Tray #33 – Three-quarter mark!

Trapped inside during a blizzard and switching to tray set #34 tonight, so figured I’d post some pictures now that I’m three quarters of the way done.

Here’s my starting point — pre-Invisalign (but post-Carrière distalizer)

The one-quarter mark after tray set #11:

The halfway point (tray set–you guessed it–#22)

And today

I’m beginning to see some light at the end of the tunnel here. The overlapping front tooth is no longer overlapping (look at that gap!). It still has to be straightened up some and brought back in line with its partner, but when I look at the first trays and see how much those front teeth have rotated I’m quite impressed. I was bummed to realize that the wear on those two front teeth is such that they will forever look crooked even when they’re not, though. I don’t know whether they’ll be able to file them or not; the (formerly) front-most tooth has a craze line in it and I fear that filing it might end up causing it to break, but fingers crossed that there will be something they can do to improve the final cosmetics.

The fangs… I swear, they are going away, aren’t they?! When I look at the original trays it’s amazing to see how much those babies have rotated. There’s still a fair amount of progress needed to get the right side canine (on the left in these pictures) to get in line, but I feel like the new attachments are helping that and I’m finally seeing a bit of improvement. This is only the second tray with the attachments on the top incisors, so I expect that this will be on the move quite a bit in the next few months. The left one still needs some help, too, but at least it doesn’t look freakish to me anymore.

As for the rest of the teeth… I’m shocked at how much the back teeth have moved, actually. The biting surfaces are even and the teeth that had been a bit rogue are all in the arch now. Funny, I never even noticed that they were crooked when I started, since I was so focused on the social six (or twelve, I guess, if we’re counting the bottoms), but when I compare the old trays I see that they were.

Hard to say how much work will get done in the final quarter of treatment. I’ve never seen my ClinCheck so I don’t even have a vision in my head. I still anticipate that I’m going to need at least one round of refinements after this, but I suppose I’ll just have to wait and see. But I am feeling a bit more hopeful than I was a few weeks ago that the end point will at least look good, if not perfect.

And finally, two more pics from today so you can scrutinize the new attachments: one with trays, one without.

You can see that the attachments are, unfortunately, way more visible with the trays on than without, but on the plus side, at least the four across the front look bracket-ish. I actually had someone ask the other day if I had “clear braces” (granted, this was a person who recently finished up treatment in traditional, ceramic braces herself). It was a relief to know that at least one person looked at me and said, “Ooh, braces” rather than, “Ew, WTF is up with her teeth?!”

Next post will probably be in March after my next appointment. Not sure if/when I’ll do another picture post before #44. I can’t think of any major milestones to mark (unless my ortho has some sort of surprise in store for me before then), so I may just leave the pictures a mystery until the “final” (which I doubt will be truly final) reveal. We shall see. Until then, happy straightening!

One year Invisaligniversary!

One year ago today I started on the Invisalign portion of my orthodontic journey.

Here I was proudly wearing my first set of trays!

Invisalign Tray 1

And here I am today wearing tray set #26:

Better? I think so!

Here’s a picture to compare those two sets of trays (Click on it if you want to see it bigger):

And here’s a comparison of the teeth, sans trays.

Then:

And now:

The really exciting thing with this tray is — I don’t know if you can tell from this pic — but for the first time I can see the entire medial edge of my right central incisor without having to turn my head or anything! The left tooth is still in front of the right in the arch, but it’s no longer overlapping. Finally! I’m so excited.

The gaps that had been opened with the distalizers between my lateral incisors and the canines have closed down tremendously. There’s only a tiny one remaining on the left; the one on the right has farther to go, but it’s much smaller than it had been. The fangs, as you know, will be one of the last things to get fixed, unfortunately. I should know more after my appointment next week.

My bottom teeth are doing very well. Still some minor crowding, but overall they’re very close to where I want them.

I remember the relief I felt on that first day knowing that, as bad as my teeth looked at that point, things were on an upswing. Each tray was one step closer to the smile I wanted. I still have 17 more sets to go and who knows if that will be the end or just mark the beginning of the next phase of Invisalign (refinements), but I know that I smile much more confidently now than I did a year ago and that’s huge progress in and of itself.

Stay tuned for updates from my upcoming ortho appointment next week!

Halfway through & one year post distalizer

Finished up my 22nd set of trays today! 22 more to go!

And tomorrow it will be one year since I had the Carriere distalizers debonded… with all the associated adventures.

