Invisalign- Week 1- tray 1

So, today is Tuesday 5/14 and  I started my first Invisalign tray on Friday 5/10. Had a hellacious weekend at work because my teeth were hurting and I wasn't yet used to speaking with the trays in my mouth. I also hadn't yet gotten a routine set for taking them in and out when eating. I highly recommend anyone who is about to start to consider starting when you have a few days to get used to it before working two 13 hour shifts in a row. On top of all that, my bottom tray had sharp jagged edges that I didn't notice while at the dentist trying out and learning how to put in and take out the trays. I left there and on Sunday had an emotional breakdown about how much they were hurting my tongue and about how Frankenstein-ish I thought my teeth were going to look once the attachments get placed in June. I'm not sure if part of it is being hormonal at 15 weeks pregnant, or if I would be this concerned otherwise, but I was not prepared for how demanding Invisalign can be and how much it can require someone to adjust and modify their schedule and eating routine. Before leaving work on Sunday I asked Ashley (a girl I work with who has been using Invisalign for some time now) if she had as much pain with starting Invisalign and how she dealt with her tongue getting all cut up. She said her dentist told her she could use a nail file to file the corners and jagged edges down without doing any harm, so when I got home, I tried to do just that on my inner bottom tray and surprisingly it has helped SOOOOO much! I have had complete pain relief and am now just waiting for my tongue to stop being sore from what it endured for those 2 1/2 days. So glad I heard that tip when I did because I was seriously wondering how I could endure a full year of that torture. It's now a few days after making that adjustment and I am starting to feel more confident about the process. I was really wondering if I just wasted almost $5000! The trays are going in and out much easier now than they did over the weekend and I was having some serious soreness when I would put the tray back in after eating which was keeping me from eating. Not such a good thing at almost 4 months preggo. Nowadays, I am not having pain when I put the trays back in but I am grazing less on food and having planned out meals to limit how often and for how long the trays are out of my mouth. This is a good thing since when I grazed, it tended to be on unhealthy junk food that would be brought into work- cookies and donuts from families as well as expensive frilly coffees that I didn't need to be spending lots of money on anyways. Today Steve and I went to eat at Mexico Lindo and I took the trays out and left them at home while we went out to eat. It's pretty encouraging that I already feel like my teeth have moved and its been less than a week. When the trays are out I can feel my teeth touching on top and bottom in different places than they did before. Today I was off work and spent a good part of the day googling invisalign and reading a few different people's blogs on their experience. I decided that maybe doing the same thing will help encourage me to feel empowered about doing this instead of depressed and embarrassed and in pain wanting to quit when things are tougher. I know when I get my attachments, it will be pretty challenging, not only because of the physical pain but also in a vain way, I am going to be sad about how they look I think. They aren't quite as invisible as I was hoping they would be before starting the procedure. I was definitely in shock when I saw the ClinCheck and realized how many attachments there would be on my teeth. I was expecting maybe 2 on each tray and that they would be toward the back of my mouth and not noticeable. That was NOT the case. There are tons of attachments (I don't remember how many exactly but plan to ask for an email with an attachment of the ClinCheck so I can look at it some more, and hopefully link it to this blog). I just know there were some on my front teeth and it is going to be really hard for me to feel comfortable smiling and showing my teeth when they have weird bumps all over them. Maybe by then, I will be feeling proud to show off how my teeth are changing and won't mind people seeing it, but I'm not there yet. Still pretty nervous about it for sure. Anyway, I have had 2 days off which has made it easy to be able to take the trays in and out and brush each time, but tomorrow at work will take a bit more planning and preparation. I have to plan my meals and snacks and hopefully have an assignment and patients which will allow me the time to eat them. Hoping it's pretty easy to stick to the plan and that I don't have another emotional breakdown which could have been mostly related to fluctuating hormones since I am feeling less panicked. It could also be that I am increasing my Invisalign knowledge and so making it easier on myself by being prepared for what to expect. Just ordered one extra case and some tray cleaning stuff called Bright Rite (??). Thinking maybe I need to invest in a few more tray removing hooks as well (only got 1 with 2 trays when I started treatment). I haven't had to use the one I have yet, but have read that they become much more difficult to take off once the attachments are added and since I will have to many, it could be a serious problem if I need to remove them to eat and forgot the hook in another purse or at home. I'm planning to keep one case and hook in my purse, one of each in my work bag, and one of each at the house. I guess that's all for now. I'm planning to take some pictures of my teeth and the first trays so I can compare as I progress and my teeth begin taking shape.