Halfway!

Is a little knowledge a dangerous thing? With this blog I hope to find out.

I’m just over half way with my aligners now and my teeth are moving!!!

I am currently wearing my eighth aligner and nearly ready for my ninth. When my treatment is finished, I will have worn fifteen aligners.

My dental knowledge has been helpful, I appreciate the importance of brushing and flossing to ensure my gum health is maintained – though I have to be careful not to over brush, there is a fine line between the two. By keeping a good cleaning regime, I have managed to keep the tea staining on my composite buttons to a minimum – I do enjoy a cup of tea and I am drinking more cups than I had intended.

Every time I see Anju for an aligner check and collect my next ones she takes a series pf photos. I have found these to be a real motivator, on occasions wearing the aligners is a bit challenging but when I see the photos it really helps to see just how much my teeth have moved from the original photos Anju took.
Looking back over the last eight aligners, initially there was quite a lot of movement, then it slowed down a bit with aligners six and seven but aligner eight has definitely got them on the move again. So, don’t be concerned if during your treatment, it seems like not much is happening – this is normal.

I have noticed over the weeks that my salivation rate has pretty much gone back to normal, except for when I get hungry then my brain still thinks my aligners are food. I have manged to stop sucking through the aligners and my speech is pretty good. The only time I sound a bit plumy is the first day with a new aligner, but on the whole most people don’t notice at all. I have noticed, if I talk a lot the inside of my bottom lip can get a little bit sore but thankfully I’m the quiet one and let others do the talking.

I would still say my professional knowledge has been more of a help than a hindrance.

I am currently training for a marathon at the end of April, and I have found I can’t run in my aligners. I don’t seem to be able to regulate my breathing very well and I seem to really salivate too. I take them out when I going running or training and use this as rest time for my teeth and oral tissues – this hasn’t had a negative impact on the effectiveness of the aligners.

On the whole I wear my aligners as much as possible during the day, only taking them out to eat and drink a hot drink, drinking water with them in is fine. In the evening, I take them out at about 6.30pm when I go training and keep themout until I go to bed.

I have had no trouble sleeping in them and I think this is a real bonus and would recommend wearing them at night as this seems to be really beneficial to the tooth movement.

So far, I have had a really positive experience and am looking forward to the final phase of my treatment which starts at aligner ten.

Karen Hodkin