Here’s where I was one year ago:

And where I am today:

My teeth aren’t quite as nice-looking now as I was hoping for at the halfway point, but I’d say that’s a vast improvement!

And now for the beginning, one quarter, and one half progression (you’ll notice that the Invisalign start pictures are different from the Carriere end pictures because my ortho didn’t retain my top teeth after debonding for a few weeks to allow my body to try to self-correct some of what had gone wrong with the distalizers).

Hm… my top teeth look straighter in this picture than they are in real life. Must be the flash. The left central incisor still overlaps the right one. But that top arch has widened out immensely. Fangs are still there, but the left one really doesn’t bother me much anymore, and the right looks better than at the beginning at least!

The bottom arch, which is harder to see here, is where things are looking really good. There’s still some crowding to be resolved and I’m sure some other stuff with my bite, but overall I’m really impressed with how much it’s all smoothed out.

While the process feels slow at times — the two weeks between tray changes seems like an eternity, especially when the changes with each tray are so miniscule — the time passes quickly. I’ll think that I’ve only been in Invisalign a few months, and am shocked to realize I’m nearly a year into it. And when I look at the pictures and compare my current trays to those at the beginning of treatment it’s amazing how much has happened.

I’ll do another picture post when I get to the one-year mark with Invisalign itself in the beginning of October!

The Invisalign Choice

So this blog is — in large part — for my own benefit: a place to ramble about my treatment since most people in my life don’t really care to hear about my teeth in any great detail.

But I also started it after reading through other blogs and finding them helpful.

So if you’ve ended up here while researching Invisalign here’s a post addressing some of the misconceptions I’ve heard and my response to those misconceptions, along with some advice for those considering aligner treatment.

As a caveat, I am no dental professional, therefore any advice listed here is purely my opinion, but hopefully you will find some value here.

Misconception #1: “Invisalign doesn’t work”
A friend of a friend scoffed when I told her about my plan because “her orthodontist said” Invisalign didn’t work. Of course, her orthodontic experience occurred about ten years ago. While Invisalign may have been far more limited in the types of cases it could treat then, it is a constantly evolving technology and there have been many changes to the product that allow it to treat more complex cases effectively. But as with any tool, you have to know how to use it to get the best results.

Misconception #2: “Invisalign is only for very simple, cosmetic cases.”
See above. But keep in mind that a lot of what can be done with Invisalign is directly related to how comfortable your orthodontist is with using it. If s/he primarily uses traditional brackets and wires that’s what will likely be recommended, particularly if your case is a bit complex. Orthodontists who prefer traditional techniques are no less skilled than those who use clear aligners, but to achieve the best possible outcome they are going to stick to the methods they are most comfortable with.

Misconception #3: “Oh no, attachments!”
People see that Invisalign ad with the pretty lady with straight (!), pearly white teeth popping in a clear tray and they think, “I want THAT!” And then they start researching and find out that scary thing about attachments. I’m not downplaying the fear factor here; it is frightening. You think you’ve found this great way around having visible braces and then find out that you have, like, a 99.5% chance of having to have these blobs cemented to your teeth. So much for “invisible!” Most people understand why these need to be placed, but they get obsessed with the number. They’ll say things like, “I’ll only do Invisalign if they can promise me fewer than X attachments.” Now I may be biased here because I currently have 18 attachments. Yes, you read that correctly. 18! And by “currently” I mean that there will be more before treatment is over. Did I freak out when I found this out? Oh, hell yes!!! Now that I have them do I wish that I had gotten traditional braces? Not at all. Out of the 18 attachments there are only two that bother me from a cosmetic standpoint and even those I rarely think about anymore. No one has asked me about them. Ever. And I’ve had them on for over 6 months so far. Yeah, people may be polite, but I’m guessing that if I had braces I would have had at least a few people ask about my treatment by now. So when you see those scary, close-up pictures of attachments, keep in mind that the only person getting that up in your grill is likely your own reflection in the mirror. No one else gives a hoot.

