sore sore sore...

[agnesb]

Hi everyone! i had my first trays yesterday and it wasn't that painful until i took them off a few hours later when i had my dinner. i couldn't bite down coz when my upper and lower teeth touched each other it hurt so bad! after 10 mins or so the pain was gone (i guess it's because my teeth just went back to the original position?). today when i took the trays off for breakfast it was so sore again.
so i'd like to know if it's normal to everyone? does it affect your eating/chewing? or it only happens on the first 1-2 days of new aligners?

[gap]

Hi agnesb,

I experienced some soreness for the first few days of aligner wear. Once your teeth make the initial shift, the pain goes away. I found the pain was a little more intense for the first 10 trays or so. After that, I think your teeth are not settled as they once were, and they adapt to the change of new aligners easier.

Hang in there. The prize is worth the pain.

[agnesb]

thanks!!
did u experience biting problems? like there's a little gap between upper and lower teeth when u bit down after removing the aligners? I find it hard to chew my food...

[Avantika]

It will get better and everyone is different anyhow. Mine are painful when I take the aligners off but only really for the first few days. Really it does get better and you get used to it. Best of luck!

[agnesb]

i hope i'll get used to it soon! thanks!!!!

[LeslieKnope]

thanks!!
did u experience biting problems? like there's a little gap between upper and lower teeth when u bit down after removing the aligners? I find it hard to chew my food...

Hi there! I'm a couple months in and have the bite issues too, and explained my concerns to my ortho. He said that that's common, and that I shouldn't worry too much. He said the teeth will sit normally once I'm done with my treatment. I am, however, concerned about it and would like to have a regular, non-invisalign, retainer when I'm done (you know, the standard issue hard plastic/metal ones) so that I don't have to deal with layers of plastic in between my teeth any longer than is necessary. By the way, the initial weirdness of the bite goes away after a few days. Eventually you won't even notice it. Good luck!

Also, after the second day in each set of trays, the soreness is pretty much gone. The lack of soreness during the rest of the 2 weeks that I wear a tray often makes me wonder if they're even working! But they surely are. I'm on my 7th trays and I can start to see some changes.

[MCOMarkhamOrthodontist]

One of the issues with chewing initially is that you are no longer used to having your teeth bite down together all the way. The reason for this is because the aligners cover the biting surfaces of your teeth, holding them apart for the majority of the day, even when you are trying to close your teeth together. This will be something that you continue to get used to as you adapt to wearing the aligners.

As for the discomfort, it is typical to have it for the first few days of any new aligner. Not to worry!

[agnesb]

thanks for the sharing!
I saw some reviews saying that they didn't feel the pain until the 4th or 5th tray and they thought of giving up! I hope my next aligners aren't that torturing...

[agnesb]

thank you Dr. Tam! I think I'll get used to it soon.

[little miss sunshine]

thanks for the sharing!
I saw some reviews saying that they didn't feel the pain until the 4th or 5th tray and they thought of giving up! I hope my next aligners aren't that torturing...

My second trays where the most painful so far just put number 6 in last night nice to feel that tightness again just to know its working . I have started to see minor changes now it just makes me soo excited

[aidlilmom]

My ortho advised me to change aligners right before bedtime and pop a Motrin (or two!). This has worked pretty well for me so far!

Now if only I had the discipline to wear them 22 hours a day. On a good day they are in for about 15...I need to quit drinking coffee that would give me another 2 hours in the morning! I like to sip and enjoy it lol.

I'm on tray 14 and switching this monday night. Hang in there!

14/36 U
14/29 L

[LeslieKnope]

My ortho advised me to change aligners right before bedtime and pop a Motrin (or two!). This has worked pretty well for me so far!

Now if only I had the discipline to wear them 22 hours a day. On a good day they are in for about 15...I need to quit drinking coffee that would give me another 2 hours in the morning! I like to sip and enjoy it lol.

I'm on tray 14 and switching this monday night. Hang in there!

