Regular Appointment

Well I went to the orthodontist yesterday, and all went well. He wasn't concerned about the movement of the teeth that I talked about in my last post. He made some room for my bottom teeth by shaving in between them in several spots.

He said he is happy with my jaw movement and that I can go to only wearing the elastics half of the time. Crazy thing is, I'm very used to them and it feels weird without them in. I put them back in before I left the office and left them in for rest of the day. I took them off at night. I think that's what I'll do for awhile until I get used to the idea of an unrestricted jaw during the waking hours.

I forget to point out that I lost an attachment on the bottom, but it doesn't seem to be causing any trouble so it can wait until my next visit.

Can You Eat With Invisalign In?

I was just talking to a new coworker who noticed my Invisalign and said that he just completed his treatment less than a year ago. He said that his treatment course was 27 months long! Then he told me that after about a year he just started eating with them in! He said he couldn't chew or bite off things like meat, but anything on the softer side he would leave them in for. He said it was actually easier because all you have to do is rinse them off when you're done. I am just baffled. I once tried to eat a martini olive with them in and couldn't bring myself to do it. I cannot imagine doing this!

Can You Use Mouthwash With Invisalign?

I love to use mouthwash. I usually keep a bottle in my drawer at work and use it throughout the day. Since I've gotten my braces though, I haven't. The brushing makes up for it, but sometimes I still feel like I could use a cleanse.

I don't know why, but I just always assumed that using mouthwash with Invisalign would be a bad idea. No one told me not to, but I guess I just figured that the green might stain or at least get trapped in there temporarily and look weird. But I tried it the other day, and it's fine. I just rinse with water when I'm done, and it works great.

Will We Need Another Reboot?

I have a regular visit tomorrow, and I have concerns about another tooth. It's the opposite one as before, and it seems to not be coming down. This one did not get a new attachment when my new aligners came in, and I think it probably should have. You can see it here in the center with the large gap between the tooth and the bottom of the aligner:

In fact, the same tooth that had been giving me trouble before seems to not be tracking so well again. Have a look:

Not as bad as before, but still concerning. Keep in mind that this is the very first day with this particular aligner, and some space is normal. I even have been wearing the aligners for a little longer than a week before changing to the next one to try to correct any issues, but it doesn't seem to matter.

One thing I have taken away from this experience is that if we have to change treatment plans again and get all new aligners, I will INSIST that all attachment be removed and new ones installed.