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 46

Wow, I can't believe it has been 10 days since I have written anything about the invisible aligning of my teeth. So much has happened, you would not believe...

Uh, there was the...

Um...well, I did...

OH...the thing with the thing...you know...with whats-his-name...come on...

Okay, in all seriousness, it has been pretty chaotic over here. Let me tell you, the best thing that could happen to you while you are doing Invisalign is to get jury duty. Yes, you laugh, but there is no time to truly get away and eat or drink so they stay in for most of the day.

I had jury duty this past Thursday and Friday (luckily, I didn't get selected for the criminal case that I was pulled for). The worst part was trying to find a place to take out my aligners. I try not to take them out in front of anyone as it can get pretty 'slobbery' and no one needs to see me slobbering all over myself.

Side note: did you ever notice that there is never any healthy food around a courthouse? Just my observation. The 'weight-gain' rule for vacation applies to jury duty, too. I am just saying.

So, my front tooth was hurting a couple of days after the new tray was in. I think it is because the upper aligner is starting to move that particular tooth back into place. I don't visually see any difference with the placement of the tooth, but I was feeling a dull pain for about a day. You know, one of those 'if-I-tap-on-my-tooth-it-feels-like-it-might-have-a-cavity' kind of dull pain. Gone now, though.

I have to tell you, my dedication has slipped a little. There was one day this week where my aligners were out for about 6 hours. Not good. I had them out for a half hour for breakfast, about 45 minutes for lunch, then I needed to snack before my meeting with my agent at 2 PM so I took them out around 1:30. I decided to keep them out while I had my meeting, too.

My meeting went until 3:00 so I figured I would brush my teeth when I got home; no reason to put my trays back in, right? I brushed my teeth and decide to drink a soda. So now it's 4:30 and my wife calls me and tells me she is hungry. Since I never put my trays back in after the delicious beverage, why put my trays back in just to take them out again? Makes total sense. We eat and get back home around 5:30 PM.

Needless to say, not a good day. I had them out for 4 hours...in one shot. It is amazing how the time just gets away from you sometimes.

I think I made up for it last night. "Compulsions", the phenominal web series, was screening last night at Tavern on Brand. I decided to only drink water and keep my aligners in all night. I have been taking my aligners out for 'industry' functions recently and, as you have read, I have not been doing that well on those occasions. Hopefully the hours I didn't take them out for the screening fixed any backward movement from the previous bad day.

Also, I noticed it has been a while since I have posted any photos. I took some when I switched over to Tray 3 but never posted them. I will be taking new photos this coming Monday (the start of Tray 4) just so you can see the progress. Hopefully, it will be visible.

Pain Level - 5
Dedication Level - 5
Irritation Level - 4

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 31

I can see how people start to get lazy with putting their aligners in for 20-22 hours a day. It is weird to keep these plastic trays in your mouth when you feel they are doing absolutely nothing.

Sure, for the first couple of days your teeth hurt and you know the aligners are doing something (that reminds me of Carl...inside joke, I tell you later). But now, I just feel like I have these contraptions in my mouth that give me something to chew on all day. It is akin to chewing plastic gum with no flavor...and you can't even blow bubbles. Come on, now!!!

I have heard the teeth move the most for the first couple of days with the new aligners. Although I am only guessing here, since I am not an Orthodontist, I think it is the same concept as weighlifting (don't worry, I know I have to reference the WINTER Olympics...I'll get there) where you work a muscle hard at first then rest it, only to work it hard again. Any Orthodontists reading this can chime in. I don't have a problem being told I am completely wrong.

Look, I only want to do this once. I will keep my tasteless aligners in for the 20 to 22 hours (that sounds cool, "20 to 22 hours"). I don't want to put all of this time in, get to the end and know that I did a "Method Grab" like Lindsey Jacobellis at the Torino Olympics in 2006 and screw this up. I do not want to take the chance of coming back hoping for a different result only to have "contact with the gate" and not get closer to the Gold Medal my second time out (see, I told you I would get there).

BTW, Carl is a programmer that would write code and, whether the data was correct or not, as long as it "did something" he was happy. Carl was a very happy man.

Pain Level - 0
Dedication Level - 9
Irritation Level - 6 (they should flavor to the aligners - it would be great to be chewing on chocolate 22 hours of the day)

Invisalign - DAY 30

I don't know if my teeth are getting whiter or my liver has failed. I am hoping for the prior.

You are told when you get Invisalign that you can not eat with them in. Also, you are only allowed to drink water. You can have soda, tea, coffee, beer...whatever you want...but you will have to take your aligners out while you do, and you will have to brush your teeth when you are finished.

Because of this, I have been brushing my teeth, on average, about 8 times a day:

1. After my shower in the morning
2. After my morning coffee
3. After lunch
4. After a mid day snack (or frappaccino)
5. After my snack in the car on the way home (Wisps)
6. After dinner
7. After Fo-Yo (Menchie's)
8. After my late night snack before bed

I am not sure, but I don't think excessive brushing leads to your liver shutting down, so I am assuming that my teeth are becoming whiter from the gobs of Crest Whitening Toothpaste I slather inside my mouth.

I put my face up against the television the other day and noticed from my reflection that they are whiter than the slush that Seth Wescott had to snowboard through to win his Gold Medal in Snowboard Cross.

I better not lose my enamal or end up with blue teeth, 'cause then I am going to pissed, like the Russian Pairs Figure Skaters who failed to stand on the podium after dominating that sport for the last 12 years. Yeah, I would be that pissed, and the last thing you want is a pissed Russian to deal with.

Pain Level - 0
Dedication Level - 9.5
Irritation Level - 5 (constantly removing and inserting my aligners)