14/36 U
14/29 L

wow how is your progress going with 15 hours per day? I always feel so negligent about my hours, especially when I linger over a nice cup of coffee also, we have a similar number of aligners (I have 31 U/14 L). When did you start seeing a difference?

[agnesb]

it's been a week now. I don't feel the soreness anymore
i've been wearing them for over 22 hrs a day. excited to change to my 2nd trays next week!

[Avantika]

My ortho advised me to change aligners right before bedtime and pop a Motrin (or two!). This has worked pretty well for me so far!

Now if only I had the discipline to wear them 22 hours a day. On a good day they are in for about 15...I need to quit drinking coffee that would give me another 2 hours in the morning! I like to sip and enjoy it lol.

I'm on tray 14 and switching this monday night. Hang in there!

14/36 U
14/29 L

I do the same thing, I can barely manage to wear them for 15 hours a day. I also change aligners right before bedtime every 2 weeks, and am on my 6th tray now. I changed to 6 last night and it was a somewhat painful this morning for a couple of the molars. I am wondering if I did not wear tray 5 enough, though on the other hand tray 5 was not causing any stress so I am thinking I was ready for 6. But you say you don't get a lot of pain with a reduction in hours when transferring to a new set? Motrin is not enough for me, I need a percocet on the days I change trays.

[Avantika]

it's been a week now. I don't feel the soreness anymore
i've been wearing them for over 22 hrs a day. excited to change to my 2nd trays next week!

How can you wear them for so many hours? I would go nuts. Good luck though, you are doing great!

[aidlilmom]

wow how is your progress going with 15 hours per day? I always feel so negligent about my hours, especially when I linger over a nice cup of coffee also, we have a similar number of aligners (I have 31 U/14 L). When did you start seeing a difference?

It's not the best system lol... Usually I will suck it up the last 3-4 days of each set and wear them for at least 20. When I start a new tray they are sore for a good 3 days because of this. So don't follow my lead!

I started seeing a difference around the 7th or 8th tray. One of my incisors was positioned over my front teeth and that was the first change I noticed. I now have a gap on each side of my front teeth. Before my treatment I thought it would be relatively simple straightening my smile and all they'd have to do were my four front teeth. Dead wrong! They are pulling everything back, pulling my two front teeth down and then straightening them out. Phew!

[aidlilmom]

I do the same thing, I can barely manage to wear them for 15 hours a day. I also change aligners right before bedtime every 2 weeks, and am on my 6th tray now. I changed to 6 last night and it was a somewhat painful this morning for a couple of the molars. I am wondering if I did not wear tray 5 enough, though on the other hand tray 5 was not causing any stress so I am thinking I was ready for 6. But you say you don't get a lot of pain with a reduction in hours when transferring to a new set? Motrin is not enough for me, I need a percocet on the days I change trays.

Percocet would be wonderful! LOL...No I definitely feel pain. Ya'll are motivating me to try and wear them the 22 hours a day. I have noticed that there is a small gap on my front teeth with the last few trays. I use my chewy all the time... It started after one of my "buttons" fell off my canine...the tech at my office said I didn't need it though (?). I may just ask them to reapply it at my next appt. Why put it on in the first place if it's no big deal =/

[agnesb]

How can you wear them for so many hours? I would go nuts. Good luck though, you are doing great!

I manage to have my breakfast for 30 mins, lunch for 30 mins and dinner for around 45 mins. if I have time to brush my teeth in between i'd reward myself with a 15-min snack time so i'll have at least 22 hrs with my aligners on! I'd rather wear the trays for longer hours now than spending time on refinement or even more trays in the future!

[agnesb]

By the way, it's day 7 of my 1/25 U and 1/18 L.
It does get a lot easier even only after a week!

[LeslieKnope]

By the way, it's day 7 of my 1/25 U and 1/18 L.
It does get a lot easier even only after a week!

It really DOES get a lot easier. My first day I had a lot of trouble removing/putting them in and all I could think was "why did I do this to myself, what was I thinking!?" But then literally after a couple of days it got easier.

