After many tries and going back and forth in my pic files I finally got a progression of my aligners. I missed a couple . oh well . live with it :)

Pre-invisalign

Sorry apparently I didn't take any pictures with aligner 1

2nd aligner

3rd aligner

4th aligner

5th aligner

opps missed 6th aligner

7th aligner

8th aligner.. bubbly um umm

9th aligner

10th aligner (final in express series)
Still need some work done on bottom and a little on top

Well now I'm on my 10th aligner and my bottom teeth just don't want to cooperate. They are straighter but one of the four front teeth (the bottom left on this pic) just doesn't want to move back all the way and the one next to it (closest to the first small molar) on both sides just don't want to be symmetrical. I don't have my next appointment until jan 11th . my ortho said he was going to be thinking between my last appt and the one in January on how he was going to do refinements. I'm now kinda thinking braces don't sound too bad.



My uppers don't look too bad although I hope my ortho can somehow get my stubborn upper tooth on the left next to the front to twist a bit more.



Here is my bottoms with the bad bad aligners in. The bottom left tooth doesn't want to go back and so there is a big gap on the top and it balloons out in the back next to my tongue. My aligners aren't so invisible anymore oh well.



Yes Christine I got my camera for Christmas. One of the guys I work with his wife had him get his own gift and when I asked if she also had him wrap it he said yes she did! LOLOL


First Grade can be pretty tough! :) Just kidding. My daughter aka mini me decided she wanted to put on some makeup. With the missing tooth and the dark brown eyeshadow she looks like she got in a fight. I just had to include this.

Just put in my 8th aligner last night before I went to sleep. Woke up and oh my goodness. My teeth hurt oh oh oh. It doesnt help that I keep pushing my top teeth against my bottom teeth. Doesn't hurt until I release the pressure. I'm trying to push against that "bubbly" gap on to of the bottom tooth that sticks out a bit. My tops don't really hurt that bad. It is just kinda sore on the second tooth on the top (my other "offender") It also has a bit of a gap on the bottom but not as bad as the bottom. Oh man do I have a tiny blond goatee?? Or is something stuck under my lip. oh my how embarassing. nahh could be black , now that would be embarassing.

I hear how some people get drooly. I really haven't been. Actually my mouth has been pretty darn dry and my lips keep on sticking to the aligners. Like plastic vacuum lip suctioners. I'm really not baring my teeth at you, just unsticking my lips. I think I have like 20 mint lip balms around the house because my lips get so dry. babble babble babble. I think I'm babbling again.

I asked my husband for a new dig camera for Christ-X (yes I'm a rebel and I would rather take the mas out of Christmas then Christ). I even circled the add and added a coupon hee hee. It's ok if he doesn't get it, its only an object, but I would really love it. hee hee. It's a sony cybershot. Any comments on that model? I looked on amazon and everyone who commented on it liked it.

Here is a pic of my first aligner (top ones) and my 7th aligner (bottom). Quite a difference in the two.




The picture above is my before invisalign and the one on the right is after I had aligner #7 in for about a week. Looks like my front teeth are quite a bit straighter and my jaw doesn't look as narrow. The owie spot on the bottom back of this aligner has stopped digging into my check thank goodness but now I have a gap on the top of the tooth that still sticks out a bit and when I push down on it with my top teeth the aligner pops off the first molar button. Got better just before I changed to the next aligner.




Wow can't seem to get these two pictures to separate. They must like each other ALOT. Anyway, the one on the left is my before and the one on the right is after I had in the 7th aligner in for about a week. My upper like my bottom is starting to get more of a wider U shape to it. Like the bottom I have a top tooth (the offending one is the one with the dot filling in it) that just doesn't want to turn easily. Found out that all the metal in my mouth wasn't caused by poor brushing or eating habits as child. Apparently my molars didn't want to form correctly and so I had small holes in them when they popped out of the gums. The dentist told my mom he had to treat them as cavities and fill them or else they would turn into cavities. This wasn't a huge shock to me about the not fully formed teeth as I have another part of me that didn't want to fuse together and form one whole part. Lets just say I'm lucky to have a couple of rug rats running around and breaking things around the house.
Sorry it took me so long to update this. I was kinda shocked when I looked and realized it had been over a month. sorry guys

Put in my 5th aligner Sunday (yesterday) and boy does my mouth hurt. This one is one of the most owwiest aligner. In the pictures below I don't have the aligners in either of them. The one on the left is my before invisalign and the one on the right is 24hours after putting in my 5th.
Now I'm on number 5 out of 10 aligners!! yeahh!
My bottoms are starting to straighten out. The bottom aligner hurts right now. Its really pushing that tooth on the bottom left back and its really tender. When I first put it in it had a big gap on the top of the tooth. I just chewed on an aligner chewie and now its fits a little better. Pedro really was having a bad day at the factory when he cut this one. My tongue hurts. Along the side on the bottom its still trying to cut up my tongue even after I clipped the part that sticks out a bit between the back two molars. I really dislike the taste of blood. yuck yuck yuck ewwww. It totally grosses me out to see when people suck on there cuts. shudder



Below are pictures of my top teeth. Again both are without aligners on. The one on the left is before invisalign and the one on the right is 24hours after putting in my 5th aligner. My twisted tooth on the left next to my front tooth is starting to twist straighter and the two teeth next to those teeth are starting to move more inward. I really feel the pressure on that second tooth on the right as its pushing that tooth inward and it really really hurts after I put the aligner back in. It should be better in the next day or so.

