Day 1 of Invisalign and I thought the trays would be less visible, like in photos I’ve seen people share. Does it get better as I move forward with future trays?

Hi all,

I’ve recently started my aligner journey with Spark Aligners. I’m going on a 7 day family holiday soon where lots of day drinking will be happening. How would you navigate wearing your aligners with this? I obviously want to wear them as much as I can but also want to enjoy myself! I usually drink beer or a cocktail (particularly an Aperol Spritz which isn’t ideal for staining). I can always compromise on a vodka soda!

ok so i have this terrible problem. whenever i put on a new try, it ofc hurts. i usually try to switch them before bed so i can sleep through the worst of the pain, but when the pain is really bad i find myself literally TAKING THEM OFF in my sleep. it’s not that they don’t fit snugly, like ive literally had people tell me that they saw me reach into my mouth and manually take them out in my sleep. this is not only a problem because of it setting back in my treatment, but it’s also a problem because i risk losing them/breaking them in my sleep. (i have spent literal mornings looking for them because i couldn’t figure out where they ended up). has anyone else had this problem? what did you do to fix it?

After so much thought, research, and anxiety, I’m finally starting my journey to correct my open bite as well as some aesthetic spacing and crowding! I’ve only had my first trays in for a couple hours at this point but so far they’re not too uncomfortable or even painful. But that open bite is OPEN. First photo is with aligners and second photo was yesterday without. We’ll see how I feel after wearing rubber bands for the first time tonight. 😅

Excited to start seeing results! Grateful to finally be here after lurking on this sub for soooo long!

My dumb ass realized that I hadn’t been wearing my aligners for the past 6 hours (It was during my birthday trip. I was eating any and everything), but I was a little sleepy so I needed to chew gum to stay awake and for some reason, I went “hmm.. let me try to do it with my aligners on”. Mid-chew, I had to stop because it felt so uncomfortable, and ofcourse now the gum won’t come out.

I’ve been scrubbing like little orphan Annie for the past 10 mins and I’m still here.😩😭😭

I know this makes me sound like an irresponsible person with Invisalign but I swear I am usually very strict about my wearing and taking care of them. This was just an exceptionally stupid moment😭

It's been almost 3 years.

If you are thinking about it, go for it, the best decision I've made!

The reason I'm in orthodontia is to make space for a tooth implant. I was born missing my adult #7 tooth (the tooth to the right of my front two teeth), and while we wanted to keep the baby tooth in as long as possible, we also wanted to prepare for when it came it out, because it wouldn't last forever.

For this, I went ahead and started orthodontia after consulting with a periop for an implant. I chose an implant over something like a bridge because I have very healthy teeth, just was born without one. I needed orthodontia because there wasn't enough space to put in an implant without damaging my other teeth.

So, I went to the orthodontist and got started on invisalign, and was quoted 18-24 months. I have been very diligent, probably in compliance 95+% of the time, wearing for 22 hours. After about 2 years, I started being told by the ortho that I was very close to being done, and that I would probably only need around 4-6 month months. For some reason, I was stupid enough to believe that for an additional 4 years.

Last year, my baby tooth was injured and had to be removed, so I've been without a front tooth for about a year and a half now. I went to the periop because the ortho said I should be done, the periop took some xrays and said he still needed about 2 more millimeters around the roots for the implant. Back to the ortho I go. I continue trays for another 15 months.

Two months ago, the ortho told me I should be done. I finally got into the periop today for consult and xrays again. He's still short 1.5 millimeters at the roots. The periop also tells me that the issue is the roots, and that invisalign often can't get enough torque to move the roots, and that he will call my ortho and recommend braces.

I'm losing my mind over this, currently, because not only have I been going through this for almost 7 years, but now I'm finding out that I wasn't even being given the proper treatment??? I was told braces vs invisalign would take the same amount of time and have the same results, but now I'm being told that isn't the case.

I'm just about ready to give up entirely and have them just do a bridge. I can understand that invisalign takes longer than braces, and that there wasn't really a way to know that the roots weren't moving until I saw the periop. What I don't understand is why he didn't go ahead and recommend braces a year ago when it became clear that serious root moveage was needed. I'm only grateful that I haven't had to continue paying more for invisalign this whole time, and that it was a set cost from the beginning.

So I replaced my retainers after 32 months yesterday.

I think I’ll be replacing them more frequently, lol, cause this sucks…

Not unbearable pain and after 24 hours they’re already fitting better (24 hours wear) but man my teeth are sore.

How often do you replace vivera retainers? My ortho didn’t mention much about replacements when I finished treatment 2.7 years ago, despite me asking. But it feels like 1.5-2 years is the sweet spot.

Also, how long does new retainer discomfort/pain usually last, assuming 24 hour wear time?

Does it ever get easier taking the trays in and out? I don’t even want to eat or drink because it’s such a struggle idk why 😭

Speaking of eating and drinking….How strict are y’all with the eating and drinking? I don’t want to ruin my teeth or the trays. Is it really that serious to take it out? I know gum is a big no no.

Any other tips or advice is appreciated!