By the way your diligence is impressive! I'm going to try to do the same. I've been good about wearing them, but I probably only manage about 21/22 hours max. I've lost 11 pounds since I started in July, though, so clearly I'm not eating for very long periods during the day!

[Avantika]

Percocet would be wonderful! LOL...No I definitely feel pain. Ya'll are motivating me to try and wear them the 22 hours a day. I have noticed that there is a small gap on my front teeth with the last few trays. I use my chewy all the time... It started after one of my "buttons" fell off my canine...the tech at my office said I didn't need it though (?). I may just ask them to reapply it at my next appt. Why put it on in the first place if it's no big deal =/

I only wear mine about 15-16hrs/day. I cannot motivate myself to wear them more since I sit there and will gnash my aligners non-stop. I think it is better for me to wear them less than to constantly be biting and gnashing. I just told my dentist to please write me a script for pain pills and he did, not a biggee, one would think your dentist could do the same maybe.

Your tech said nevermind about the button? That seems wrong, the aligners need the torque. One of my buttons had dropped off and my dentist said before I put in a new tray to come in and get the button replaced. I have only lost the one button though. He put it back on in about 15-20 min.

I too am now getting a gap between a couple of my teeth. I am glad to see the gap because that means the tooth is being repositioned and realigned. So the process is working. Eventually the gaps will decrease. That is what I was told by my dentist at any rate.

[agnesb]

I'm on my 2nd trays now!!! just put them on 5 mins ago. they're tight but I kinda enjoy it coz I haven't been feeling any soreness since the 2nd day of my 1st trays.
tightness = working. yay!!

[ChicagoB]

I'm on my 2nd trays now!!! just put them on 5 mins ago. they're tight but I kinda enjoy it coz I haven't been feeling any soreness since the 2nd day of my 1st trays.
tightness = working. yay!!

Congrats on making it past the first tray - it does get easier, doesn't it. We all experience that pain, and although u don't want to experience soreness, you almost wish for it after every new tray to confirm it's working. Tray 19 and 20 went very well - tray 20 was almost too well - no soreness at all. Then I popped in tray 21 and my teeth said 'HELLO!' It's been a few hours and thankfully, the soreness has subsided. I can't believe that this time last year, my teeth were all jacked - today I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel.

[GoofyGG]

ChicagoB - are you wearing yours for 1 week rather than 2? Sorry if I'm being slow - just noticed your signature but am drinking wine (red!!!!) so my maths might not be accurate

[ChicagoB]

ChicagoB - are you wearing yours for 1 week rather than 2? Sorry if I'm being slow - just noticed your signature but am drinking wine (red!!!!) so my maths might not be accurate

No worries, invisalign math for me is kinda off. I wear mine for 2 weeks. Initially, I was supposed to get 25 on both upper and lower. Since I use invisalign assist, they only create 10 aligners at a time and they just delivered the final 5 sets. When I went to pick up 3 sets yesterday, I noticed the lowers were now 24, instead of 25. That's good news, but to prepare myself, I said that if I end up needing the 25th aligner for the lower, that will just be 2 more weeks. 2 weeks per aligner.

I'm so excited for you - you're so close.
Since you're on the final aligner for the lower, are you happy with the way they are? I'm prepping myself to wear refinements because I want my teeth to be as perfect as possible. Why go through a year of braces and not get the hollywood grill?

It would be nice though if my attachments are removed for the refinements - 11 aligners are no joke. If they only removed the 2 on my front teeth, I would be okay with that.

[GoofyGG]

I'm so excited for you - you're so close.
Since you're on the final aligner for the lower, are you happy with the way they are? I'm prepping myself to wear refinements because I want my teeth to be as perfect as possible. Why go through a year of braces and not get the hollywood grill?

It would be nice though if my attachments are removed for the refinements - 11 aligners are no joke. If they only removed the 2 on my front teeth, I would be okay with that.

