Halfway There (with Pics)

Message

#46 Post by **Lilypad** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 3:17 am

Three more weeks............none of these aligners have caused any pain at all. I guess the movements are so slight that all i'm feeling is tightness. OK, I can do this for 21 more days. LOL $+\+$

#47 Post by **bellini** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 6:44 am

The reshaping made such a difference!
Looks great!

#48 Post by **Lilypad** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 1:04 pm

Thanks bellini! And, yes I was quite impressed with what the rehaping did. I can't believe I'm almost ready for ....RETAINERVILLE !!!!!!!

#49 Post by **Lilypad** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 1:22 pm

3 more days........I'll see what he has to say about this lower tooth hitting on one of my upper front tooth.......

#50 Post by **Lilypad** » Thu May 08, 2008 2:37 am

Well, it seems as if I am in aligner limbo yet again!

The ortho wants me to wear this last refinement tray for 12 hours a day for a month, more if I notice the gap opening between the front two teeth. Well, I left it out for 9 hours, Yikes, what a mistake that was. When I looked in the mirror I could see the gap was opening. When I put the aligner back in....MAJOR pain. I'm leaving it out for 3-4 hours at a time, just a little tightness then. He also shaved down the lower tooth that was hitting the upper tooth. I'm hoping he can do a bit more as it is still touching the top tooth. There is no way there is enough room there to put in a permanent retainer like he wants. So, I go back on May 22nd to see where we go from here. I'm starting to wonder.......Is this EVER gonna end????????

#51 Post by **aussie** » Thu May 08, 2008 4:31 am

from the last pics up your teeth are looking fantastic lily!

from what i saw on my clincheck i'll have the same problem with my front 2 teeth when im done, well not really problem, but they'll require slight reshaping like yours.

lol, and dont worry too much about 'is this every going to end'

i've started on 34 uppers & 20 lowers

!

so my absolute minimum aligner time is about 10 months lowers & 15ish months uppers. fingers crossed all goes well & i dont need refinements.

keep us updated lily!

#52 Post by **Devushka** » Thu May 08, 2008 11:15 am

Awww that really sucks Lily, I am sorry!

I assumed because you had a frenemectomy you would not longer have to worry about your front teeth. That was one of the reason's I wasn't worrying about having to one day get one because I figured not only will it help with the pain(crossing my fingers now) BUT my front teeth wouldn't be trying to separate as much either.

#53 Post by **Lilypad** » Fri May 23, 2008 2:35 pm

Thanks aussie and Devushka! I went to the ortho yesterday and he managed to get the permanent retainer put in. It looked sooo tiny when they showed it to me as it only goes on the top two front teeth. Then he informed me that he was going to totally encase it in cement. Well, it's tiny NO more. This is gonna take awhile to get used to because my tongue seems to think it's a carnival ride!

Then I was off to the dreaded impression lady once again.She told me these would not be nearly as bad as the invisalign impressions were and she sure was right, no blue gunk running down my throat this time! She took impressions on top and bottom for essix retainers since I had wheedled free bottom ones to have as a bleaching tray. She said they wouldnt be ready until next Wednesday so they trimmed the same ole invisalign tray that I've been wearing now for 2 months to fit over the permanent retainer. I'll try to get some final pics posted here this weekend to show y'all. Keep the faith, it may take longer than expected, but it WORKS!

#54 Post by **Lilypad** » Fri Jun 06, 2008 6:40 pm

Just a couple pictures to finish my story.......
Before Invisalign

After Invisalign treatment of 10 months

At this point I have a permanent wire retainer across the back of the 2 front teeth, an essix retainer for night,(which i'm not fond of), and still wearing my last Invisalign tray for about 6 hours during the day. Even with a couple of set backs I am EXTREMELY happy with the whole Invisalign process.

I want to wish everyone the best of luck with their treatment and keep the faith, at times it's tough, but it did work for me!

#55 Post by **MsViola** » Fri Jun 06, 2008 7:03 pm

Your teeth are beautiful!

#56 Post by **John37** » Mon Jun 09, 2008 9:34 am

Lilypad, your smile looks great!

I hope mine turns out as good.

#57 Post by **zone6** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 9:24 pm

Watch my VIDEOs, visit my blogâ€¦ http://imperfect2invisalign.blogspot.com

#58 Post by **xTc** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 8:43 am

Wow your smile looks amazing..

Be sure to stick to what your ortho tells you to do concerning retainers, I had braces when I was 14 and my teeth are now almost as bad as they were because I didn't wear my retainers properly

#59 Post by **Lilypad** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 3:03 pm

Thanks for the compliments MsViola, John37, and xTc, I still can't believe they are MY teeth! LOL. I'm really really really gonna do the retainer thing. Even after a UFC party and lots of beers Saturday night, I dragged myself to the sink, flossed, brushed and got the dang retainer back in!

#60 Post by **Iwantniceteeth** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 3:26 am

Hi there Lilypad. I'm also on the way to retainersville and am going to get a permanent wire top and bottom after my refinement trays. Are you wearing a permanent retainer as well as a removeable one? How does that work?

I've heard that teeth can still move with the permanent retainer but I am still keen to go down this route as it can be quite painful to put the aligner in after a few hours of non wear.

Can you please tell me what your ortho has advised and the time frame for your retaining.

Thanks