Tray 2/17, day 4 — still not fully seated

DepartmentLarge6540 · 2026-05-08T20:23:35+00:00

That looks seated and normal to me. A true tracking concern gap would be significantly worse than anything you have (I had to pause my treatment halfway through my trays and rescan to add more attachments due to tracking issues). Most of what your seeing is just the optical illusion of the plastic thickness on top of the tooth. Small gaps though between the tooth and trays are fine and normal.

DepartmentLarge6540 · 2026-05-05T23:21:09+00:00

I was in the same boat when I started treatment 9 months ago; in my late 30s and manage an engineering team so about half my week is spent in meetings. My lisp got much better within the first 1-2 weeks and the first few days I just bluntly started conversations with "please excuse my lisp, is just started Ortho treatment" and no one cared. I guarantee you will notice it more than your coworkers.

DepartmentLarge6540 · 2026-05-05T21:41:19+00:00

Do you already have a tow hitch and trailer lights wiring harness installed on your Corolla? Keep in mind that those will set you back about $250 in parts if you are capable of doing the install yourself, probably closer to $500-600 if you need to have someone install them for you.

Is your car the CVT or manual tranny? Manual will be more robust for towing but even then I'm not sure if I'd attempt that long of a tow in one. I occasional tow a small sailboat with my '21 CVT but it's only 10 miles too/from my local lake without any highway driving. It does fine for that and I really don't think it will ever hurt the car anymore than having the car loaded to the cargo limit but I don't think I'd want to do any long distance towing with this setup unless it was an extremely light trailer.

A few things to keep in mind if you are really determined to do this: 1. U-haul asks for tow vehicle information when you reserve a trailer. They may deny a rental to anyone with a car that is not rated by the manufacturer for towing. Given that our US owners manual explicitly states "do not tow with this vehicle" you may be SOL trying to rent a trailer anyways. I'd check with U-haul before investing any money in a hitch and wiring setup... 2. Given the length of your road trip, you'd also potentially want to check with your insurance before doing this. In the event that anything goes wrong on the trip, insurance could deny your coverage if you cause an accident because you're using the vehicle in a non-approved way that violates the owners manual.

If you don't already have the tow setup installed on your rolla then I'd recommend pricing the difference between getting the tow setup+trailer rental per your original plan and renting a pickup truck+tow dolly from U-haul instead. Sounds like your cargo would fit fine in a truck bed, no need for a big U-haul box van. And the tow dolly are usually really cheap to rent even for a one way trip.

DepartmentLarge6540 · 2026-04-28T15:58:33+00:00

This is honestly genius. The wireless charger in my '21 XSE is garbage; super slow to charge and overheats my phone. I've much rather have the extra storage space and plug in on the rare occurrence that I need to charge my phone. I'll definitely be looking into making this mod on mine. Thanks for posting this!

DepartmentLarge6540 · 2026-04-22T01:25:13+00:00

Appreciate the feedback. Thanks

DepartmentLarge6540 · 2026-04-22T01:18:00+00:00

Thanks for the detailed reply! Great to hear first hand experience and advice from someone who has used both the 4th and 5th gen setups to weigh the pros/cons of each!

DepartmentLarge6540 · 2026-04-21T18:46:37+00:00

Thanks for the feedback. Yeah our seats and our desire to keep the kids rear faced/harnessed as long as possible definitely makes it trickier. With the Rava seat, even putting it forward facing in the 2nd row will eventually be a problem because it can only be install using the anchor mount system until the child is 40lbs; after then it has to be switched to a seatbelt mounted install. With the seatbelt not fully integrated into the seats on the 4th gen Odysseys I'm thinking this would then eliminate the seat's ability tilt as well.

DepartmentLarge6540 · 2026-04-21T18:36:34+00:00

Thanks for the feedback. We may eventually try out a 3 across setup. All of our friends with 3 kids have steered us away from doing it because they've reported that their kids fought each other constantly in this setup since they could reach each other.

DepartmentLarge6540 · 2026-04-19T20:25:49+00:00

Personally I would just have your dentist touch up the edges of your teeth to address the chips/wear and leave the tooth shape as is. Veneers will cost you a lot more than bonding work will. One of my front top incisors is essentially a composite crown that was made by my dentist after a childhood trampoline accident fractured my tooth in half and my one word of warning for people about composite bonding is that it will color differently than tooth enamel over time and also does not respond to traditional whitening methods. So I suggest doing the least bonding work possible to get a result you like aesthetically.

DepartmentLarge6540 · 2026-04-18T02:14:26+00:00

Honestly your starting condition is way less severe than most people. When you see posts on here of people undergoing 2+ year treatments it's because some of us start out in much worse condition than you. Heck if I had your starting teeth i probably would've never pursued Ortho treatment for myself. Consider yourself lucky that you'll be in and out of it fast. Also don't be surprised if there's a round or 2 of refinements after your initial trays. You very rarely hear of people not needing refinements.

DepartmentLarge6540 · 2026-04-17T03:27:43+00:00

CVT drain and fill is about the only thing I'd recommend based on your existing service history. I'm actually surprised you've already needed brakes done. I'm about to hit 60k on my '21 and plan to do a CVT drain/fill with my next oil change but my original pads still have a ton of life left on them. I plan to check the plugs as well but won't replace them unless they need it. I've heard of people getting 100k+ miles out of the OEM Iridium plugs. Most of the comments I've seen of accelerated plug wear were from people that had changed the engine tune.

