Refinement Aligner 10 and the importance of attachments!

Firstly – look at my new comparison photo!!

WOW! I am always so focused on the tooth coming forward that I forget to look at the rest of the teeth that have come along really well! I am really happy with the transformation thus far and can’t wait for it all to come together soon.

I am now on refinement aligner 10 and can feel lots of progress. I have however lost about 7 attachments which my dentist will be reapplying in a few days. I couldn’t work out why the aligners weren’t quite fitting correctly when I put new ones in each week then had a particularly bad one that kept popping off my top right teeth. A quick call with the dentist explained that the missing buttons were to blame so he ordered another attachment template to reapply them. The problem with the attachments for me is that I have such sensitive teeth that we don’t abrade the teeth first (Rough up the surface) as I really can’t afford to lose any enamel! Not doing this means the attachments don’t ‘stick’ as well as they should and therefore come off easier.

One of the risks of having attachments come off is the pieces themselves occasionally get lost in my mouth. I have bitten into food before and had an attachment crack off then get a shock when I bite down on it! I don’t feel it come off 99% of the time so more than once I have freaked out thinking I have cracked a tooth! A few weeks ago the piece of an attachment got stuck in between my gum and my last bottom tooth – right where the wisdom tooth came out! I could tell there was something there but couldn’t seem to get rid of it. The area became sore them I was able to use a hooked toothpick to pull it out thankfully without going in to the dentist – that’s the only time that has happened to me but it was pretty unpleasant!

I have also noticed big changes with my bite recently which sometimes leads to really sore teeth that feel like they have a hole in them! This is just basically bruising as the teeth are biting down on different surfaces which aren’t used to the pressure. After I move on to the next aligner (or sometimes just wait a few days) this becomes less noticeable or goes away altogether.

That is about it for this update. Hopefully when I get the attachments done again in a few days it will all be fine again for a while. I am moving interstate in 2 months and still have at least 6 months left on my Invisalign so will need to carefully prepare my logistics and plan trips back here carefully!

Until Next Time!

Xx