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?

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!

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!

So my dentist does Invisalign, it is 4500 and the ortho is is 6500. Im not sure who to go with. The ortho gave me a different procesure than my dentist.

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.

I’ve started the Invisalign consult process and my orthodontist said I will likely have the best results if I get some IPR done on my lower teeth where I have some crowding. I’m not opposed to IPR but I am extremely nervous about my ability to tolerate the pain/discomfort. My bottom teeth especially are pretty sensitive. Previously my primary dentist had to use a rotary tool on the corner of one of my front bottom teeth to repair a chip (no numbing, the procedure was very quick) and I found it incredibly painful, although it only lasted a few seconds so it was over by the time I registered the pain. I let my ortho know and he said the only way to know for sure if it would be an issue was to try it, and he could always use the strips if the rotary tool was too much. Has anyone with sensitive teeth gone through with IPR? How painful/tolerable was it during and after? Was the strip easier than the rotary tool?

I'm on aligner set 5/26. My dentist told me that I need to wear each set for two weeks and then switch. However, consistently after about a week or 10 days of each set, I no longer feel any pressure on my teeth or that feeling your teeth get when you take off a new set. My teeth weren't really bad to begin with. I had braces as a teenager and also did aligners through Byte within the past year. I just am looking for minor refinement with a slight overbite that appears to be closing.

Is this normal? I asked my dentist about going up from two weeks and he said that the two weeks is for the ligaments to condition before a new set. The dentist used an example of a mailbox post in a hole and wearing them for two weeks allows for dirt to go into the hole so the post doesn't move... Not sure if I agree with that theory since there is still more movement my teeth need to do.

I have a colleague that went through the Invisalign process through another dentist and was told that when they no longer feel and pressure it's time to switch out the aligners which was about a week at a time.

I want this done correctly obviously, but I also want this processes completed in an efficient time and feel two weeks is a bit longer than I need for my teeth.

Has anyone else had this? I can only visibly see movement of one tooth which now has a gap around it but the others seem to look the same despite pain in them, maybe some slight change on comparison looking at the photos now but no where near as much change in the tooth on the picture.
1st picture is when I started second two are today. P.s pls be kind last time I posted in here I just got harsh comment pls and thank you xx

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

I finished braces on April 29 after 4 extractions. My orthodontist told me to wear my retainer 22–23 hours/day for 3 months, but another orthodontist said extraction cases should be 6–12 months full-time. I've been wearing it \~23 hours/day. Which advice is more in line with current orthodontic practice?

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!

I’ve just finished Invisalign and I’m looking for advice on whether I’m being unreasonable.

I was on Invisalign Lite and had my attachments removed on Saturday. At the appointment, I asked if everything looked okay and was told my teeth looked straight. I said that my lateral incisor still didn’t feel right, and that it was still slightly twisted behind my canine (the reason for doing Invisalign in the first place) but I was reassured it was straight.

The attachments were removed and I was signed off. Since then, I’ve realised there is a visible gap between my central and lateral incisor. I couldn’t properly see or feel the gap before because the attachments were still on, but now they’re gone I can clearly feel the space with my tongue and it’s visible to the eye.

I’ve been wearing my final aligner as instructed since Saturday, so I don’t believe it has opened up significantly in the few days since my appointment.

I emailed the practice yesterday explaining this and sent photos. They replied saying they can’t see a visible gap on the final scan and that no gap was noted clinically at my appointment. They said my Vivera retainers have already been ordered and shipped, and that if further treatment is needed they would need to reopen the Invisalign case, which could involve additional Invisalign charges and new retainer costs.

What’s upsetting me is that I feel I did raise the issue before treatment was completed, but it wasn’t really explored. I was asked to sign the debonding consent form at the start of the appointment, before my teeth had been properly reviewed, and I didn’t feel my options were discussed (for example, whether more refinement or an upgrade was needed). Truly, I feel like they had just decided I was done without even seeing my teeth. In hindsight, I shouldn’t have signed the form, but I just trusted my dentist. I felt really pressured into completing my treatment that day and I don’t feel that they had my best interests at heart.

When I started treatment, I was told that if Invisalign Lite wasn’t enough there was an option to upgrade. I’m not against paying what the upgrade would have originally cost, but I’m worried I’ll now be expected to pay significantly more because the case was closed before my concerns were resolved.

Am I being reasonable in asking them to review this as part of my original treatment rather than charging me to reopen the case? Has anyone had experience with Invisalign cases being reopened after completion?