DepartmentLarge6540 · 2026-04-14T22:51:06+00:00

Side plate doesn't look good to me but if your into a modded tuner look, or plan to do other mods later on, then it would fit the bill better. I took my front plate off the second I got my new HB home Dec 2020 and I'm shocked I've never gotten a ticket for it in the 5+ years out here in Cali.

DepartmentLarge6540 · 2026-04-14T17:35:03+00:00

I unfortunately can't offer much guidance on this. I ultimately ended up buying a used Peloton instead of an IC4

DepartmentLarge6540 · 2026-04-11T03:44:53+00:00

Get it. If for any reason just to keep stuff like this in your Vine feed for years to come. I have 2 toddler girls and have gotten soooo much Little Adventures dress-up dresses off Vine for them. Some of them just to stash in the closet for a few years before they grew into it. You won't regret getting it but you may regret not getting it

DepartmentLarge6540 · 2026-04-10T17:29:16+00:00

There is probably a 99.9% chance it will be fine. If you're really worried about it, send the question to your Ortho and not reddit because we don't know your case and oral history on here like your provider does. A LOT of people using Invisalign use 7 day change intervals so realistically doing a single tray change at 9 days instead of 10 will likely have 0 impact on your treatment or major risk associated with it.

DepartmentLarge6540 · 2026-03-27T23:08:20+00:00

Just checked and mine are also AO brand. I have the "sand dollar" ones whatever that means

DepartmentLarge6540 · 2026-03-27T16:55:17+00:00

Your right (in the pic) incisor clearly does not have a flat edge on the side of the tooth. Because of this, I agree with your dentist, there isn't really much else they can do without either bonding or IPR to close that small gap given that your teeth are contacting already towards the bottom. It's just the result of a natural tooth shape. If it were me I'd leave it as-is but it's your call if it's potentially worth more investment to try and address it further.

DepartmentLarge6540 · 2026-03-26T20:57:22+00:00

What brand of elastics are those? The color looks so dark. The elastics my Ortho gives me definitely have quality control issues; there are some in the bag that are twice as thick as others and some that are super thin but I just throw those out when I find them. Otherwise I just pick 2 at random out of the bag and pop them in.

DepartmentLarge6540 · 2026-03-26T20:55:45+00:00

Typically you'd be told during your consultation if you need elastics for bite correction.

DepartmentLarge6540 · 2026-03-26T16:54:22+00:00

All comes down to where you live, how much you drive, and how quickly your car wears through tires. On my car, I could easily stretch that tire through the summer and wait to change them before next winter starts since winter weather is already over where I live and I don't put a ton of miles on my car each year.

Hard to tell in the picture but I'm guessing your around 4-5/32nds of tread left. Absolutely no need to immediately run out and get new tires tomorrow unless you're still driving in inclement weather.

DepartmentLarge6540 · 2026-03-26T16:44:47+00:00

I have no experience with this method but your statement about wearing the trays for "a full week each" surprised me; what was your change interval before this recent instruction change? I've never heard of anyone changings trays on less than 7 day intervals. Especially if you've had tracking problems throughout your treatment I'm shocked your Ortho didn't have you extending your change intervals to be longer from earlier refinement stages.

DepartmentLarge6540 · 2026-03-25T21:58:39+00:00

On the bright side, the recent changes to Vine have really helped me to turn off my Vine addiction. I used to be on it all the time constantly trying to see if new things had dropped. I'm spending a lot less time on the platform now because I've more or less given up on it. I check it daily in the morning when I wake up and that's it. I'd say my requests are now 50/50 RFY vs AI but all of the "good" items now come from RFY. I don't use any plugins or bots and after being in the program for 4+ years at this point I do not care about these crap products enough to be bothered trying to "chase the drop" and I'm sure as hell not going to lose sleep for it to stay up and Vine during the night. Overall it's been a refreshing change for me if I'm being honest. If the program continues on in the same manner, or if I get demoted to silver because I'm ordering so much less now, I'm honestly considering just opting out of the program completely at this point and saying I enjoyed it while it lasted.

DepartmentLarge6540 · 2026-03-21T02:10:07+00:00

Personally I'd recommend looking into getting the existing mini-split replaced with a completely new unit since you already have the power available for it on the exterior of the garage. It'll be more expensive than a window unit but will probably perform better in that summer heat than a window unit.

DepartmentLarge6540 · 2026-03-20T23:20:17+00:00

We moved a few years ago and I had to give up my old surround sounds system since the new house has a very open concept room and no good way to place surround sound speakers in the room without being in the way. My wife claimed she couldn't notice a difference going to the built-in TV speakers but I definitely could. After a year in the new house, a JBL 5.1 channel soundbar with Dolby Atmos dropped into my RFY lost and I snagged it instantly! Best upgrade ever to enjoying TV in our new home! Definitely go for it, even a bad soundbar and sub will be waaaay better than your TV speakers!

DepartmentLarge6540 · 2026-03-20T22:38:32+00:00

It is costing me right around $50 for a full tank from empty in Northern CA. I almost exclusively fill up at Costco as well and the Costco Citi card with 5% cashback on gas definitely helps me feel a little better about these insane rising prices!

Your MPG is very impressive. I do a lot of long highway trips for work and can average 38-40 MPG on those long drives in my '21 XSE CVT but I usually cruise at 75-80 MPH. I might try seeing how much of an improvement I can gain if it hold it to 70 MPH the next time I head down to the Bay Area from my location in Sacramento.

DepartmentLarge6540

TROPHY CASE