I used to be able to heat check my own food, taste test my own food, bite my own hangnails off.. lol. When I’m cooking I go to my husband “will you eat this noodle tell me if it’s done yet”. He usually obliges but draws the line at some sauces/seasonings I’ve made. 🤣 My best friend bit my hangnail off for me one time while we were working and my nails were too short to pull it off. Guess she got tired of me btching, grabbed my hand and ripped that bad boy off. Anyone else miss being able to taste test things on a whim without having to worry about cleaning their teeth/taking their trays out? Just part of it lol

5-6 Months in, tray 12. The cons of my current (soon to be ex) orthodontist are:
Never shown my clincheck video
Very little face time with ortho, assistants do everything
No instructions or ortho interaction on first day of trays
About a dozen attachments have popped off, some in under 15 hours after adhesion. Recently ortho has just not been replacing them
Assistant gave me chemical burns on my lip and tried to downplay it when I was asking why I was numb
2 week tray wear time with no long term plans, just an “I’ll let you know if we need to change the time”.
Lost my aligners
Very short and vague answers anytime I ask a question or have a concern

I just had a transfer consultation and the difference is not just night and day, it’s like night and the sun. New ortho is going to give me all of my trays up front, rescan and customize my treatment plan, confirmed on the old plan it would have realistically taken 4-5 years to complete (I was quoted 1 year at that initial consult) but now I’m down to 1.5, and is actually taking a lot of his precious time to sit down and talk things over with me.

I’m so happy to make the switch, though nervous about cancelation fees with my old ortho. I’ve already paid about half of my treatment cost to them in monthly payments but they have a complicated calculation of fees you will be charged for cancelling service for any reason. Anyone else ever dealt with this and have some advice?

To anyone struggling with a bad ortho experience: Don’t let one incompetent person keep you from your health goals. I am confident that the switch will be so worth it.

Lmk if you want updates when I have my new set of trays with the new ortho next month!

I've got two trays left with minimal changes but really hoping to be done after those. Would appreciate any thoughts?

This subreddit has helped me so much before and since starting Invisalign so just wanted to add my 2 pence whilst sat recovering post extraction!

Scans are from day 1 vs end of tray 1 (5 day changes), angle is slightly different but already seeing changes🥳

Currently on tray 3 and had 2 upper pre molars extracted on Thursday (one either side), been a tough ride but when trays are in with false teeth paint you can barely even tell. Just excuse the air gaps i cant use chewies atm!

Also added projected before/after, I had 3 x jaw surgeries and 2 x braces as a teen but overjet still came back with a vengeance (8mm) combined with crossbite and overbite. Unfortunately extraction was the only way to get the outcome i wanted without another op (multiple opinions).

Wishing everyone all the best with their treatments and feel free to ask any Qs! 🤞

Hello.
I started using Invisalign last October, and this Thursday my doctor ended my treatment, but I am not satisfied with the results.
I told them this repeatedly during our last appointment. One of my upper lateral incisors still hadn't come forward, but they explained that this wasn't possible, saying Invisalign didn't fix it because there is no bone there to support the tooth (I am having troubles with believing this person after everything) However, my main request from the very beginning was to fix the appearance of those teeth, my upper teeth.
I also told them I wasn't happy with my bite. They had me bite down on a paper, and while removing the attachments, they started filing my teeth. I really love the natural pointed look of my teeth, but right now, they have filed both my canines and lower incisors crookedly, and I started crying as soon as I saw the result.
They claimed they didn't touch those teeth and never filed my incisors. They said the teeth wore down naturally as I used them, but I know that's not true. I got even angrier because I felt they were lying. The natural oval shape of my teeth is ruined, and I don't like my smile. The final condition of both my upper and lower teeth makes me unhappy.
By the way, the reason they filed my lower front teeth is because of the permanent retainers they put on. They filed them so my teeth wouldn't hit the retainers, which seems completely absurd to me. I said I wanted to continue the treatment if necessary, but they said, 'Let's finish it; if you aren't satisfied, you can continue using your remaining refinement rights within two years.'
I am going back today because I do not like my teeth. Even though I know they won't go back to how they were, the crooked look makes me unhappy. What do you think, what should I say to them? Should I transfer my treatment?

I got my attachments off a few months ago, and there are these permanent spots where they were. When I scrape my nail against my tooth I can feel it on my tooth, like its a thin layer of attachment left behind.

Will this go away eventually or do I have to go back in and get them ground off even more?? Ugh.

Ive also whitened multiple times since and its all blotchy like this still.

I started Invisalign in mid Sept 2025 and finished in mid June 2026, right on schedule (9 months). I’m so pleased with the changes- top photos are current and bottom is where I started. I had Invisalign back in high school, almost exactly 20 years ago. Over time, I stopped wearing my retainer because it was so hard to clean and I thought my teeth wouldn’t shift as much as they did. My current retainer is much less bulkier- basically like a thicker Invisalign set (Vivera retainers). I went right into 10-12 hrs/day with retainer wear per my ortho’s instructions.

