spent with chewies overall.
-My best friend got Invisalign, so that has made the journey more fun!
-I have tried to count when this round of trays (18 in total this time instead of 43!) will end, but that has proven to be quite variable based on the past (almost) two years! I think I should finish around the beginning of 2017. I was hoping to be done before my best friend's wedding this November!
And so... here are the picture updates. This is tray #7 of my new set!
And here are some side-by-side comparisons to see how far I've come:
Here are all of my teeth (top teeth sitting on bottom teeth) when I first started and currently:
(I think it's funny when people say I didn't need braces or my teeth were straight before I started.)
Bottom teeth with tray #5 vs. bottom teeth now:
(That tooth is now pretty much in line with the others.)
Top teeth with tray #5 vs. top teeth now:
Bite with tray #1 vs. bite now:
And lastly, here I am 2 years ago in June (pre-Invisalign) vs. this year in June:
2014 2016