Me at work at 0500 after drinking a 4 shot keith richards mocha and off to do morning blood draws.



Good morning! My name is Penny and I'm from the lab! Your doctor has ordered some blood tests so I will be drawing some blood from you!
First what is your name and your date of birth?! Oh I see you are intubated and are on milk of amnesia! Dont worry you wont remember any of this!







Now lets see what kind of veins you have!
Why are you shaking your head violently? Are you a head injury? Should I ask the nurse to change your restraints to leather? I think they are more comfortable.







What the heck! Why oh why did they put your IV's on both your hands?! Now where am I suppose to draw? Oh I know, look at that big vein in the middle of your head!
Oh hi my nurse friend! oh he has a central line you can get the blood from. oh... okay. Darn I always wanted to draw from a forehead vein and look at that fatty.

Just got my video clip for my invisalign where you get to see a little movie on your teeth before and as they move. Real cool, only I don't know how or if I can post it. I do have an end photo that was emailed to me. Here it t'is.

Just started my 4th aligner. My twisted tooth just doesnt really want to move. I got some aligner chewies from
http://www.jawproducts.com
They are wonderful. After chewing on them for a little while that tooth started to move a little . yeahhh




Here I am with the bottom #4 aligner in. I took my before picture into the bathroom and compared now to then and they are starting to look a little straigher. happy happy






My ortho gave me a strawberry (?) flavored aligner chewie. Didnt think it tasted so good. Think I will stick with my unflavored one and just soak it in mouth wash.
Also got an aligner ultrasonic from the jawproducts place. Only 20.00



Here is a slide view of the chewie. Love the things. Only costs 1.75 for 3 and like 65 cents to ship. Got two packages. They are addictive, chew chew chew
Like gum only...unflavored :)

Now I'm on my 4th aligner set. Here is a pic of my lower aligners. The one on the right is my 1st lower aligner and the left one is my 4th. Sorry the quality suckith much.

Pedro at the invisalign factory did a poor job cutting around the inside front. Ouchie owie it cut the heck out of the underside of my tongue until I filed that area down.







This one is a little better. The top one is my 1st aligner and the one on the bottom is my 4th. Pedro has done an ok job with this tray. Maybe he has some anger issues. One person told me that Edro Pedro's evil twin trimmed her last one. hmmm







This is a picture of my before on my uppers. Not real u shaped and the tooth with the little dot filling is slightly twisted. Wow look at all that metal. I think when I am done I will start replacing them with tooth colored fillings.

I found one good thing about not being able to snack. So far I've lost about 8-10 pounds. woo hooo. You really notice how much you normally snack when you no longer can. Now when I eat I make it count. Fill that tank all the way up because darn it I'm not taking these buggers out until I absolutely have to. So far I only eat two big meals a day but I drink alot.. of coffee. I'm really really bad on that. I figure I can just bleach them when I'm done. A few years back I got a bleaching tray and some syringes of bleach to go with it. I can just use my last tray to do it in since my bleaching trays will no longer fit when I'm done. I can just go back to that dentist and buy more syringes. They are about 25 for 3 or 4 syringes. My aligners I just soak in denture cleaner. Kinda embarassing to buy but it really cleans them.
Today it really is Tuesday the 26th. I just went to my orthodontist and had sanding done between 5-7 teeth on the top and the same amount on the bottom. It was a toe curling experience as I like to say. Then I got to put in #3 aligner and got the next 3 sets. My whole series is only 10 sets. I really feel for those who have 20+ sets.ewww
My orthodontist is a little concerned about some small gaps on the top of a couple of teeth on the bottom, but he thinks it hopefully will resolve itself. I ordered some aligner chewies to help push them closer to my teeth. They were really cheap, only 1.75 for a set of three and only cost 87 cents to ship. They look like little cotton rolls like what you get at the dentist to bite on only they are squishy. I've also had someone suggest a popsicle stick / tongue depressor. Which would be easy for me to find since I work at a hospital.


Aren't I pretty. Like I said I can't help myself. It's in my genes.
Imagine this coming at you at oh 3 in the morning at the hospital. "I said hold still and it wont hurt" "Don't make me stick you again". Yeah I've been called a vampire more times than I care to admit even though that is only a very small part of my job and only after the phlebotomist goes home. I like to say good morning now I need to stick you with a sharp metal stick and suck out some of your life fluid so I can bring it back to my lair to play with, hee hee hee

Here I am with my second aligner set in. Sorry a camera or a webcam pointed at me always brings out the best in me :). Say CHEEESSSEEE.
wow look at those shiny teeth




Here are my first two bottom aligners. The one on the top is my first and the one on the bottom is my second.






Here are my uppers. Again the one on the top is from aligner #1 and the bottome #2

I'm actually on my third set starting today but I'm going back in time to tell what happened two weeks ago here.
It's a Sunday and I'm not suppose to change aligner trays until Tuesday but my tongue next to the last two molars on my right side hurts. I've managed to play with it with my tongue so much that I've tried sanding it down with a file and still can't get it to feel better. Oh much better and hey my lisp is gone.
Saw my orthodontist at back to school night. His daughter and mine go to the same school. Told him that I changed aligners and why. He told me to get a pair of scissors and just clip that area out between those molars and then file any rough edges. Did that when I got home and it made a huge difference. I've included a picture of myself with my second aligner.