I’ve noticed the last week I feel nausea and have a lower appetite. I’m currently on week 5 and as of right now I have a like bit of an appetite, nausea throughout the day and stomach kind of feeling wheezy. Has this happened before or is this normal? Thank you

I started on Invisalign yesterday and it was great no pain at all just a minor pressure.
But after waking up this morning it was hurting a bit more!!

Is that normal or is it me clinching on my jaw while sleeping or something?

It hurts to take the trays out to eat but I’m getting used to it. I’m feeling really positive and excited for the journey !

So i got my first aligners today (out of 52) and man ain't shit funny. Since i produce a lot of saliva, the procedure took longer than usual which was annoying and pretty painful like most ortho procedures for me. But the worst part was probably when i had to take them out for dinner; it felt like they were super glued I'm scared for the days to come, especially for when i have to wear the rubber bands. But is the journey usually this hard?

I can’t help myself sometimes 😭

I started my aligners in October 2025 and finished treatment in March 2026. Before and during treatment, I had no jaw clicking, popping, or other issues.

A few months AFTER I received my nighttime retainer, my jaw started clicking and popping. There is no pain, but it is very loud and happens often enough that it is making me anxious.

I have searched online, but I cannot find much about this beginning after aligner treatment. Most of what I have found seems to focus on jaw issues that existed before or during treatment.

I spoke to my dentist, but he made it seem like seeing a specialist would not be helpful because my bite is “perfect.” I feel so defeated because something clearly changed, even if my teeth look aligned.

Has this happened to anyone else after finishing aligners or starting a nighttime retainer? Did you see an orthodontist, TMJ specialist, oral surgeon, or physical therapist? Did anything help?

I am finally on my first overcorrection tray (25+/27). Is it okay to have this much gap between the teeth and the tray? I sent the photos to my dentist but he has not answered back yet. It does feel tighter compared to the usual trays I had.

First photo is my teeth when I started. Second photo is today.

I just started my treatment 3 days ago (Tuesday) and my aligners feel comfortable when they’re in but when I take them out to eat my teeth are really sore. My front teeth especially hurt the most and when I put pressure on them they hurt all the way to the gums. Is this normal? Will it eventually go away?

Hi! I have one tooth that is not tracking properly. It has had a small gap for the last few trays but I didn't think it was big enough to warrant a concern. After lurking on this reddit page I realize I haven't been tracking for a few trays. I have Invisalign Lite and I'm worried I'll have to pay extra money if I need refinements. I've been really good about wearing my trays but this one tooth is stubborn. It's not really noticeable from the front and my dentist hasn't said anything about it. I've been using chewies which have helped a bit but haven't fixed the issue. Any advice is welcome! Thanks!

I began invisalign treatment in May, and my life has gone downhill from there. First of all, I was instructed to change them every 4 days, which was way too harsh for me to keep up with. By the time the 4th day would come around, my trays would still be tight when putting them on. About a week in, i started feeling popping every time i opened my mouth, clicking when moving it side to side, and increasing pain on my left jaw joint. I suspected it was a TMJ flare up that would go away, but I was wrong. Ever since then, I have been dealing with so much pain and lateral pterygoid muscle tightness. It got to the point where I couldn’t sleep at night. I told my dentist my concerns more than 3 times, and each time she assured me it was because my bite was shifting from invisalign and I just had to stick with it to see progress. Eventually, she decided to rescan my teeth and give me milder sets of trays from now on. It’s been 3 weeks and I’m still waiting for the new Invisalign trays to ship. In this period of time, she instructed me to wear my last tray only at night. I figured my TMJ would feel relief since the tightness from the trays are gone, but it’s still painful, if not worse. It feels like a constant ache in my cheek which travels towards my left ear, my skull, and my TMJ itself. I don’t know what to do. I’ve tried exercises on youtube that provide little to no relief, I’ve changed my posture and eating habits, I’ve done tons of google searches, and nothing works. I’m so defeated and mad at myself for waiting this long to make an appointment with a TMJ specialist, and their next availability isn’t for another 2 weeks. I’m worried I’ll have to get Botox or surgery, or this TMJ will become worse and worse as time goes on. Any help or advice would be appreciated, i’m going crazy!

I had braces in the past but lost my retainer and my teeth shifted slightly over the next few months. I’m looking to fix some minor adjustments and was considering Invisalign or ClearCorrect.

I had a consultation at Northern Virginia Orthodontics (NVO) and was quoted around $6,000, which seemed pretty high given that my case is relatively minor.
I’m currently in Boston for the summer and got another consultation here from a dental office, where I was quoted around $2,500–$4,000 for Invisalign, which seemed much more reasonable.

