“More problems now that before the procedure”
Invisalign: NOT worth it
Pain: Uncomfortable
I had traditional braces in my 20's, but was unhappy with the results so I tried Invisalign in my 40's. I was told the procedure would take 6 months followed by a retainer to be worn at night. The procedure was so problematic that it took 2 years and I am still using the retainer in my 50's. My problems could not be corrected successfully, so now I cannot close by mouth correctly. During the daytime when I am not wearing the retainer, my teeth are slowly forced into a crooked position which allows me to close my bite after about 5 hours. Every evening the retainer straightens up the teeth again and the following day, I go through hours of being unable to close my mouth properly until the pressure of trying to close my bite forces the teeth into a crooked position again.
The doctor was very nice and compassionate, but I now have jaw pain like I never had before and my teeth will never retain a straight configuration because if they did, my bite would not close. Basically, I am straightening my teeth over and over again on a daily basis, so I guess you could say that I am not really using the retainer for its intended purpose.
Save yourself the aggravation and go through traditional braces or nothing at all. Invisalign does not work!
May 11, 2008Comments and replies (3)
1 post
11 Nov 2008
I absolutely have this exact same problem. My teeth straightened within 6 months (shorter than the projected time), but now I'm in maintenance and it is terrible! I am straightening my teeth every night with the retainer over and over again. I take it out in the morning and they are crooked again in 4-5 hours and continue to worsen throughout the day. Also, wearing the invisalign only on the top, where I needed it, has caused my previously FLAWLESS bottom teeth to get all crooked and messed up. So now I have two sets of crooked teeth instead of one. I would not recommend invisalign for this reason only.
unregistered guest
11 Dec 2008
These sound like severe problems. What do your orthodontists say about them? I'd like to hear a reply on this forum from a professional. This sounds very disturbing.
1 post
21 Jun 2009
Hi, My orthodontist told me to use the final retainer the same as the retainerrs that move the teeth. Eg 20 Hours a day min for 6-12 months, after the teeth are in there final positions. See if you just use the retainer at night you a bound to have problems as it takes 12 months atleast for the bone to build around the new teeth position properly. Eg same when people have finished braces, they need to use spacers between thew teeth for sometime until the bone builds up. Maybe try and have your retainers in at night and day, just as you did when you were moving teeth, not at night only. Regards, aaron