Invisalign - DAY 145

I thought I was going to do a better job of keeping up a daily journal regarding my Invisalign. To all 4 of my followers, I apoligize. On the bright side, my acting has really kept me busy (shooting the web series, theater rehearsals, auditions for short films), but this blog isn't about my acting career...

So, I am about to start on Tray #11 and things have been going smoothly. Before jumping into Tray #10 I took a photo of the changes at the halfway mark. I will post those into this blog later as it is not on my current computer's harddrive. Just as my ClinChek showed, Trays 6-10 moved my upper front teeth and now it is time to start moving the bottom.

One thing I am bummed about is I lost the same 'button' that previous fell off. I was eating dry cereal this morning (Raisin Bran, in case you were wondering) and I started to chew on something crunchy. Now, Raisin Bran in crunchy so I thought it might be an extra crunchy flake. But in the back of my mind I knew this sensation and somthing told me that the button was on its way through my digestive system. I hate when I am right.

I go in for an exam and to pick up Trays 11-13 this coming Tuesday. Dr. Azani did say that if this particular button fell off again, he would not replace it since it was only an anchor and didn't really help to move any teeth. I am not sure if I am going to try to convince him to add it back on. I have a couple of days to figure out what to do.

Over the last 3 Weeks:
Pain Level - 4 (although, Tray #10 was really tight for a couple of days)
Dedication Level - 5 (I seem to be sans aligners for about 5 hours a day)
Irritation Level - 2 (things are going really good since I am visually seeing a change)

Invisalign - DAY 106

Wow, has it really been almost 20 days since I have blogged? Tray #7 came and went with no interesting issues or problems? What the...????


I think the only thing that is 'news worthy' is my wife and I went to see Dr. Azani last Monday for our 6-week check up. I was telling him how I was still frustrated after 15 weeks I still didn't see any change in my teeth. He informed me that everything was going great and "if the new trays are fitting, they were doing their job."

Then he pulled up a photo on the computer with a shot of my bottom teeth from the first day and handed me a mirror so I could see my bottom teeth now and compare. I could see that they had moved a little. At least, the one tooth was not so far behind the other. YAY!!!

Also, our friend who started Invisalign before found out that day that she would have 8 more aligners to finish the refinements needed. I have always known that when Dr. Azani told us that we had 19 trays that it would be longer than that.

One thing I noticed this morning was that my bottom aligners would always 'pop' off my bottom front teeth because of the way the teeth were positioned. Now, they are sliding off. I think it is because they are not so 'jacked up' anymore and are more aligned then before. It is a good thing. Changes are a'coming!!!!

Pain Level - 3 (more of a headache from the new aligners)
Dedication Level - 8
Irritation Level - 2

Invisalign - DAY 65

I have finally made it to Tray #5. What can I say?

Oh, yeah, how about...

OW OW OW OW OW OW OW OW OW!!!!!

After seeing Dr. Azani for my 6-week appointment to look over my teeth and get my next 3 trays, he assured me that everything was going right on schedule. He asked if I would like to put my new trays in and I opted to wait until I got home.

Once I got home, I had dinner then put #5 in. Well, 'put' is not the right word...maybe shove. My bottom tray went in and, although it was tight, it did snap into place. My top tray clicked into the back attachment, so I knew it was lined up correctly, but it did not want to fit onto the other teeth easily.

As I pushed and bit down on the aligner, it finally went over my teeth but it was pretty snug. I could feel my heartbeat in my right front tooth. Somehow, I think this tray is going to move this tooth a lot these next two weeks. My back teeth are getting a wider bite, and it really feels like a lot of pressure is being put back there.

I took my aligners out after two hours and I could feel the movement that was trying to happen in my teeth. There is still some tingling in my front right tooth, but I am sure that will be gone in a couple of days. So, I guess all I can say is...

OW OW OW OW OW OW OW OW OW OW!!!!!

Pain Level - 8
Dedication Level - 8
Irritation Level - 4

Helpful Hint: I have read on other blogs that you should not really put your new trays in until you have brushed them out or rinsed them over cold water. You can see there is some film over the aligners and people have complained about sore throats and attribute it to this. Best thing to do is not put in the new aligners at the DDS office and just wait until you can clean them yourself.

Invisalign - DAY 64

I thought this day would never come. Today is the day we have our first followup with our Orthodontist and get the next three trays (5 thru 7).