Misconception #4: “I can’t be counted on to be compliant with the wear requirements.”
It’s true… for Invisalign to work you have to be committed. If you’ve made the decision to personally hand over a few grand to an orthodontist I’d argue you’ve probably already made that commitment. But, of course, the trays aren’t going to work if they’re sitting in the case and not on your teeth. The party line is that you are supposed to wear the trays 22 hours a day for best results. That’s a lot of time. I have yet to meet anyone who has reported being 100% compliant with that. But yeah, you may be thinking, “Hey, I know me, I’m lazy, I’d rather just have braces cemented to my teeth and not have to deal with that.” Sure. Okay. But you do know that at some point during your treatment you’re going to have to take some personal responsibility, right? Like, you may be told that you need to wear elastics on your braces to correct a certain issue… elastics that you are responsible for maintaining. They’re not cute; they’re annoying. I’ve had them, I know! But if you don’t wear them your teeth won’t move the way they need to. Don’t think you’ll need elastics? Great! What happens when your braces come off? That’s right, retainers! How often do you need to wear those retainers? Oh, right, all the time except when you’re eating for at least a few months… and part of the time for basically the rest of your life. If you don’t you run the risk of your teeth reverting back. Might as well set that few grand mentioned above on fire for all the good that will do. Planning to get bonded retainers? Great! But that doesn’t generally get you out of the removable retainer business, sorry. The point is, you’re going to need to demonstrate a high level of commitment to whatever treatment you undergo, so I’m not sure this is the best reason to shy away from Invisalign.

Misconception #5: “I don’t want to be that committed to oral hygiene!”
See #4. Yes, you really should brush your teeth and clean your trays after eating/drinking before you put them back in. And yes, this can be a major pain in the rear depending on your penchant for snacking (I love to snack!). But, having had an appliance that was cemented to my teeth for a few months I can tell you that my commitment to brushing and flossing was pretty comparable then to now. Because when you’ve got wires and bars on your teeth you can’t help but be obsessed with making sure there isn’t any food stuck in them. Sure, there are some shortcuts around all this (just as there are with aligners), but chances are if you have a normal degree of concern about your appearance you’ll naturally up your oral hygiene routine no matter what treatment method you end up with!

Misconception #6: “I do not want to talk with a LITHP!!!”
This is one of those things that most adults considering orthodontia have to think about: the visibility of braces or the speech impediments of a clear aligner? Ugh! Yes, aligners will require you to adapt your speech patterns, but it is not something you need to freak out about. For one thing, with the technological advances, the newer trays are thinner and fit better making lisping less of an issue. And for another, you’d be amazed at how quickly your body will adapt. The more you talk, the less of an issue it will be. And, yes, you notice your lisping more than anyone else does. Also… see #4 about retainers. You will have a speech impediment at some point during treatment, no matter what method you choose!

So what’s my advice to people who are thinking they want Invisalign?

1. Find an orthodontist. Okay, preferably, find more than one orthodontist so you can get multiple opinions/quotes. But I’d steer away from a general dentist unless you are absolutely, 100% sure that your problem is only a very minor, cosmetic one. There can be a lot going on with your teeth that might not be obvious to you OR your dentist. I always thought my issue was purely cosmetic (that’s what a childhood dentist told my parents), but my first couple visits to the orthodontist were eye-opening as he showed me how my teeth aligned vs. “proper” alignment. It went beyond the crowding and required a bit more work than the general dentist I consulted with suggested. Now they’ll be pretty AND healthy!

2. To take #1 a bit further, go to the Invisalign website to search for an orthodontist and look for those with “Elite” status. These orthos have done many cases with Invisalign and are more likely to know the true abilities AND limitations of the product and can give you the skinny on whether your individual needs can be met with Invisalign or whether you will need something else. Keep in mind, sometimes it’s a case of meeting your needs with Invisalign AND something else (e.g., me!). Some people offered the option I was given (to start treatment with a fixed, metal appliance, followed by Invisalign) might prefer to do it all with braces. Which is fine, your decision. But for me I preferred having metal for just a few months and then being able to do the rest with clear aligners.

3. And while you’re doing that provider search on the Invisalign website, look for a symbol that says “iTero.” These providers have digital scanning in their offices and I am convinced (after having had retainers made the traditional way with molds and then having my aligners made using the scan) that the scanning method produces a much better result. That means aligners that fit better and teeth that track more closely to plan.

I’ll do a post on my tips and tricks for Invisalign wearers later, but wanted to get this out there for those who are looking into whether Invisalign is right for them. It is, of course, a personal decision, but hopefully this will dispel some of the “negative press” I see get tossed about and give some ideas of how to have the most success for those who are interested in pursuing treatment with Invisalign.

Cheers!

3 down, 41 to go!

Now I understand why people stop posting updates on their Invisalign blogs after the first few trays.

It’s amazing how routine it all becomes.

It’s also frustrating when you’re not really seeing much in the way of progress to post about. I keep staring at my trays, comparing tray one to the current tray to see if I can tell what’s been changed and other than a couple tiny things I see nothing. I know stuff is happening, but it’s not in the front where people would notice.

