Tray 1 Week 2

Invisalign Tray 1/Week 2/Day 3 (1/25/14) Halleluiah! I have been delivered--from pain. Finally. The pain started to subside around Day 4 of Week 1, but it wasn't--and still isn't--completely gone. It is tolerable, now, and at a level where I can eat pretty much anything without feeling pain that would stop me from eating. The trays, which I affectionately referred to as "Dental Jail," now snap on and off easily and I no longer dread taking them out or putting them in. My mouth has actually adjusted well to having them in and I would describe them as moderately comfortable. Great,you say? Sure, except that in exactly 3 days, I will have a new tray to get used to, and by most accounts I've read, new pain. Part of me just wants to binge on food you have to chew, knowing that my diet is about to consist of slim fast and soup for 3 days in a very short time. But in other news, I did manage to lose 3 pounds due to the lack of ability to eat. So, silver lining, I guess? I found something online called "Retainer Brite" that is basically denture cleanser for orthodontic apparatus. I wasn't really having trouble keeping them clean with just brushing, but Retainer Brite claims to kill odor causing bacteria, and they really do come out looking very clear and clean. Mine had a little staining from a med that I took while they were in and I thought I might have ruined them. But, one quick bath in the Retainer Brite and they looked like new. I use it once a day and I can definitely say it's resulted in a decrease in "retainer breath," so I'm happy with that find. I've found some ways to cope with the pain of putting them in. Whomever said Advil and Tylenol work on this pain really lied. I'd say Advil works better than Tylenol at controlling pain when you're just sitting there, doing nothing but suffering, but neither does a whole lot to help that pain from taking them in and out. The pain from eating is actually much less than with braces (because the aligners are not actually in and putting pressure on your teeth while you eat), but the pain of removal and re-entry proved too much for NSAIDS. I will have a very serious talk with my orthodontist about pain management, because I'm not sure if I have to experience this pain every three weeks, that I will be successful on Invisalign. Something I read that I was a little scared to try was running hot (not boiling) water over the aligners prior to putting them in. There is supposedly a risk of warping them, but not at the temperature that would be considered "tolerable" to humans. It's basically extremely "warm" water, but it does appear to soften the plastic temporarily to make putting it in your mouth less traumatic. The plastic is medical grade plastic so it really does retain its shape, and I hardly thing it warped to the exact shape of my teeth because I tried this trick for several days before it really made a huge difference. I am dreading my next appointment due to what I've heard about starting this cycle all over again. For the next three days, however--I'm having a mouth party! [Applause].