So the very first day I was sick, I also went to the dentist to get my new Invisalign stuff put in my mouth. I have six attachments on the top and four on the bottom. The first two weeks my top tray got all shitty and kind of falling apart. I just moved to tray #2 last night and I am hoping I can be more careful with it when I remove it. I didn’t expect the first tray would get cracks in it from being yanked out so badly. ANYWAY yeah, this is gonna go on until August of next year, 23 trays! If my teeth move well, we might go from switching every two weeks to every ten days. But I don’t want to push it. It seems most of the movement happens the first three days, then it’s just letting the teeth settle.

I’ve been reading stories online from people who are doing this, and a main complaint seems to be massive pain. I have to say, I had braces as a kid and THOSE were fucking hellacious. Like I would be crying when they went on and every time they got adjusted. I couldn’t eat corn on the cob. It was sad times! This is more of a pressure and mild discomfort, not really horrible at all. And being able to take it out is nice. That being said it seems to need to be on 22 hours a day. I read somewhere 20 is fine but everyone else says 22.

It’s been weird brushing my teeth so much. Unless I am eating, my mouth is minty fresh. I’m trying to eat less just because taking them out is such a drag. But also the first week I was only eating three times a day and I didn’t have proper groceries and I was getting super hungry and I was just so fucking miserable. And also I was drinking a lot of sparkling water, because drinking things like cola/juice/etc stain the trays. So I got SO TIRED of water, and ended up doing this thing where whenever I get to eat, I’ll like chug a whole bunch of some other fun drink like coke or beer or flavoured pop or something. And it’s made life a little less miserable.

I honestly don’t see much difference looking at Tray #1 to my current Tray #2. But I was having trouble closing my lips over my teeth with the tray in last time, and now it seems to be easier. So possibly there is some imperceptible movement I am not noticing yet. I go back at the beginning of November to get more trays and also let the dentist see what is going on with my mouth and if it is working. I already found out about the “compliance” markers on my Invisaligns which are these blue dots that fade and are supposed to go clear if you wear them enough. BUT I mostly chew on one side of my mouth, and for whatever reason even tho the trays are out when I am chewing obviously, it’s only that side of the compliance markers that is fading. And also it never did get clear, I did have them out for a long time when I have coffee in the morning, and a couple of times when I went out to eat.

The beginning of the 2 weeks with a new tray seems to involve a hard time getting the top tray off. It’s where my overbite is obviously, so I guess that is part of it. Sucks to be me! Ha ha. I hope I can figure it out this time around without my tray falling apart.

I dunno, 23 trays! 21 left! And then possible adjustments. And then retainers for the rest of my life to wear at night. I had this procedure called “IPR” which is where they file down between your teeth to make room for them when they are overcrowded. I had it on my bottom teeth. It was fucking SCARY! She had basically a circular saw that was really tiny that she was using to cut between them. And then she would measure to see if she got the right spacing between them. I’d never heard of it before. I heard other people get all bloody when it happens but I didn’t. And I was so sick at the time. And it took like, three hours, so long. I was so sick omg.

I guess it sounds kind of self-involved to get Invisalign or something, I dunno. I know I wanted to get it last year when I got the REVEAL award, but instead we used that money to go to England and Scotland. Which to be honest, was more fun. I’ve just been lucky enough this year to get enough work to cover this and the egg freezing. And I had really liked having straight teeth in my youth, and as time went on they shifted back because I wasn’t wearing a retainer. I kind of ran away from my orthodontist to be honest. He was awful, he didn’t even wear gloves. And he was always so mean. OMG that orthodontist office was awful. There was one who was really nice, but of course I didn’t get that one. Anyway, yeah, I should probably figure out how to wear these trays more hours in a day. And I just might have to give up coffee for a while. I’ve gone from two cups a day to one. Which bums me out but it’s something at least.

ANYWAY yeah that’s the scoop! I have to clean my apartment today because tomorrow I finish my tattoo (HOPEFULLY!) and the day after go to the fracture clinic and then Mom comes in the afternoon. I’m nervous about the tattoo, I so want to finish, it would look so beautiful, and I want to finally have a break from going in until my next big tattoo idea. But it hurts so much. Last time I took a T3 when I went in, but to be honest it probably worked even worse than if I had gone in without a T3. So I’m just gonna go in without any painkillers, no numbing, back to my usual thing of having eaten and having some kind of sweet drink with me for breaks. She’s really good at talking me through the pain, so I am just gonna go as hard as I can and see what I can get done. I know it probably seems weird for someone with so many tattoos to say this, but they fucking HURT! I think it’s just that they are worth it when you have a good artist, they look SO GOOD! They make me feel like I belong in my body more each time. But yeah they fucking hurt. Definitely more painful than Invisalign. Maybe not as painful as two years of braces tho.