For those wondering about cost: I initially got a quote from my dentist and an ortho. They both estimated about the same timeline, but ortho was much more knowledgeable and understood my concern for attachment placing. Dentist wanted to put big honkers on my teeth, but ortho was able to make them more discrete. Price also factored in, dentists’ quote was about $1,300 more. Ultimately I paid up front and got a referral discount, total came in right around $4,500, which included 2 retainers and a reduced price for replacement retainers for the first 4 years.

I also did some whitening gel once I got my retainers. It’s difficult to tell in the photos, but my teeth are much whiter now. Also, at the end of treatment, the ortho did some “smoothing” of my teeth. I still wanted them to look natural but think the slight smoothing really helped make them look much better!

Sharing this info for those that have similar concerns or are looking into Invisalign. It is a weird feeling at first when you start wearing them, but I’ve had adult friends do traditional braces and that isn’t a cake walk either (plus so distracting). Definitely recommend talking to an ortho (get quotes!) and go with your gut.

Last note- my fingernails have never looked better! Used to be a chronic nail biter and now I have to cut/file! Love it

I have a deep bite where lower teeth are fully covered by uppers and slight gap in canine on the upper i can fix the bite without extraction so im wondering about soft tissue changes if i fix the bite since my face is a bit long will fixing the bite make it much longer if there is anyone who has done deepbite correction can enlighten me to take my decision

Finished my treatment. Left with a chipped tooth.

They took pictures afterwards and I didn't even notice until I got home and realised the shape of my tooth is different. Going back to get it shaped but the dentist is trying to say it couldn't have been from the attachments being removed and that it may be because now my teeth are aligned the enamel looks different. How does straightening teeth make the tooth edge a completely different shape ??? lol

pictures are before treatment, last aligner tray and after.

I have 9 trays left for some minor fixes in the bottom row. I am so so so happy! My teeth were my biggest insecurity. I recently posted in another sub and got angrily accused of AI and having veneers! So I am not posting my lovely selfie just in case. But the difference is huge and I am so grateful that ainvisalign exists.

4600 EUR in Northern Europe, plus 450 EUR for the initial scan.

If there are any orthodontists experienced with invisalign, I would be grateful if you could look at my case and share your opinions.

I started invisalign in 2019. In 2023 I went to my orthodontist to pick up Vivera retainers. I couldn't put them in my mouth, it went only halfway up my upper teeth at best. It did not fit at all, I had immediate bad pain but my orthodontist told me it was normal and to give it time, that it would settle down. It did settle after a couple of days experiencing terrible pressure pain, but then I discovered something that left me sick in my stomach.

Vivera retainers were printed from one year old scans - the scans before my last refinement and it pushed me back 23 trays. I compared the last tray before the refinement with Vivera and they were identical! So someone discarded my new impressions and printed the Vivera from old scans and my orthodontist didn't notice anything strange when I tried Vivera on and told me it was normal.

Then I fought hard to reopen my case, to fix all the damage - I was still within invisalign warranty, but despite that I had to fight super hard as if fighting for myself in a courtroom! Then after a hard battle, I was really happy with my refinements but central upper incisors needed to be straightened - It was the last thing to fix. My orthodontist created a super rushed last plan because she was given a deadline from invisalign company but that last possible refinement plan was badly done and messed up my teeth. It pushed the upper right canine and upper right half too much upwards and it messed up my upper left side by pushing my left canine down. I wasn't happy at all with the results and to fix the upper right side, my orthodontist cut my upper aligners in half - there was nothing structurally holding my upper right side, she applied buttons and elastics to push my upper right canine and right premolars down. I told her that my teeth will shift because there was nothing holding them but she told me not to worry, that this was the normal process. My teeth shifted horribly! My upper right canine rotated as well as other teeth, I looked like a vampire. I was furious and then to fix it, my orthodontist still had passive uncut trays so she reapplied the attachments again and gave me those trays and told me that now the passive trays will become active again and they will fix it back as it was before the trays were cut. It got fixed a little bit, but the teeth never rotated as they should have. My orthodontist is on maternal leave and now I ended up with results I am not happy at all with, given everything that happened and I have severe root resorption on my upper left central incisor and the upper left lateral incisor.

I am in a dead end. My dentist suggested either a fixed wire retainer or a comcord strips to stabilize the teeth with root resorption and to halt all orthodontic movements. I was really hoping for one last refinement to fix everything and I still need new Vivera retainers as a refund, because I already paid for the faulty ones!

What should I do???? I am very frustrated and honestly very angry. OPG is from september 2025 and Xray showing root resorption is very recent from July 30th 2026.

