I hope.
ANYWHO. There's still some stuff to be done - I know there will be a likely refinement stage that may last a few months before I am able to get my retainers, but when I look at the progress, I'm actually pretty stunned.
This was taken on the day I got invisalign - July 13, 2017 - when I got in my car right after my first appointment:
This one was taken today:
(Don't mind my teeth. I just ate a whole bunch of cheese.)
HUGE progress. It wasn't without some shenanigans (like emergency dentist appointments for IPR on several occasions, constant wrestling matches with floss and/or my waterpik, and more than one occasion...ahem...maybe daily, where I just decided to throw caution to the wind and just drink some coffee, damn it), but my teeth are getting there. I still can't get over the difference, ESPECIALLY in my bottom teeth. Shenanigans aside, to say that I'm pleased with the outcome so far would be an understatement. Not only have my teeth straightened, but it feels like my whole jaw has changed. There isn't as much clicking all the time, I'm able to open my mouth better, and I think, but I can't be sure, that I have stopped grinding my teeth when I'm sleeping, and that's to say nothing of how much more confident I am in my smile. If someone were asking my opinion about getting invisalign, I would tell them that it's worth every penny. People tend to be judged for making cosmetic changes to their body, and I wholeheartedly used to be one of them - if I found out that someone got plastic surgery or enhanced their appearance in any way, I would internally roll my eyes. Now, I get it. This is not to say that I'm about to go out and do something drastic to anywhere else on my body, but I think that if you have the money and you can feel better about yourself and you have a concrete way to get there and it won't turn into a slippery slope that just serves to make you feel like shit about other parts of your body, get to it. We only have this one life, and we deserve to spend it feeling as good about ourselves as we can.
In other news, lots has changed about my life in other ways in recent months too, and I am ready to talk about exactly none of it. I've had to up my therapy to weekly again for a little while to sort it all out, but I think the outcome, overall, will be good. I'm trying hard to prioritize what I need versus the reactions that will inevitably elicit from others, and I'm getting there.
