10 October – The Extraction!
Finally back from a month-long holiday and I’m ready to start my Invisalign journey! The first thing on my to-do list was to extract two upper wisdom teeth. My upper row of teeth is a little crowded and the wisdom had to go. As I looked forward to my extraction appointment in excitement, I was actually a little scared because of my dentist’s phobia.
I was thankful that my appointment was 10 am in the morning and I got to rest the entire day after I’m back home.
The dentist and her assistant were nice as they calmed me and assured me everything would be fine before, during, and after the procedure. They helped make my experience less traumatizing considering I had a bad experience visiting the dentist.
The whole extraction procedure went smoothly and faster than I expected. In a few minutes, I was out and ready to head home to rest for the day. I didn’t feel any pain till the numbness wore off. It was a little stinging pain for a while and that’s it. I didn’t need any painkillers and I’m back to eating normally.
17 October – Invisalign Day!
The day I have been looking forward to finally arrived. The usual cleaning of my teeth with Dr Jessica before we started with the Invisalign fitting. It was a little longer than I expected. But everything went well as she updated me on what she was doing during the procedure.
I have two little metal to hook the rubber bands on my Invisalign. I also have some little bumps on my teeth in order for the aligners to hold on tight while I wear them for a minimum of 22 hours a day! The only time I took it off will be during meal times.
Received a total of 59 sets of Invisalign. Was given a schedule to change a new set of Invisalign each week. It will last till 19th December, and I’m guessing they’ll give me a new schedule after that. I’ve forgotten to ask, will do so during my next appointment if I ever remember.
Wearing it for the first day was a little uncomfortable. My teeth felt tight and constrained in the little aligners. My Jaw was a little sore, not sure if it’s from the Invisalign or that my mouth was opened for quite a while during the dentist visit. Removing it by myself at home for the first time for dinner took me a long time. I stood by the sink and was trying to pry open the Invisalign. I get a little frustrated when it doesn’t want to come off. But was a relief when I managed to remove them.
It was difficult to chew on my food now with all the little bumps and metal rods in my teeth. It felt weird and I was scared I broke something. Thankfully Dear was understanding of my plight, and we’ve been having smaller pieces and softer meat as I slowly get used to my new routine.
I don’t really floss my teeth, but now I have to start a regular habit. After every meal, I was told to floss and brush my teeth. And for the first time in my life, I’m flossing and brushing my teeth more times a day! I have yet to head out for a meal, probably will write an entry about my eating out experience soon.
Oh, I was given Invisalign’s very own casing to keep my aligners properly when I remove them during meal times! The whole thing looked damn high class can!