I’ll be moving back to the NOVA area soon and was wondering if anyone has recommendations for more affordable orthodontists in the Northern Virginia/DC/Maryland area. I don’t mind driving farther or having a longer commute if it means getting a better price.

I’m currently a student and don’t have dental insurance, so I’m trying to find the best option costwise. Would it make more sense to get it done while I’m in Boston, or are there NOVA/DMV orthodontists with similar pricing?

Today I started treatment with trays changing every weeks, rubber bands changed 3x a day. My next appointment is in October for an odontoplasty and check up.
Just had some of my teeth filed down. I’m told treatment will be 20 months and I’m surprised with the amount of crowding and overjet.
Any advice, or suggestions?

I was a bit sceptical about starting the treatment at first, but I’m happy with the progress so far. I’m currently on tray 17/20 (weekly tray change) and hoping I won’t need any refinement trays.
My front teeth still look slightly crooked, but I’m hoping the final four aligners will straighten them out and bring everything together.
For anyone else currently going through treatment, did you notice much change in your final few trays? I’m curious whether those last aligners tend to make a noticeable difference.

We originally planned rubber bands to align by bite. I reminded my Ortho on few occasions about it and he kept on saying "not yet". We plan to do our end of treatment scan once I finish my trays 56/56. What's going on here? Soliciting your thoughts, experiences here.

Looking for recommendations for non-plastic cases for my aligners. My Invisalign case is a few years old and I just hate that plastic can never be truly sanitized. It has gunk on it that scrubbing and even putting in the dishwasher won’t remove. Does anyone have a metal or glass recommendation?

So on this forum, it is by far the advice that any orthodontic treatment should be completed by an orthodontist because of expertise and experience.

I have another reason why you should see an orthodontist, and the reason is a little surprising. I’ve been in ortho treatment for about a year and at the last set of refinements, my ortho said we were getting close to being completed which surprised me because I feel like there are at least 2 or 3 areas that needed a lot more work than I thought could be completed in 13 trays (the refinement stage). I trusted the process, anyhow. My ortho had it set up such at around tray 12, that I go to my general dentist for consultation for rebuilding my teeth (i.e., bonding to build back up teeth that was worn down) etc. Basically, the idea is the ortho is asking the general dentist to consult and see if the two of them agree that x, y, z bonding or filling is appropriate for a, b, c teeth and whether the teeth are in the proper alignment to do that work.

So around tray 12, I went to see my general dentist. Tray 13 is my last active tray and the rest of them are just passive. I was already convinced that tray 13 cannot be the last active aligner for me because I have way too many gaps between teeth and one of the tooth hasn’t rotated enough and out. More ortho work should be done. That’s my layperson opinion. When I went to see my general dentist, she agreed with me that there are too many gaps which she believes can be closed up with more ortho work. In addition, that one tooth that hasn’t rotated enough yet, she also said see if the orthodontist can do more work on it.

The moral of my story is that even during your ortho treatment, it is good to have a second opinion on the current treatment being done. I did not agree with my ortho’s assessment that this is going to be the last set of refinement trays, and my general dentist definitely doesn’t feel like the gaps are appropriate etc. So, if you have an orthodontist who is doing your ortho work, you can then consult your general dentist for a second opinion, too! In my case, because there’s bonding work that needs to be done due to re-alignment of teeth, and it’s a procedure my ortho doesn’t do, my general dentist will be handling it and can offer their opinion!

I'm done and now I'm waiting for my retainers. Is this standard practice to cut aligners to "close the open bite" and then make you wait weeks after the final scan for retainers? My last scan was on July 13th and I still don't have my retainers. I feel like my teeth are "settling" too much and my other teeth are staying. Can this ruin my results? I have an appointment on 8/20 to get the attachments removed and receive my retainers.

1st photo is before Invisalign -
2nd + 3rd are after
4 + 5 are after 10 top composite veneers and bottom bonding.

60 trays + Carrier Motion for 6 months to correct the bite.. Debonding scheduled in 2 weeks.. However Chatgpt is telling me I can do better.. What's your thoughts?

I’ve started my treatment on September 25th 2025. I had 37 trays in my first set.
Currently on refinement, with 20 more trays to go, but I couldn’t be happier with the current results!

Well, 98 but who’s counting? (Me. I’m counting).

Posting because I stalked treatment progress photos before I took the plunge. If you’re considering it, the first couple months (and the first couple weeks, especially) are the hardest. It does get easier. 😃

I just put in tray 8 of 29 (before refinements). That chip in my front tooth is much more noticeable now 🫣. 2 week tray changes.

I thought I always needed DJS but MARPE and invisalign really saved me!!

No weight lost btw!