I thought I had mastered my temporary speech impediment after a week of tray one but when I moved onto tray two, I had a whole new set of problems! Other "s" words started causing me problems and I suddenly struggled with B's and P's. It has gotten better throughout this week. I am hoping tray three doesn't bring new issues. 

I have noticed a pattern with my first two trays:

- Day 1: tightness and pressure with the trays in

- Day 2: trays feel better, but teeth hurt while eating, especially biting

- Day 3: teeth still hurt a bit while eating, every so often the trays feel tight

- Day 4: trays are barely noticeable, still some tenderness while eating

- Days 5-7: all good

Things are still way better than I remember traditional braces. 

Seven days down!

It's been an interesting week, to say the least!  

I was able to wear my trays an average of 22 hours over the last week and used my AcceleDent consistently for 20 minutes each day.  The drooling has gotten better each day and I found it's easy to fit in while I'm doing chores around the house.  I'm waiting until I change trays before I got to bed tonight to do today's AcceleDent. 

I brushed my teeth at two bars (where we ate dinner), at a Cleveland Indians game and at the Cheesecake Factory.  Those were all pretty strange experiences.  And, I lost two pounds this week because I talked myself out of a lot of snacks!

The first few days were definitely the most uncomfortable.  At times, I didn't even notice the aligners.  There were also a few moments when I wanted to pull them out and be done.  Surprisingly, some of my greatest discomfort occurred when I had the aligners out on the second day.  None of the discomfort has even come close to the pain I experienced with traditional braces.  It's more like how things felt when I would go too long between wearing my Hawley retainers and decided to put them back in.  Over the last few days, they've gone to being barely noticeable.  I have worried a bit that I may forget I have them in at some point and drink a non-clear beverage.    

Since Thursday, they have been pretty easy to remove and put back in and, even though I don't see a difference yet, I already feel like flossing is easier on the left side of my mouth.  I struggle more getting the bottom ones out and, even with the Pultool, I worry about getting the bottom aligner out once there are attachments.  

My lisping has improved, but I still have issues with some words, especially those that have a combination of the letters that mess me up, like 'this' or 'choices' for instance.  

None of the coworkers I have seen around the state this week have commented on them.  I went to a cookout for July 4th and no one noticed them.  I also wore them Tuesday for a volleyball tournament and my team didn't notice until I blurted it out at dinner.  

Backing up... The scans

One of the big draws to both Invisalign and the orthodontist I selected was the availability of the Itero scanner, a technology whichever replaces the need for those awful dental impressions.  

I had to wait until after I had some fillings done on two teeth because the fillings changed the shape of my teeth a bit and capturing an exact image (or impression) is critical to Invisalign being successful.

The gal doing the scans told me we could take a break at anytime. The camera blows air and she warned me my mouth might get dry during the scanning process as a result.  The machine beeps as each tooth is read and calls out the position.  It was over in about 10 minutes and really was not the slightest bit uncomfortable, at least, as dental procedures go.  The other awesome thing was that I was able to see a rendering of the final results a few minutes later!