My New Normal

My new normal started this week for possibly the next 18 to 24 months.  I am now wearing invisible aligners to straighten my teeth.  So far it sucks.  I had already watched You Tube videos on other people's experiences so I kind of knew what to expect.  But regardless it sucks.  But I know I will eventually get used to it and will all be worth it.

Well for starters you cannot eat with them in.  They are on sooo tight that it literally takes me like 10 minutes to get them off so I can eat.  It is torture trying to get them out.  My teeth start throbbing while trying to get them out.  Although maybe this is a good thing because then I can't snack all the time.  :-)   Because right now I only want to take them out if I have to.  I have to wear them for 20 to 22 hours a day.  Only take them out to eat, drink (except water), and brush my teeth.  I have to brush my teeth and floss after every meal.  That is so food doesn't get trapped inside the aligners and discoloring them or get cavities, etc.

I think the reason why they are so hard to get out is because the dentist had to put on an "engager" (or attachment) on one tooth in the front.  It is basically a little dot of dental composite material.  Some teeth are shaped or positioned in a way that makes it hard for an aligner to grab onto.  So this way the aligner has something to attach or "engage" with.  I will end up getting more of those little bastards, I mean engagers during the course of my treatment plan.  The engagers feel weird when I am eating because I keep thinking I have food stuck on my tooth.

I do have some soreness and pain but taking Advil seem to help with that.  The dentist actually had to grind a little off two of my teeth in the back to make a 3mm gap.  So that way the front teeth can move toward the back. This whole process so far is interesting how they do it all.  They scanned my teeth with some machine instead of doing a mold of my teeth.  It takes 3D images of my teeth and can determine each step how the teeth will shift and make all of the sets of aligners.  I wear each set of aligners for 2 to 3 weeks.  So I left the dentist wearing set one and they gave me set 2 to take home.  Then I go back in to get sets 3 and 4 and so forth.

Two things that I was expecting however has not been much of a problem thus far.  I was expecting my gums to be super sore but so far they are doing okay.  It is my teeth that are more sore or a dull achy pain.  The other one was more saliva or at least if I do it is not bothering me at this time.

Even though this process sucks at the moment I am excited to see how this all ends up.  And I seriously hope it gets easier to take them out to eat or I might just starve myself.  :-)   Anyone else out there who has done this?  I would love to hear from you.