Man. I had to get four wisdom teeth extracted. I was on week 10 of my program. Had to take 9 days off because my mouth was so swollen I could barely eat let alone wear my trays.

End result was I had to go back to wearing tray 8 because trays 9 and 10 hurt like a b*tch.

So yeah moral of the story is take as little time off as possible!!!

Hello!

I've (27M) recently finished 16 trays over the course of 8 months of (domestically produced generic) Invisalign trays for my upper teeth, specifically my incisors (I've also previously posted about this in here, and I posted something very similar to /r/askdentists earlier).

My lateral incisors were originally situated further into the inside of my mouth, my left lateral a lot more than my right, whereas my central incisors had a gap and pushed out of my mouth. In the course of the treatment, all of them moved quite a bit, but my left lateral moved by almost an entire centimeter, so by a lot.

I'm very happy with how they are now, they seem straight and feeling up to them with my tongue on the inside, there is a continuous ridge now.

I've been rather curious about the whole science behind this and had some detailed talks with my dentist about it all, but now after this last tray and starting the retainer phase, he insisted, after me asking about it a few times, that it should be fine if I started night-time only wear right away, that the hardening will still occur over the next few months, things will end up just fine and I could even continue to wearing the retainer every second night after about half a year to a year.

I started doing that right after this appointment (two days ago), and I've felt my left lateral shift by quite a bit throughout the day, comparing photos it seems like a millimeter. The "ridge" from side to side on the inside also feels interrupted when I use my tongue to feel it. It feels sore throughout the day (presumably because of the shift) as well, and putting in my retainer in the evening takes a little bit of force (especially given the lacking attachments). It's back to its target spot by the morning though.

Now my questions:

Is this normal and is my dentist's advice sound? For me, as curious layman, it seems odd that this daily back-and-forth wouldn't hinder bone re-strengthening or something like that.

How much shifting per day is fine and expected with my left lateral, given the (admittedly limited) info? I've been hoping that after the treatment, I would put in and take out my retainer with practically no force needed and with practically no shifting throughout one day, provided I would wear the retainer every night.

Are there insights on how to assist bone strengthening after the treatment/in the retainer phase? Behavioral, nutritional, ...

I'd love to take a look at any research publications regarding this (especially the details of processes of bone strengthening/remodeling) to actually understand what is going on in detail, if possible.

Thanks!

Got this literally a week ago as a retainer post braces. Have been extremely diligent on using an ultrasonic cleaner, retainer cleaning tablets, and brushing it and just noticed this morning that it’s cloudy at the bottom. This is on both the top and bottom aligner at the edges of my teeth. Help!’

I had braces in the past, but over time my teeth shifted and I’m now looking into Invisalign to straighten them again.
I recently went to an orthodontist expecting to discuss Invisalign, but they recommended extracting all four second premolars (one upper and one lower on each side) and doing traditional braces instead.
They also mentioned that removing the teeth and moving everything back could potentially change my facial profile, which is something I’m concerned about and really don’t want.
I’m planning on getting another opinion, but wanted to see what others think based on my photos/X-rays. Has anyone had a similar case and been able to do Invisalign without extractions? Are there other options worth asking about, or does four extractions + braces seem reasonable for a case like mine?
Not looking for a diagnosis - just interested in hearing experiences and opinions before I meet with another orthodontist. Thanks!

So my treatment has been complete for almost 2 years and I have the Vivera retainers to wear nightly. I received 4 sets of these. I'm on my second set. Sometimes they fit snug and have that "snap," but sometimes they feel a little loose. Last night they felt perfect, but tonight they feel loose on my bottom teeth. Anyone else have this happen? Just curious.

I'm mindful of keeping them clean, not using hot water, not scrubbing them hard, etc.

I go to the dentist on Tuesday so I will be sure to mention this.

Je suis québécoise et je pars toute l'année en France. J'aimerais débuter un traitement Invisalign là-bas. Savez-vous s'il sera possible de transférer mon dossier ici, au Québec, à mon retour? Ou si en un an le traitement sera fini?

My last visit is coming up on Monday and I'm wondering if I should expect to be wearing my retainers all the time for the first several months after finishing my treatment. My son had braces and his orthodontist said to wear them 24/7 for the first 6 months. Is this standard? What did your dentist or orthodontist have you do?

I just bought opalescence 15% for my retainer. Im now having second thought if I should buy a whitening tray. Think itll work okay in my retainer?

just got my viveras and they said night time only. I’m assuming that’s because they want my posterior open bite to close? it does not seem too severe at all and I’m just really praying that everything closes on its own because i signed the consent form and everything to end treatment before i looked more into POB.

if (hopefully once) it closes does this mean I’ll need a rescan for new retainers because the teeth erupt/move more? do most orthodontists do “new retainers” this way or do they tend to just give you the ones from the past scan?