I am kind of worried because on the weekends I am getting into the habit of taking my aligners out when I wake up and having them out for a while.

After taking 10 minutes to roll out of bed, I throw the aligners in the CVS Generic Polident solution, take a shower, spray the Flonase, get my contacts in, apply the underarm deodorant in my pits and product in my hair (hopefully, I don't mess those two up), SonicCare my teeth and take off for Starbucks, leaving my aligners in the solution to soak some more, even though they only need five minutes. Trust me, coming from my mouth, 5 minutes is not going to cut it.

By the time I get back home, Frappaccino fully inhaled, that's when I put the aligners back in, 2 hours after taking them out. I mean, why put them in before leaving the bathroom only to take them out 30 minutes later to have breakfast? Yeah, I know; it's 30 extra minutes, but what a pain.

Also, yesterday my wife and I had lunch with a couple of her ILM friends out at Octopus, a great sushi restaurant in Burbank. Since we were eating, out came the aligners. After eating and talking and eating and talking, three hours had passed and I still had to head home and brush before putting them back in. FIVE HOURS and I hadn't even had dinner yet?!?!?!

To top it off, with all the talking at lunch my attachment on my canine tooth started rubbing the inside of my cheek and now I have one of those tiny sores that looks like a pimple but feels like a cattle brand.

I think the Ortho purposely makes the attachments "pointy" so you will keep your aligners in and not tear your mouth apart. Well, Dr. Azani, lesson learned, my friend...lesson learned.

Until breakfast on Saturday.

Pain Level - 0
Dedication Level - 4
Irritation Level - 5 (just for the small cattle brand)

Invisalign - DAY 53

Dr. Azani's practice is so AWESOME!!! Thank you, Snow Orthodontics!!!!

This week I was given a Patient Login so I could set up appointments and the like (such as...where to...). After I logged in, I saw a tab that read "Videos". I was not sure what this entailed: was I being filmed while I was there? I don't want a video of me crying like a baby on the web.

After clicking on it, I was pleasantly surprised. Earlier, Dr. Azani had sent me a link to a video (called ClinCheck) that showed the progression of my 19 weeks with Invisalign. However, I couldn't share that video with family and friends. Bummer.

Now, with this "Video" tab, all of you are in luck. You can witness in slow motion (but faster than 19 weeks) what my teeth are doing and why I am getting headaches. These videos raised my spirits and they're so much better than getting frustrated over my own photos showing me nothing.

Before you click on the link below, a couple of things:

1. Once you click on the link, it is going to start the film on the left side of your screen. The number you see in the bottom right of this "movie" is the Tray number that will move the teeth into that position (after it gets to 20 and stops, click replay. It resets to the beginning and you can see how much they truly moved).

2. You will notice from the "Front View", my left front tooth starts out lower than my right front tooth, and immediately the trays start to push that tooth up to make it even with the other. That is probably why my tooth was tingling when I would tap it previously.

3. This link opens on the "Front View", but there is so much more to see. There is also a "Lower Jaw" and "Upper Jaw" view. Just click on the text above the movie for which one you want to view.

4. You can see on the "Lower Jaw" that my bottom front teeth do not really start moving back in place until about Tray #10. Up until that time, it shows the widening of the back of the jaw and the turning and twisting of my canine teeth. Pretty cool.

5. The "Upper Jaw" starts twisting my canine teeth immediately (along with the previously mentioned pushing up of the left front tooth) and then with Tray #6 thru Tray #11, my front teeth are moved forward to be aligned once again. The last couple of trays just keep widening my jaw and turning my canines so they are flush with the other teeth.

Again, pretty interesting. I am told that this is not an exact science so by the end of the 19 Trays there may have to be some Re-alignment Trays to fine tune what the previous trays could not, or did not, accomplish. Still, I am pretty stoked and can not wait to see the actual results.

Here is the link - Enjoy!!!!

https://login.sesamecommunications.com/gsnow/my-smile.html?uid=2441959


Pain Level - 3
Dedication Level - 8
Irritation Level - 1 (just having a good day, that's all)

Invisalign - DAY 50 - Start of Tray #4

So, I was sitting there watching the Oscars last night when I thought I would torture myself some more by putting in my new aligners. It couldn't be more painful than watching the awards show drag on and on and on and on and...

