“Beware of invisalign!”
Invisalign: NOT worth it
Pain: Severe
I hate everything about the invisalign. I speak publicly on a daily basis and opted for the invisalign because I felt it would be less invasive. If I wear the invisalign, I stumble over my words. At least with regular braces, people would understand why my mouth was in such pain. I was not told about the scratchy buttons in advance. Nor was I told about the filing that would take place between my teeth. I was told that I would get used to the trays in a few weeks, but I am at twelve weeks, still in pain and see no relief in sight. My gums (which were as close to perfect as one can get) constantly feel like they are on fire.
I am in so much pain that I cannot eat regularly so I am exhausted all the time. I must take prescription sleep aids to get any sleep and I take pain killers daily. I highly recommend against the invisalign.
Feb 4, 2008Comments and replies (76)
unregistered guest
5 Feb 2008
Man, how jacked up were your teeth?
2 posts
6 Feb 2008
Actually, my teeth were not bad as I had braces when I was younger. Most of my friends tell me that my teeth were perfect before and cannot understand why I put myself through this misery. I would have left them alone if my four front bottom teeth hadn't become so crowded that one tooth turned so that I would occasionally catch my tongue on it. Every night I go to bed telling myself that tomorrow they won't hurt anymore. Unfortunately, it hasn't happened yet.
unregistered guest
8 Feb 2008
Why are your attachments "scratchy"? It sounds like your orthodonist may have done a sloppy job putting them on and there is excess glue causing the roughness. Do your liners come up too high and hit your gums? I've read you can file them down or... call your orthodonist about it... he should have some insight as to why your gums are "fire". Goodluck, I hope it gets better. I just went back to my orthodonist last night (week 6)... I'm sore the first day or two of putting in new aligners and after that I'm fine. I had trouble talking for about a day... only thing that I notice now is "th" My boyfriend & orthodonist both said they see my teeth changing already.
unregistered guest
19 Feb 2008
I am a person seeking help for my teeth and I was wondering what is the procedure of getting the invisilign and was wondering what are buttons?
unregistered guest
20 Feb 2008
I am in my 7th month of invisalign and still use a lot of wax to prevent irritation. I was originally told that I would have 10 trays on the top and 24 trays on the bottom. When the trays actually came in, there were 32 of them on the bottom (that is quite an increase). I spend a lot of time trimming and filing the edges of each retainer before I wear them. I also feel like my gums and lips are "burning" all of the time. I am wondering if there is some sort of chemical leaking from the plastic. Has anyone ever heard of this? I wonder if they treat the plastic with something after they are molded that I may be sensitive to. I am not sure if I would do this again if I knew what I had to go through.
unregistered guest
22 Feb 2008
I've had my invisilign braces for 5 days now. No irritation, hardly any pain, just annoyance of not being able to eat, smoke, and drink when I want to. I am hanging in there and really prefer invisilign over regular metal braces. I am 40 and I think regular braces would have "freaked me out". What will the result be? I'm not sure but I am optomistic. I have 14 top trays and 12 bottom trays.. which means I should be through with my treatment this year. Yes I have the attachments. They are noticable but that's part of the treatment. They help the trays stay on and put force on the teeth where it is needed. The attachments match my teeth color but you can still see them. The Ortho said I may have to revamp my treatment 1/2 way through and get more trays made. I am hoping that will not be the case and I wear my trays at least 21 hours a day. 20 hours is the minimum recommendation. I drink flavored water and flavored carbonated water with splenda ... no sugar. I also suck on small sugar free mints to try to ease the hunger pains. I was so used to snacking all day so this is a huge change for me. But I want straight teeth so I am sticking to it. Good luck to anyone who seeks straight teeth. Go for it! You only have one life and hey... it's only a year! What's a year out of your life? Oh, and I have no stinky breath. In fact, my teeth are clean all the time because I brush and floss right after I eat every time so no junk building up on them. Also got a sonic cleaner. Go to violight.com They have a dental bath that will clean your trays in 5 minutes each and kills 99.9% of bacteria and germs. Would not live without it! LUCK TO ALL!!!!
unregistered guest
25 Feb 2008
I loved my invisalign - sounds like your ortho man didn't do a very good job. I am still finishing up using a retainer at night, my teeth were in horrible shape - the hardest thing for me was getting the molds made cos of my gag reflex. I have never talked funny or had any difficulty with my retainers. The filing isn't painful, and the liners should only result in some minor soreness the first 2-3 days as your teeth begin to shift. Sounds like you got a bum deal, or have a pretty low pain tolerance. I have never regretted having mine done, and I'm in my 50s.
unregistered guest
28 Feb 2008
This is only day 3 of invisalign. I had braces when I was younger, but I had lost my retainer after the braces so the teeth didn't stay completely straight. In particular, my front lower teeth got crowded. So now I have 25 upper and 25 lowers for my prospective treatment. My only irritation (besides the pain, which I expected) is that with the crowding, the lower invisalign hurts to take out and put back in. It makes me dread eating when I'm hungry. Damn crowded teeth. It's gonna be worse when the attachments get put on, but I am still optimistic. The fit is great - no gum problems.
unregistered guest
1 Mar 2008
i am only 15 years old but i really want invisalign. iv been reading the comments and researching them for a while now and the only thing in concerned with is the burning, i can handle the uncomfort and some pain but the burning kind of disturbes me, the one person that said they think the chemicals in the plastic are leaking and that could be why its burning scared me so if any one could reply and tell me more about it that would be great. thanks.
unregistered guest
1 Mar 2008
Honestly, Mr. Lawbratt, you are a wimp. With braces so much more pain is involved. Compared to the people with braces you have it easy. For the begining year your whole mouth has to build callouses to get used to the sharp points of braces. Sometimes the wires get to long and stick inside your cheecks like a permanent shot. With rubber bands, expecially the heavy duty ones, some people can only open thier mouth an inch wide. In general braces tear up your mouth and the first couple of days put you in such crazy pain that you cant even touch your own teeth together without wincing. Dude, you are so lucky you can take invisalign off. Braces are nonremovable, which means that anyone with braces are limited to certain foods. At least you can take your stupid invisalign things off to eat! Imagine how humiliating it is to have something stuck in your teeth without your knowing! Really, your complaints make me sick! You can always just take whatever is causing your pian off, while people with braces are stuck with the pain until they get accomidated to it. Sir, just ask your orthodontist- this is common sense! Until then, suck it up you little wimp!!!!!