Tray 14

Tray 14 was mild but consistent with pressure the entire 2 weeks. The night I switched to tray 14 I whitened. BIG MISTAKE!! I had instant pain where one of my first molars meet the gum line. I mean instant searing pain! Maybe because the aligner moved the teeth but they hadn't settled yet. I don't know, but from now on I will wait until the tail end of the wear. I wanted to start out "fresh" since I had just had my teeth cleaned and made the pact to only drink water while wearing them. I could only keep them in for about 15 minutes and that was pushing it! I had tears...seriously! Have been using the Colgate Prevident like crazy to combat sensitivity.




I completed the first experiment with staining of the aligners. I did the exact same hygiene routine using Polident 3 minute except that I only drank water when my aligners were in.

 

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Top is tray 13 - Polident 3 minute - I drank some diet coke and crystal light while wearing them (but not continuously, I still drank mostly water while wearing them!). YUK!





Middle is tray 14 - Polident 3 minute with only water while wearing them






Bottom is tray 15 right out of the package.





So, you can clearly see that these aligners stain terribly. From here on out, I am back to my water only regimen. Even only drinking water, while using the Polident 3 minute, there is still some slight staining. I didn't really notice the discoloration on a daily basis like tray 13. It wasn't until I took the new aligners out that I could really see that there was still some staining. I have a feeling no matter what, after 2 (or longer for others) weeks of wear, there will always be some staining and general grunginess (is this a word? LOL.)

Aligner 15 will be my normal regimen but using Retainer Bright instead of the Polident. Let's see how that turns out (I could just pull out some old aligners to compare as I still have them all (not sure why!) I put in tray 15 last night before bed and my front 2 teeth are some what loose today when I remove them, but I haven't had any pain at all. I was half expecting more soreness since trays 5 & 10 (pattern of 5's lol) seemed to hurt more than the others, but so far so good! I can't believe I just put in tray 15! 196.5 days into Invisalign! I still have a long ways to go, but I am used to them fully now (even the hated attachments.)

I think my teeth look much better when I am wearing the trays at this point.  :)

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