I will get pictures up, though, I promise.

Anyway, life with attachments has gone… surprisingly well! I’m a bit self-conscious about them when I’m within a few feet of other people and/or if my trays are out, but honestly, NO ONE has commented on them. Even people who knew I’ve been getting orthodontic work done and would have no qualms about asking what’s on my teeth… nothing. So that’s been a huge relief.

They’re not terribly annoying, either. I haven’t had any issues with them cutting up my mouth or anything like that, though I do prefer having the trays over them, so if nothing else it’s encouraged compliance with wearing my trays the suggested 20-22 hours/day. They do tend to be food magnets, so I’m much quicker to trot off to brush my teeth after eating than I was before attachments, lest I end up with pieces of broccoli stuck in them without noticing. It’s not as easy to pry stuff out of your teeth with your tongue when you’ve got attachments, that’s for sure!

As for the trays. They are more difficult to remove with the attachments, but not terribly bad. I did find tray 3 to be probably the most painful of all, but it was a delayed pain: felt fine for the first 24 hours or so and then it kicked in. It’s not bad pain, though, mostly just noticeable when I take the trays out. It goes away pretty quickly.

As of last Thursday, I’ve moved on to tray 4. Same deal as with tray 3… I felt fine for the first 24 hours (which actually made me mad because I associate pain with progress!), but did feel some twinges over the weekend particularly in a few specific teeth.

From what I can tell by looking at the first tray and the fourth, it seems that the back teeth are getting the bulk of the movement, which is frustrating in some ways (I really want the overlapped front teeth straightened out… it was my main reason for getting Invisalign!), but I do like seeing that the arch is smoothing out in the back and knowing that it will broaden my smile a bit. Some of the teeth that got messed up from the lower lingual arch are being put back to rights again, too. There was one bicuspid that had started to overlap the canine and it’s slowly being uprighted.

My bite feels a little off right now, like it’s only meeting on one side, which is annoying, but again is at least a signal of progress.

Ten more days in set #4! I’ve heard that people start to notice visible changes around tray #5 and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this might be the case. Would love to see some progress before the new year!

1 down, 43 to go…

First set of trays is finally done!

I tacked on a few days beyond the traditional 2 weeks, simply because otherwise I would have been in tray 2 for three full weeks (ortho is on vacation on the week I was supposed to go back for attachments, et al, so next appt was 5 weeks from my start date). I figured I’d just split the difference and do two and a half weeks in each.

My experience was nothing like the horror stories I’ve read about and seen on YouTube, so that was a relief. I don’t know if my experience wearing the Essix retainers in the weeks up until getting my Invisalign truly helped or if my first set was more of a “trainer” set of trays. I’ve heard rumors about such things… that the first couple sets don’t really do much because they want the patient to get used to the system. To which I say, screw that! I want my teeth fixed.

But I did have power ridges across all my incisors (I originally said they were only on the top, but I was wrong… when I gave a closer look at the bottom tray there were power ridges on all four bottom incisors, as well). So I can’t imagine they’d put those into a “trainer” tray. Maybe it’s just that since my teeth had been “loosened” over the past few months with the distalizers that the force of the trays wasn’t as painful as it would be for most people whose teeth aren’t used to moving. Hm…

Anyway, no major issues to report with the first trays. They felt neither too snug nor too loose at any part during the time I wore them. For the most part they were comfortable, easy to take in an out, and relatively invisible. If I smile big you can see kind of a weird shadow on the top from the power ridges, but that’s about it. I didn’t feel any major pain on any teeth. I also didn’t notice any major changes other than a tiny black triangle that seems to be opening between my bottom central incisors.

Last night I put in the second set of trays right before bed (I’d read that this is the preferable time to switch since you sleep through the worst part of the pain with the new set). I could immediately feel a slight difference. The second set feels more snug, especially on the top incisors. And the spot behind my front teeth feels a little different when I poke it with my tongue.

Again, though, no pain to report. Just snug. I tried comparing the trays to see if I could see any differences. The power ridges are still there across all the incisors (I think this is to tip the front teeth out a bit, which makes sense since my ortho had said that mine were very much flat initially and that they should flare out slightly). It looks like the gap between my canine and lateral incisor on the top left side is closing up a tiny bit and one of the gaps between my first and second molars on the bottom is closing up some, too. Hard to tell and I know the movements are designed to only be fractions of a millimeter at a time, so there won’t be anything major to report, but I was glad I could at least spot some tiny changes in the tray to know they’re doing something!

