05.05.08

Tray 4 & 5

at 10:03 pm by admin

I can now remove the trays easily and as often as I need to. The bottom set seems to pull off from one side, the top tray is the opposite. I just hook my fingernail under one side and gently pull them off.

I’m really surprised my dentist commented on one of his patients finding this treatment too ‘painful’ and refusing to continue. There is just now way I can see how anyone could be this dramatic. I will admit there is a slight twinge when a new tray goes in for the first time - this lasts approximately half a day, tops.

The next slight discomfort is when you remove the trays to eat - the first few days are a little tender but if you’re hungry you’ll soon get over it. I may find later on in the treatment, the pain is worse but I’m assured there will be little change from what I am experiencing right now to the rest of the treatment and I am currently not concerned or worried at all. At the moment I’m glad I didn’t have any retainers as a teenager (apart from the bill of course!). I’ve since heard horror stories from various friends, sleeping in head harnesses and experiencing painful adjustment sessions at the dentists office. Worse still they are now contemplating more retainers as their teeth have since moved as they got older. I’m advised with Invisalign after the treatment is complete you can order slightly sturdier trays to only wear at night for a few weeks or months afterwards. Doing this is supposed to ensure your teeth don’t move straight back to their old position and retain the new perfect arc which you’ve been working on.

I also had the lower set of attachments added to my teeth in Tray 4 stage. The whole process caused me no other grief apart from a small ulcer as my bottom lip got used to something protruding on my lower set of teeth. After a couple of weeks you no longer notice anything is different and no more ulcers. The only downside is my teeth still appear to be getting stained by tea (and maybe red wine) and the stains do seem to be gathering around the attachments. I’ll ask about bleaching in my next visit.