Thank goodness for Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin. If the show would have been hosted by David Letterman again, I don't know if the pain in my skull would have ever subsided.

Yep, that's right. Tray #4 was going in. But before I put in the new one's, I took some photos of my teeth to compare them to Day 1. After putting them side by side, I have to say I have not noticed any additional movement. I can tell they have been moving, but they must have only shifted millimeters because my teeth look like they are almost in the exact same spot.

I have heard that most people do not visually notice any movement in their teeth until halfway through the process. However, I look at my wife's teeth and I can notice hers are moving. It is frustrating.

I told Dr. Azani what I was doing, taking daily photos, and he told me that I would get this way. I knew it was going to be slow-going, but how can I see a change in my wife's teeth and not mine?!?!?! ARGHHHHH!!!

I was going to post new photos but if you go back to my photos of Tray #1, you can get an idea of what my teeth look like at the end of Tray #3.

Alright, bring on the dancers for the "Best Original Score"...I am not in enough pain yet!!!

Pain Level - 3
Dedication Level - 9
Irritation Level - 9

Helpful Hint: If you find that you are prone to headaches after putting in your new aligners, it is suggested you put them in before you go to bed, and take a couple of Advil to boot. By the morning, you should be fine with no pain at all.

Invisalign - DAY 36 - Start of Tray #3

Finally, today was the day. Today Dr. Azani was going to add the attachment that I ingested two weeks ago. This one was going to stay on, I just felt it.

I sat in the chair and was eased back while the technician prepped my tooth. Yanni or Kenny G was coming through the office sound system to let me know that everything was just fine. The appliance was placed, the ultraviolet heat was applied and that's when the technician let me know the wonderful news..."I don't think this is going to stay on either". WHAT?!?!?

As she went and got the doctor, I crossed my fingers hoping he would sit down, look at the placement and have better news. He sat down, looked at the placement and said "If it comes off again, no worries."

I found out that the attachments all have different functions, just like the Olympic Curling teams. Some attachments are there to turn the tooth, the way the 'sweepers' brush the ice to 'curl' the 'stone'. Some are there to push the tooth forward, the way the Skip 'weights' the rock down the 'curling sheet'. Some are there to just hold the appliance in place, sort of the way John Shuster has been holding the USA Olympic Curling Team in last place, unable to pull a win in the first 3 games to get benched for the forth. And, with a 2-5 record, they are pretty much out of the semi-finals. But, I digress.

My attachment that keeps coming out is one that is there to keep the tray in place...my John Shuster, if you will. With all of the difficulty it has caused, I am kind of hoping the attachment gets benched soon.

I also am now up to Tray 3. The start of this tray has been interesting. This might be weird, but I can feel the movement of my teeth in my nasal cavity. Sure, everything up in there is connected, but it is just weird to feel this. I have hopes that maybe my Invisalign will fix my deviated septum, though I think this is just wishful thinking.

Pain Level - 4 (more of an ache, but I feel headaches coming on, too)
Dedication Level - 9
Irritation Level - 4 (just hoping this attachment stays on this time)

Invisalign - DAY 33

I can't believe it has only been 33 days...9% of a year...12% of the way through this process. I thought, being past 40 years old, that this would just fly by. I mean, the rest of my life is passing quickly though the hour glass, why isn't this?

The waiting from tray to tray seems to be an eternity. I feel like I have been in Tray #2 for at least a month. Waiting...waiting...waiting...

Now I know how Evan Lysacek felt after skating his Long Program in Figure Skating and into the Gold Medal position, just waiting for everyone else to skate, not knowing if he did enough to win. In the end, the waiting was well worth it as Evgeni Plushenko didn't have the goods this time. Of course, Lysacek only had to wait about 45 minutes, not 9 months.

But I'm sure it must have felt like 50 minutes. An hour, tops.

Only 240 days left...hopefully Dr. Azani won't extend the length of any future trays like he did with Tray #1...the way Nobunari Oda of Japan had to prolong his program because his skate laces came undone.

Trust me, the last thing Dr. Azani would want to see is me come 'undone'. Are you reading this, doc...I'm just saying...

