Went in to pick up the last three sets off aligners for (this phase of) treatment. Hard to believe I’ve been doing this Invisalign thing for over a year and a half now. It’s definitely become routine. The excitement of new trays is still there… somewhat. But it’s nowhere near as fun as it used to be and I’m ready to just be done.
Except… I don’t feel like I’m near done yet!
The assistant gave me set #42 and I noticed that the package said that this was an “overcorrection” set. Which to me means that they thought that my teeth could have been set at #41. From what I can find on the internet about overcorrections, it actually means that the orthodontist predicts that certain movements might not be achieved, so they put in a couple extra sets of trays that aim to move the teeth beyond the right spot in the hopes that it will end up being just right. Or something…
But whatever “overcorrection” means, I look at my teeth now and say, “Nope, these are not done!” Are they 10,000x better than they were in October 2013? Of course! But with all I’ve been through I was certainly expecting something much smoother than I’ve got currently.
Who knows, maybe these last three trays will put things right. This is one of the few trays that was immediately uncomfortable. Usually any discomfort doesn’t kick in for me until a day after I switch. These were difficult to even put in. So maybe the ante is being upped and I’ll be super-happy in 6 weeks. But…
Assuming I’m not, I did ask both the assistant and the orthodontist about refinements. They said they won’t make any decisions until I complete the next three trays. Which I understand, but there was also kind of this unsaid comment that made me feel that they were thinking, “Well, what’s wrong with them as they are?” and that kind of irked me. Maybe they’re used to dealing with kids who probably don’t have a whole lot of opinions on their teeth other than, “When can I get these stupid braces off?!” And yeah, I want to be done with this, like, last year. But I’d also like to have my teeth look good, not just better.
Anyway, I’m probably overreacting. I’ve had kind of a hard time dealing with the fact that the orthodontist I dealt with in the beginning (the guy who owns the practice and is the Invisalign Elite provider) has been kind of MIA since he hired the new girl. The new ortho is sweet and nice, but also comes across as pretty green. I’m okay with the fact that she is just out of residency and is still getting acclimated, but I miss the rapport I had with the other guy. It’s frustrating knowing that the only thing she knows about my history is what she’s read in the chart.
Oh well, must keep the faith and take it one step at a time, I suppose. We are still going through the original plan and it’s not like braces where the ortho is making decisions at each visit. She’s stuck following the game plan that was made long before she got there.
So I got my last three sets and then made my appointments for six weeks from now. It’ll be a two appointment day with a long one in the morning and a short one later in the day. The exciting news is that all the attachments will be coming off! They will put on a totally new attachments, as needed, in the refinement phase. So that means I should get at least 4 weeks or so of smooth teeth! Hoping I can get in a whitening treatment during that time. I feel like my teeth are looking disgustingly yellow in spite of my constant brushing (I’ve heard complaints from other Invisalign wearers that the attachments, or at least the glue, does stain). They’ll talk to me then about refinements and do another iTero scan and do molds for retainers. The second appointment will be to pick up the retainers. I’m not thrilled to know I’ll be dealing with the Essix retainers they make in-house again, but it’ll be short-term, at least! (When I’m totally done I will be getting the Vivera retainers that Invisalign makes; I’m assuming those fit better than the in-house lab ones.)
So, that’s that. Will definitely be posting pictures then!
The Alignment Chronicles 