“Used to have nice teeth, now they are ruined”

People used to ask me if I'd had braces because I had nice, very straight teeth. However, I did have issues others couldn't see. I had pretty severe TMJ...lots of clicking, pain, migraines, etc. The upper right side row of teeth was a little too close to my tongue...I occasionally bit that side and when talking...that slight rubbing of my tongue against my teeth was a little annoying.

My "mid-line", where the center of your uppers and lowers met up were a little off and the upper midline needed to be moved about 1mm to my right so that when I bit down, they'd be perfect. ONE canine on the bottom "occasionally" hit another when I was talking, which would be nice to be moved so that would stop. And my final issue was that I had some gum recession from grinding on my bottom teeth...so that I had "spaces" inbetween the gums. I wanted the teeth "slenderized" and pushed together to get rid of that.

My dentist said my invisalign treatment would be 7 months.

With each new aligner there was tightness, but I wouldn't say it was painful. I rather enjoyed the tightness because it made me feel like it was working. By tray 3 I was telling my dentist something was wrong...and I could tell that things were being moved in the wrong direction. He said that was impossible. My concerns were ignored.

Though I never raised my voice or was rude, after I continually brought my "concerns" to my dentist, I was almost always brought into the farthest room down the hall away from people as possible. I even joked one day that I was taken to "the dungeon". No response to that. I thought it was funny. I had to make light of the situation to keep from having a meltdown. The pain I was having and problems speaking and eating were getting out of hand.

Fast forward through TWO YEARS of me saying those same things, the worst pain in my jaw I could ever have imagined, not ONE of the reasons I got invisalign has been fixed...and that canine that used to occasionally hit another...now all upper and lower front teeth slam so hard against each other during talking, eating and basically living that I cry about it. When I talk to people, I spray them with spit, which has made me basically stop talking. I don't read to my daughter at night anymore because talking HURTS due to the fact that the little problem I had with teeth crowding my tongue? Yeah, that whole row of teeth was pushed IN instead of OUT. I now have what I call my Snuffleupagus lisp because that's what I sound like when I talk now.

This has been the biggest nightmare EVER. I go this morning to discuss metal braces, but I don't think I can trust this guy anymore. I can't imagine that this is just due to the unreliability of the invisalign product as many others has written about on the web, but because my dentist is a complete idiot. He has not listened to a word I've said. I'm 37, not 12. I KNOW my mouth. I KNOW what I'm feeling in it.

Other than that, several trays cracked and became discolored. I have excellent oral hygeine and brushed after every snack, meal or just after my mouth would get dry, and it definitely gives you a weird plastic "chemical" taste in your mouth.

I would NOT recommend Invisalign unless you have ONE tooth to be moved or don't really care what your teeth look like. I guess if you have severely crooked teeth and the Invisalign somewhat made them straight, you'd be happy. For someone like me who HAD straight teeth...don't fix what ain't broken or go to an ORTHO to get your needs addressed. I stupidly went to a "certified Invisalign DENTIST" who is NOT an ortho, but a guy who took some training with Invisalign. He does NOT know what he's doing!!!! Buyer BEWARE!!!!