Pain Level - 1 (I find it weird that the pain so random from day to day)
Dedication Level - 9
Irritation Level - 4

Invisalign - DAY 32

I was brushing my teeth today (the first time, not the eighth) and I am still noticing some 'pain' on my two back bottom teeth. Not a pain that Japanese Halfpipe Snowboarder Kazuhiro Kokubo felt when, after a solid run that could have put him above the eventual Gold Medal winner Shawn White, he did a faceplant on his last trick, the double cork. No, that physical and emotional pain is not what I am talking about.

It feels as if my teeth are a little loose but not to the touch. When my toothbrush pushes against them, they have that ache that runs through the nerves. I am going to see Dr. Azani in 4 days to get the attachment that fell off placed back on my molar. While he is back there, maybe he can take a look at the other teeth to make sure nothing strange is going on.

Also, my congrats go out to Lindsey Vonn (Gold) and Julia Mancuso (Silver) in the Alpine Downhill, Shawn White and Scott Lago (Bronze) in the Snowboard Halfpipe, and Shani Davis (Gold) and Chad Hedrick (Bronze) in Men's Speedskating (1000m) the for all of their medal wins today. It was a good day for the USA!!!

Pain Level - 4
Dedication Level - 9
Irritation Level - 4

Invisalign - DAY 17

Well, good news, I guess. I called the DDS today regarding my attachment and it's decision to become a pizza topping. I asked Dr. Azani if there was anything to worry about and he informed me that there wasn't. It was an attachment that was on a molar in the back that is not moving my teeth that much, I assume.

He told me to go to my second tray, but before I start my third tray (in three weeks) to stop on by and he will add it again. Happy days. I just hope they can make it stay this time.

I am getting to be a pro at taking out my aligners now. It used to be too much of a hassle, now it's alright. I do notice that I want to leave them in more, though. It is because the attachments are not soft. They have a course feel to them and some come to a point that rub the inside of your cheek pretty fierce (I never thought I would use that word in a sentence).

I am taking a small vacation so I will see how dedicated I become out of the normalcy of everyday life. Wish me luck.

Pain Level - 3 (occational head and tooth ache)
Dedication Level - 10 (for now)
Irritation Level - 5 (the tiny sores on my cheeks from the attachments)

Invisalign - DAY 1

January 18th, 2009
8:50 PM


Name: Sean Spence
Occupation: Actor
Age: 30 (ish)
Orthodontist: Daniel Azani, D.D.S., M.S.
Office: Snow Orthodontics (Encino, CA)

Today is day one of my regimen with Invisalign. I have decided to write a short blog regarding my 38 weeks with Invisalign. You may ask, "Why, Sean, would you want to do that?"

Simple. When I was looking for answers about Invisalign, I could not find one site, one person, one experience that explained the process from the patients point of view. Well, after 38 weeks, we won't be able to say that now, will we?

"Well, what are you going to talk about?", you may ask. (wow, you ask a lot of questions for a stranger)

I have decided to break it down into three categories:

1. Pain Level - on a scale of 1 to "Get this crap out of my mouth", I will write about any and all experiences. I will try to keep it clean for the kids.


2. Dedication Level - how well I adhear to the rules of no drinking, no eating and keeping the trays in my mouth 22 out of 24 hours a day.


3. Irritation Level - how irrated I become on a daily basis with plastic in my mouth all day. YAY!!! (enter sarcasm here)

"Hey, could you tell us a little more about yourself?" (has anyone ever told you you talk too much?)

Sure, why not. But only stuff that pertains to Invisalign. If you want to read more about me, check out my other blog...I'll wait...

Pretty interesting stuff, huh?

So, I decided to do Invisalign because I am an actor and can not have silver braces showing. I also, just recently as two years ago, started getting that one tooth that protrudes out on the bottom. You know the one; the one when you look in the mirror, notice it and say "Oh, I must be getting old, oh well..." That one.

I originally didn't think I could use Invisalign because all of my past Orthodontists (that were referred by my GP) told me it was impossible unless I shaved down my lower tori, or "Bone Growth", which is a normal slow bone growth that appears in the upper and the lower jaw. I have been told by many DDSs that mine is the largest they have seen.

Thank you.

I could go on but this is a blog and I am told that babbling on in a blog is downright rude. So, here we are.

In all seriousness, I hope this blog helps you decide if Invisalign is for you. Please let me know if you have any questions about what I am experiencing. I will be very truthful, or else this blog would be worthless.