Overall this has been a relatively easy and positive start to treatment. I know things will probably all change once the attachments go on, but I’m glad for smooth sailing so far.

I did take some pictures, so will hopefully post a photo update soon!

Picture Post!

Finally some pictures!

This first pic is bad because it’s a picture of a picture. This is what the orthodontist’s office took before anything occured.

Pre-treatment

The crowding was what prompted me to go in, but the ortho also noted that my bite was rather deep and my back teeth did not line up properly.

Here’s a picture of me at about halfway through treatment.

The canines had descended some, but nothing like what it would turn out to be.

Here is what I looked like right before my distalizers came off.

Just before the Carrieres came off.

This shows just how much the canines were affected. There’s the redness around the one on the right (the left as you’re looking at it here). This was also with me biting down as much as I could. You can tell that my bite had gone from deep to open.

And now about 7 weeks later, here’s how I looked today with nothing on my teeth!

Invisalign Baseline

You can see how much the canines improved. I’m also biting down in this picture and you can see that the bite has closed back up some. I’d been wearing full retainers for 4 weeks at this point, so most of this self-correction happened in those first few weeks after the distalizers were removed. Amazing what the body can do!

Here’s another pre-Invisalign picture of me wearing my Essix retainers.

Pre-Invisalign in Essix retainers

Not much to say about this one, mostly just put it in as a comparison.

And finally…

Here’s what my teeth look like in the first set of trays!

Invisalign Tray 1

Not sure if you can tell from this, but when I zoomed in on the picture I can see how much better the Invisalign trays fit than the Essix.

I don’t have attachments yet. The trays do have power ridges on the top front four teeth, but they’re mostly invisible unless you’re all up in my grill! That part of my teeth is generally covered even when I’m smiling or talking.

So there you go! I will keep posting updates so you can follow along with my progress!

Lulls in treatment: The care and keeping of the Carriere

Now that I’m finally seeing a finish line to this stage of treatment, I figured I should finally write a post about how I’ve dealt with the mundane maintenance of the junk in my mouth.

Changing Elastics
I wasn’t given firm guidance on how often these should be changed, so I based my initial schedule on the number of elastics I had and how long they were supposed to last. I had 100 elastics in my first pack which was supposed to last me 14 days until I switched to a different size. Given that, I figured I could change them three times a day and still have a few left over in case any of them broke or fell off and got swallowed! I’ve pretty much kept up with that schedule ever since. So basically, I switch them in the morning, after lunch, and dinner. Which brings me to…

Brushing
Very occasionally I will switch elastics without brushing first, but it’s rare (i.e., I’m nowhere near a sink and an elastic breaks). I have an electric toothbrush at home. I think it’s an Oral B of some sort. I have the flossing action heads at the moment, since I figured I could use any additional help in getting around the metal bits. Not sure if it really works any better, but I figured it couldn’t hurt. So that’s the morning and night brushing. Then I keep a regular old toothbrush (one from my vast collection of dentist office souvenirs) at work for the post-lunch cleaning.

Water Pik
I got one of these within a few days of having the Carrieres and the lingual arch cemented on. I’d say if you’re getting traditional braces after the Carriere treatment, this is a must-buy. If, like me, you’re moving on to clear aligners, meh, not so necessary… more of a “nice-to-have”. But I do like being able to power-wash the crud from between the teeth that are covered by metal. It’s NOT a substitute for floss, by any means, but it is good at dislodging large food particles that might get stuck under wires and bars. It’s way too bulky to bring to work, so mostly just a morning/night thing, but if I’m home sometimes I’ll use it between brushings, too.

Floss
I generally only floss once a day, maybe twice if I feel I need to. Before Carrieres I was a morning flosser, but I’ve switched to night because the process now takes too damned long. (But hey, it’s still better than braces!) Ask your ortho for the floss threaders, ’cause you’ll need them! After Water Pikking and brushing, I do a quick floss of the naked teeth, which still works as usual (except on the lower molars… sometimes the floss gets tangled up on the hooks that are attached to the molar bands). Then I use the floss threader to get the floss under the distalizers so I can get the spaces between those teeth and under the lingual arch. I know there are floss options out there designed for braces, so those would work, too, but they seemed super-expensive when I looked. The free threaders and regular floss seem just as easy to use and much cheaper!

