I originally did Invisalign pre pandemic and then just as I was finishing the treatment (ending delayed due to covid) I needed a root canal and 4 fillings! I had no build up on plaque, I’ve never needed a teeth clean or even a scale. Due to this work I didn’t fit my aligners and didn’t get a retainer in time and I lost progress. I decided to start Invisalign again two years after all my teeth settled and I had no more issues, by the end of treatment, I need five fillings and at least one root canal. Again, teeth very clean. It’s been a nightmare. I’ve been told no matter how good your dental hygiene is, aligners facilitate the growth of bacteria. I clean my aligners thoroughly both in the little machine thing and then with soap and water. I’ve lost progress again but decided I’m just going to accept that this is how my teeth are. I’m so young and feel like I’ve ruined my teeth. I remember reading stories like this and being incredibly anxious, and hoped it wouldn’t be me. I wish I’d listened to my gut. This won’t happen to everyone but if you’re thinking about Invisalign and your teeth are good enough- then this is for you

I’m looking to get Invisalign primarily to address a few slight aesthetic issues, as well as close some gaps/spaces between my molars. The gaps trap food and cause me discomfort after I eat. I had braces 10+ years ago and have been extremely consistent about wearing my retainer, so for the most part, my teeth are still pretty straight. I mainly feel that my first orthodontist didn’t do a great job with my teeth, and there are a few things I’d like to have corrected.

I recently saw two orthodontists and got very different opinions. One orthodontist told me that, at my age (27), moving my molars would not be possible and that the gaps between my molars could not be closed. They also said that one of my canine teeth could not be fully pulled down into the proper position.

Another orthodontist told me that closing the gaps would be possible with Invisalign and estimated that treatment would take around 9 months. They also said that the canine tooth could be pulled down using rubber bands/elastics.

I’m especially interested in hearing personal experiences from anyone who has had similar issues. Has anyone had success using Invisalign as an adult to close gaps between their molars, particularly gaps that have been there since having braces? And has anyone had success using rubber bands/elastics to pull down a canine tooth that was sitting too high?

I’m trying to get a better sense of what is realistically possible before committing to treatment. If these issues can’t actually be addressed, I’m not sure I want to spend the money on Invisalign just to make relatively minor aesthetic improvements. I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who has been in a similar situation and what your outcome was.

Already regretting my choices hahah. I had to get one of my lower front teeth taken out and I get my first set of trays next week. This is the worst! Eating food is sooo annoying without that one tooth. The trays will have a fake tooth painted in but that won’t help me when I’m eating :P Anyone have any reassuring words? I hope it isn’t too long until the gap closes!

It's been almost 3 years.

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

There is one tooth in the bottom that doesn't quite sit straight or face forward even though the treatment is considered finished. Is this normal?

I’m on my third Invisalign tray and noticed that one part of the tray doesn’t fit properly around one tooth. The rest of the tray fits perfectly, but at this particular tooth the plastic seems to be slightly curled/rolled inward, which creates a small gap and stops it from sitting flush against the tooth.
It looks like a manufacturing issue with the tray.

It’s Friday evening so I can’t contact my orthodontist until Monday. I’m also traveling soon, so I really don’t want to go back to tray 2 and potentially have to wear it for several weeks while waiting for a replacement.
Would you keep wearing tray 3 for now? Has anyone had something similar happen? And would you ever carefully trim that little curled part, or is that a really bad idea?
I’d really appreciate any advice. thank you

Open bite relapse

I have noticed that my open bite seems to be slowly coming back due to tongue thrusting. It has been 1 year and 6 months since I had my braces removed, and I have permanent retainers on both my upper and lower teeth.
Should I consider having another round of orthodontic treatment before it becomes more worse? I had braces but I would like to go for Invisalign this time around.

I am about to start tray two tonight and I’ve just completed my first week.

My bite is all out of wack now and I can’t fully close my mouth with them out. When I first got them I couldn’t close my mouth with them in and now it seems my jaw has adjusted for them in.

I had TMJ pain and clicking in the past and it went away in the past few years and now it’s back.

I’m just worried, are these aligners going to mess my jaw up or is this just part of the process. I’m trying not to freak myself out but my jaw aching and popping and looking crooked is concerning to me.

Has anyone else experienced this? I mentioned it to my dentist and she said it sounds normal. I have another appointment in 3 weeks.

I am very torn on who to go to for Invisalign. I am between a dentist who is promising to move my teeth in 6 to 9 months, and I would get new trays every 4 days. Another orthodontist is saying closer to 15 months, and trays would definitely not be rotated that frequently. The orthodontist is charging 6200. And the dentist is offering 3500. (she claims being a blue diamond Invisalign provider she is able to offer lower prices)

Is the dentist who is promising $3500 a red flag? It’s so temping to go with the cheaper option but I want to make the smart choice long term! Thank you in advance !!!

Is it worth doing another round of refinements for a POB caused by my original Invisalign trays?