Sorry it's taken ages to reply - went to Florida on hols and it was amazing, back to grizzly UK weather now... sharp shock to my system I am very happy with all progress so far, I can't believe the difference. All that is needed now on the lowers is for a little filing and pushing teeth together to fill a few black triangles that have emerged. As for the top arch, a bit more needed there as a couple of teeth were badly twisted and although almost there need a bit more coaxing into place. But God yeah, I'm so happy with Invisalign. I'll do one set of refinements then I think I'll be happy... having almost perfect white teeth will make me stand out from the crowd here in England, as a nation we aren't great with our teeth but we are getting better.

[ChicagoB]

Sorry it's taken ages to reply - went to Florida on hols and it was amazing, back to grizzly UK weather now... sharp shock to my system I am very happy with all progress so far, I can't believe the difference. All that is needed now on the lowers is for a little filing and pushing teeth together to fill a few black triangles that have emerged. As for the top arch, a bit more needed there as a couple of teeth were badly twisted and although almost there need a bit more coaxing into place. But God yeah, I'm so happy with Invisalign. I'll do one set of refinements then I think I'll be happy... having almost perfect white teeth will make me stand out from the crowd here in England, as a nation we aren't great with our teeth but we are getting better.

I'm African and we sport our fair share of English teeth, too. I have...ehem, had a massive gap between my two front teeth and it wasn't until recently that they really started bugging me. It's been almost a year and can't wait to see the final result.

[GoofyGG]

I'm African and we sport our fair share of English teeth, too. I have...ehem, had a massive gap between my two front teeth and it wasn't until recently that they really started bugging me. It's been almost a year and can't wait to see the final result.

We'll have to post our before and after piccies when we're done.

[buniglam]

Hi everyone! i had my first trays yesterday and it wasn't that painful until i took them off a few hours later when i had my dinner. i couldn't bite down coz when my upper and lower teeth touched each other it hurt so bad! after 10 mins or so the pain was gone (i guess it's because my teeth just went back to the original position?). today when i took the trays off for breakfast it was so sore again.
so i'd like to know if it's normal to everyone? does it affect your eating/chewing? or it only happens on the first 1-2 days of new aligners?

Does anyone know when the teeth will actually settle and stop shifting back so easily? (Like when the teeth will stop shifting back when the aligner is out?) I have this issue and I am on day 4 of the my first tray...not sure if this is normal or if I have stubborn and defiant teeth!

[agnesb]

Does anyone know when the teeth will actually settle and stop shifting back so easily? (Like when the teeth will stop shifting back when the aligner is out?) I have this issue and I am on day 4 of the my first tray...not sure if this is normal or if I have stubborn and defiant teeth!

Sorry for the late reply!
I read this from the Invisilign Take Home Instructions from my orthodontist, "An aligner out of the mouth for more than 4 hours in a row can set your case back one full day."
So don't risk it by taking it out for long, especially when you're only on your first/second aligner.
I believe our teeth would not shift that much only when we're done with the treatment (yeah I know it's a long journey). Just be patient! it will get easier soon. Teeth are stubborn but our will for perfect teeth is much stronger!
I just put on my 5th tray tonight. Again, I'm happy to feel the soreness coz it means my teeth are moving towards perfection!

5/25 U
5/25 L

[agnesb]

Does anyone know when the teeth will actually settle and stop shifting back so easily? (Like when the teeth will stop shifting back when the aligner is out?) I have this issue and I am on day 4 of the my first tray...not sure if this is normal or if I have stubborn and defiant teeth!

Sorry for the late reply!
I read this from the Invisilign Take Home Instructions from my orthodontist, "An aligner out of the mouth for more than 4 hours in a row can set your case back one full day."
So don't risk it by taking it out for long, especially when you're only on your first/second aligner.
I believe our teeth would not shift that much only when we're done with the treatment (yeah I know it's a long journey). Just be patient! it will get easier soon. Teeth are stubborn but our will for perfect teeth is much stronger!
I just put on my 5th tray tonight. Again, I'm happy to feel the soreness coz it means my teeth are moving towards perfection!

5/25 U
5/25 L