Bleeding gums + sore teeth?

[ithurtstosmile]

Hi all~
I luckily stumbled upon this board through Google, I'm thankful I can discuss with other people who are using Invisalign and read up on common problems, tips and tricks, etc.
Well, I started wearing my aligners last Thursday, and the first 2 days were horrible. My teeth hurt so badly I couldn't eat - literally. I felt sick to my stomach and was just miserable. Luckily, by Saturday, I was still feeling some pain when I popped the aligners out to brush and rinse, but for the most part, the pain had subsided.
Recently though, the last day or two, I've noticed a little bit of blood in my trays. To give a background: the lower left teeth don't align with my upper teeth at all. Could you believe I never really noticed this for my entire life? Anyway, I find myself clenching my jaw since I've started the process, and it's incredibly annoying. I have to constantly relax my jaw and try to find a comfortable way to keep my mouth closed because otherwise my teeth will start to feel the pressure of me baring down on them. Usually after I've been sitting with my mouth clenched for a while and I didn't notice, I'll self-consciously go check and sure enough there's the faintest trace of blood in there. It's happened a couple of times these last 2 days.
Has anyone else experienced this? I floss and have flossed regularly before starting the aligners, and use mouthwash...I wonder if this will go away or is it a common kind of thing as my mouth gets used to having plastic rammed in it for most of the day?
Thanks for any responses in advance!

[sammywantstraightteeth]

Anything can happen in the first few days because the whole thing is just strange, bits of plastic are rubbing and there is alien material in your mouth. I became really conscious of how my teeth were when I was 'relaxed' and I still sometimes have difficultly finding a comfortable way to arrange my jaw to sleep at night. Not only are the aligners moving teeth around but they also stop your two arches meeting as they used to, so closing your mouth will feel strange for a while.

I found my gums bled a lot in that first week, mainly I think because of all the brushing aggravating them. They haven't bled at all now for months.

Give it another few days and I am sure you will find things settle down. Sometimes these days I forget I'm even wearing aligners and go to snatch a taste of something I'm cooking before I realise they are in!

[ithurtstosmile]

Ah thank you for the quick reply, sammy! Wouldn't you know, I was sifting through your blog posts just now In one of your oooold entries from November, you mentioned being worried about your teeth looking transparent, and that you were going to ask your dentist. Did you ever ask/find out about if it was connected to so much brushing?
Thanks for your help~

[sammywantstraightteeth]

I never did get around to asking him. I recommend going to your ortho appointments with a written list of questions, I always forget what I want to ask him when I get there.

I eased up a bit on the pressure I was applying with the toothbrush and it doesn't seem to be getting any worse. I also try to avoid brushing my teeth too soon after anything even slightly acidic, which apparently may also help.