Invisalign!

OK, so a little about me . . . in the 4th grade I was walking back into class after recess and I tripped on someones bag that they had by their desk and whomp! my teeth hit a table . . . one of those wood tables with metal around the sides that you often saw in the 70's and 80's.  I can tell you that to this day that was still the most pain I have ever been in!  We'll see how giving birth stacks up to my tooth/mouth pain but to date it is still the most excruciating pain I have been in.

At the time the dentist didnt do too much for me . . . actually I dont remember them doing anything, but they may have given that I was pretty out of it [and it was a long time ago].  All I know is that my two front teeth were cracked - you couldnt see it unless the light was right, but there were three horizontal cracks . . . and yet somehow the tooth held together.  Oh and one of the bottom teeth had a vertical squiggly line crack as well as a chunk taken out of it.  I know that tooth was filed down a little.   When I was in my early 20's and finishing my undergraduate degree I had root canals in those three teeth.  The dentist actually wanted to do a root canal on the other lower front tooth . . . but since he was doing the whole procedure without pain medication, when he started to drill into the other tooth my leg jumped unconsciously . .  needless to say he didnt do a root canal on that one [and why I am a proponent for not using pain medicine whenever I have work done on those teeth].  Oh and for those of you that think I am crazy for not having pain medicine - the root/nerve was dead - it didnt hurt, just felt a little achey from all the movement.   Oh and I am crazy, just not for that. :-)

So in 2010 I had crowns put on the cracked top teeth . . . which that was an ordeal, maybe I will tell the story some other time.  But, that lower tooth with the squiggly crack in it is not doing so well and needs to be pulled.   I was pushing my dentist to give me an option other than a bridge which would have damaged the two perfectly good teeth on either side of it.  So since it is not implant eligible- it is too small, my dentist eventually suggested that the tooth be pulled and the gap closed with braces.  Um, what??  have an uneven number of teeth??  But the bottom wont line up with the top!?!?  I dont know about this . . . I think it will look funny and make me self conscious.  I asked the dentist for pictures of someone who had the same thing - and there really werent any.  So fast forward a little bit when I am talking to a coworker who's daughter is a dentist . . . and OMG she had that done years ago - WHAT!!!  Let me see!!!  Hmmm, I have seen you every weekday for years and I never noticed - SOLD!

So a little while later I met with the Orthodontist who told me that this whole thing can be done with Invisalign or traditional braces . . . Invisalign, Invisalign Invisalign . . . do you want to think it over . . . nope, Invisalign.  Oh, and my left wisdom teeth are slanted . . . and that can be fixed with invisalign too.  Oh, and I forgot to mention during High School/early College I did have appliances and braces to fix my crooked back teeth . . . but the idiot orthodontist wanted to remove my wisdom teeth even though several dentists have said I have enough room in my mouth for all my teeth.  So my back 2 left teeth were crooked - and he fixed the one before the wisdom teeth, but not the wisdom teeth . . . but that whole experience is another story in itself . . . like how when I went to get my braces off - THEY LEFT ONE ON MY TEETH  .. . it popped off as I was showing someone - but can you say incompetent!  Ok, dont get me started on that one . .. . 

So to try and wrap up this really long story . . . I got invisalign on Thursday!  I went a lunchtime and when I returned to the office - no one noticed (or at least they didnt say anything).  I was talking a little funny, but maybe they just thought I was getting sick or something.  Anyway despite the pain!  yes, they hurt, I am doing OK.  I just dont know if this was really the best time for me to start wearing them as I cant do much for the pain.  Yeah, I can remove them, but you know what - if you remove them, your teeth still hurt - just feels a little different. Actually after a couple of days it started to feel better.   And I know I can take Tylenol . . . but I am really trying to refrain from taking any pain meds, especially during the first trimester.  And I am also a little worried about eating . . . you see, I like to eat and drink all morning long . . . and when nausea hits, eating is the best thing . . . while they say you can eat soft foods with the invisalign in, I tried it and food still got stuck in there - gross.  So I will have to see how that goes.  Oh, and the first night I woke up even more than normal . . .and my mouth hurt . . . again, pain meds would help but I am trying to be all noble and not do that.

So that is a little background and my experience having invisalign for 4 days . . . oops, I better go put those suckers back in . . . I ate dinner over an hour ago . . .oopsie.