Other tricks
I’ve upped the amount of water I drink, especially with food. It’s kind of gross, but I feel like I need to have water when I eat so I can swish it around. When your teeth are naked it’s easy to poke your tongue around and feel for renegade crumbs, but with the metal and elastics I’m paranoid about having huge lubs stuck in the hooks of my distalizers without my noticing it. A quick water swish dislodges a lot. Try to be discreet.

Other than that… I did have a cleaning scheduled to take place last month, but needed to reschedule anyway, so figured I’d wait until after everything came off, so not sure how dental visits go with distalizers on. I’d imagine it’s difficult to get all the spots, but not impossible.

And… that’s about it. Maintenance is pretty easy, all things considered.

Lulls in treatment – The Force (2) is with me

Still here…

The same cannot be said for my camera cord. Who knows where that is… So much for uploading my awesome pictures (which were not actually that awesome). Tried to record a vlog post, too, but that didn’t work. So you’re stuck reading words. Sorry.

Not much new since the last appointment other than… pain. Frustration. Annoyance. Pain. (Oops, did I already mention that last one?)

These force 2 elastics are a total B. I think the ortho was just trying to lull me into thinking this was going to be a nice little walk in the park with those H6 and H4 elastics. I won’t lie, I was feeling a bit cocky about this whole thing from the initial 4 weeks.

But now… so this is going on week 4 of these horrid elastics. Week 4 of not being able to open my mouth. Week 4 of sounding like I have a major speech impediment. Week 4 of salivating over good-looking food only to find that it’s hardly enjoyable when you can’t chew. Sigh.

It’s not all bad, though. I’ve got some mad diastemas opening up between my canines and incisors and some smaller spaces between the incisors. And my canines have come down a TON. Actually, I think they may have been extruded more than necessary, but I stumbled across a presentation of an ortho talking about Carriere distalizers and Invisalign and he said while extrusion can be an undesireable side-effect of the distalizers, Invisalign is very good at intruding teeth, so if it overdid it I’m guessing it can be corrected pretty easily.

I keep checking my bite from the side (which is hard to see), but it seems like the teeth are starting to line up more like a zipper, right better than left, so it’s working! Hurrah!

It’s a bummer that this part of treatment is kind of the “it gets worse before it gets better” part. My teeth are starting to look incredibly wonky. I don’t think the lower lingual arch does a stellar job of keeping those teeth in place. Either that or they were more screwed up from the spacers than I thought. They were relatively straight to start with, but now they’re looking all sorts of crowded. And on the top they’re now crowded AND spaced. But… I know this is all just a step on the journey.

Less than two weeks until I go in for my next appointment (was actually supposed to go in sooner, but will be out of town for a couple days so had to postpone). Keeping my fingers crossed that things will have moved to a point that I’ll get an end date for this phase. I’m looking forward to getting this stuff debonded and moving on!

Until then…

Carriere Fun – Now Entering “Switzerland”

Last Thursday morning I took out the set of “Japan” elastics and replaced them with “Switzerland” elastics. Same weight, but 4mm instead of 6mm.

I wasn’t expecting that 1/16″ to make that much of a difference. But pulling them out of the package my first thought was, “Man, these are TINY!”

They are more difficult to put on than the previous elastics. They tend to snap back before I can stretch them to the second hook. I’ve also broken a couple already which didn’t happen before.

Eating, yawning, etc. are more difficult with these, but it hasn’t been unbearable.

Then there’s the pain. As I’ve come to expect, the first 12 hours or so isn’t bad, but then it does kick in, especially with biting down or chewing. I didn’t feel I needed any ibuprofen for the pain, but some might want to depending on your level of tolerance.

Now that I’m a few days in the pain is subsiding and I mostly only feel it if I’m eating something particularly crunchy.

The weird part of me kind of welcomes the pain because then at least I feel like something might be happening with my teeth. I haven’t noticed any changes in appearance. I guess that’s not unexpected… I’m not sure what my ortho’s goal is, but I’m pretty sure the Carriére distalizer only produces a few millimeters of movement, so given the fact that treatment is projected to take 3-6 months and I’m only a bit over 2 weeks in, I can’t expect to see much, if any, change. But part of me worries that the thing isn’t working and the only benefit I’m deriving from this is a crazy jaw workout.

Sigh.

I go back to see the ortho in about a week and a half, so will just have to wait to see what he says then. I imagine I’ll be staying in Switzerland elastics for the duration of treatment and will just have to be patient while it slowly does its job. Patience is not one of my virtues! I would like to get this part of treatment over with sooner rather than later!