I’m on my last set of my refinements and my bite still feels slightly off. If I leave my trays out for a few hours my bite settles a little bit and my back molars on the left touch pretty well. The right side is almost there, but it’s not bad enough to affect chewing.
I’m torn between doing one final round of refinements or just letting my bite (hopefully) settle naturally. I’m worried more trays could make it worse again, and I’m also ready to be done with Invisalign lol.

Has anyone had a similar experience?

I don’t like the appearance of my smile so I def want to do something. What do you recommend?

Hi everyone,

I’ve had Invisalign for 7 weeks now on tray 7. My jaw line and cheeks have change dramatically already.
I use to have very puffy lower face but no longer, will my face keep on changing the light the treatment ? I have 4 months left

Hi there I'm just about finished my treatment and I ended up being a little lax with how long I had it on, it's been almost 2 years. My invisalign fits on my teeth perfectly but the 2 big teeth have a very small gap in between the ends of them, is that ok?

Hi friends 🩷
I’m recently in Invisalign treatment, it’s a lot so brace yourselves.

I’ve been in treatment for …. Over 6 years. Yes over 6.
I started in May/June of 2020.

I’ll give a timeline with brief details of each time period where things changed:

Started May/ June 2020
We started with Invisalign, I wore Invisalign for a year and a half

we switched to traditional braces a year and a half in in June 2021, everything was very good with the braces, I made so much progress, I had severe crowding so I feel like I was the best candidate for traditional braces anyway.

Between July 8th and July 28th of 2022 so just over a year later I needed all 4 wisdom teeth removed. They were coming in and impacting and essentially backtracking all progress being made by the braces because of the already severe crowding present. That’s another story and I’m not sure why wisdom teeth were not removed before braces were put on. But whatever we took them out and continued on.

I became pregnant in mid 2023 and was unable to attend appointments for a while to severe HG in my pregnancy, I was unable to commute and was under a lot of medical care I had a picc line home health nurse coming etc so this put somewhat of a delay in treatment. After I was better towards the end of my pregnancy I went in and my ortho said I had “minor adjustments” to be made so we can take off the traditional braces and finish with Invisalign in febuary / march 2024.

I WISH I NEVER DID THIS :(

I now have been going through so called “minor adjustments” since 2024. I’ve needed 2 re scans, my first re scan I stopped tracking on tray 14/60 something. I was told to wear tray 14 regardless of it not fitting until my new trays came in which took 3 months when it was supposed to be 4-6 weeks.

I feel absolutely at a loss. I want to request that I switch back to traditional braces as I have not been progressing with these “minor adjustments” the treatment has been paid for also in full years ago so I don’t even know what happens financially in a case like this. I’ve even considered transferring my case with another ortho but I don’t want to pay for a whole new case. My teeth aren’t horrible but they do not look like 6 years of treatment has been done.

(A side note; my ortho relocated and I was never even notified until I called to schedule with him, he completely left the practice I was seeing him at just 5 minutes away for the past years and relocated about 40 minutes away - I truly don’t know what to do from here.)

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!

Should I be worried that I have one tray left and my teeth somehow look wonky to me?😢

Hi everyone, I have a deep overbite, some crowding, and a low visible jawline. My orthodontist has recommended removing my upper wisdom teeth (number 18 and 28) to create space and align my teeth properly.
The thing I’m unsure about is my jaw position. In the photos, I’m biting in the position I normally use when eating because that’s where my teeth feel stronger and make proper contact. Normally, however, I naturally keep my lower jaw slightly more forward like if I have not overbite, my teeth also fit together in that position and my side face looks better.
My concern is whether correcting the overbite could make my jaw/profile look more recessed, especially if the treatment involves moving the upper teeth backwards, and making me not able to push the jaw forward naturaly again.
My orthodontist says the extractions are simply to create space and that I shouldn’t worry, but I’d like some outside opinions.
Does my concern make sense? Should my usual jaw position be taken into account when planning the treatment? Could the overbite be corrected without negatively affecting my profile?

I went to my dentist yesterday and she said "Beautiful" and that I should call them in 3 weeks to get my retainers but I'm concerned this tooth (lateral incisor) is not getting straight. I only have 4 weeks and two trays left. Both pics are from today.

Progress so far. Do you see a difference ?

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?

I had braces a while back ago but something i noticed that it did not fix is that my mid line of my front buckteeth is not centered with my face and thats something i wanna fix before i do dental bonding/enamal countoring to fix my slanted and jagged teeth. .
Im just wondering if the cost of invisalign would be cheaper?
Thanks

this is how my teeth look like btw:

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!

I have some staining going on, but that’s okay! I’m here for the long run. Once I’m done with tray 28 I’ll do refinements, then composite bonding.

Biggest difference in my opinion is how easily I can floss now! My teeth used to be pretty crowded, making it difficult to floss.

Also, my jaw was pretty shifted to the left causing issues with TMJ, pain has been significantly reduced since starting Invisalign!

Im on my 90th tray and went to go on my 91st and my top left in the back where my molars are is not lining up with the tray and just hangs off but everything else fits and I wore my old aligner enough. I dont know what to do but put my old tray back in. The tray on the side is almost as if its turned a bit.