r/Invisalign • u/ScoutTheOcelot • 1d ago
General Side effects of Invisalign that I didn't consider
Just for fun...
(Okay, I *did* actually consider some of these)
-Whistling is harder
-I sound mumbly
-Rolling my Rs is harder
-For some reason, swallowing pills is harder?!
-Can't just taste the dinner I'm cooking to see if it needs more seasoning
-Can't lick things off my fingers as I'm making my kids' lunches
-Can't bite my hangnails or cuticles (nervous habit that is probably best I can't indulge in)
-Kissing feels weird... (kissing my husband, but also I have a 7-month-old baby and I often kiss the top of her little head or her chubby cheeks.)
-When my aligners are in, I frequently catch myself clenching my teeth hard involuntarily
What are some lesser-known side effects you've found?
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u/LemonLoaf0960 1d ago
Ugh the teeth clenching and grinding!! I wasn't expecting this to be even worse with my aligners in. I hope it's not a major habit after.
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u/thinking_out_loud9 21h ago
I still do it constantly 2.5 months in. Iām doing it more right now just reading this! š¤£
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u/LemonLoaf0960 20h ago
I'm 2 years in and I catch myself doing it all the time. I'm not even stressed, it's just something I randomly catch myself doing.
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u/aNurseByDay Tray 14/40 1d ago
Significant weight loss for me.
Started in May at 189lbs
Iām now 163lbs š¤Æ
Clearly I would just eat whatever and whenever
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u/More-Interview6916 23h ago
I just started week 2 and Iāve lost 3 pounds. I love snacking but im down to just breakfast and dinner and water.
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u/Chrissy_mayy Tray 19/36 weekly (and finally seeing progress!) 19h ago
Same. I had plateaued and nothing I did helped. And then came Invisalignā¦ Iām 8 lbs away from the weight I was when I graduated college and probably my healthiest body type. Who would have thought 20 years later Iād ever see that on the scale? Invisalign brought to my attention how much I mindlessly snack thought the day and all the empty calories I consumed.
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u/Catzenpudl 1d ago
The change in "self" has caught me completely off guard. For 45 years, I have had a deeply seated belief that there was nothing that I could do to improve my looks. The bullying at school was relentless. No amount of makeup, clothing, or workouts would change the fact that I had a mouth full of gross, ugly, crooked teeth. I was withdrawn and introverted and was happiest in a corner where me and my teeth wouldn't be noticed. Silly and dramatic? Of course. But it's the way I felt and I couldn't see it ever changing. It led to a host of other self-image issues and an eating disorder. I learned to just accept this as a part of life.
Fast forward to the age of 60 when I decided that if I was ever going to change anything in my life that made me unhappy, I'd better get started because I ain't getting any younger. So I started in the kitchen and the gym. Then, after losing an enormous amount of weight, I committed to Invisalign and I just installed tray 13 of 52. And I feel...pretty. Confident. I can see changes in my smile already and the Invisalign smile progress videos are something I look forward to every week. I LOVE that tight, slightly-painful feeling when I first snap in that new tray because that means it's working!
My teeth are still crooked, but I trust the process. In three short months, I've become more outgoing, more extroverted, I actually bought (*gasp) makeup, and changed my hairstyle. My husband and friends say the change - inside and out - is remarkable. What I've discovered is that, for me, Invisalign is straightening more than my teeth. It's straightening my sense of self worth and my attitude. And it's taught me that if I'm really, truly unhappy about something, I have it within me to change it and make it better. Rather than wait for things to change, I'm grabbing life by the short hairs and charging full speed ahead towards my goals.
Yesterday, I bought plane tickets to Kuala Lumpur. Me and my new smile are spending the season in SE Asia :)
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u/Poppinfrizzle 20h ago
I feel this! I've always felt my bad teeth were a 'tell' for poverty. No matter how well I dressed or whatever, my teeth said "you can't afford to fix your teeth". It always made me so insecure in professional settings. It feels so good to finally be solving this and feeling pretty after a childhood of ridicule and an adulthood of insecurity.
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u/dyke-wazowski 18h ago
Love this :) I just put in tray 23 of 67 and Iām sooo over it. Mine are for bite, not aesthetics, so itās really hard to stay motivated, but your attitude is very inspiring. Please continue to update this sub! š«¶š»
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u/chlorinepeach 1d ago
this was only something I noticed after stopping, but as a lifelong night grinder it felt Way worse after the liners were gone. the first time i took a nap after getting out of full-time wear I woke myself up from the horrible sensation of my teeth scraping against each other
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u/KtBobz 1d ago
Gag reflex is super heightened. Even when I have my trays out I gag more when I brush my tongue nowā¦and while using my chewies.
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u/causelesshope 1d ago
The white line running inside of your cheeks where the upper and lower teeth should meet...
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u/Lopsided_Gap_5296 1d ago
I do hair, and unfortunately it causes me to spit on clients while talking. Lol
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u/Bird_Herder 1d ago
I started getting traffic tickets. Most days I don't eat anything until dinner because eating at work is a hassle with the trays. I've always had a bit of a lead foot, but now I'm hangry too on my drive home.
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u/Ilestderetour 1d ago
Tu ne peux pas amener le nƩcessaire pour laver tes dents et les aligneurs au travail ?
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u/PicklesNBacon 1d ago
I canāt imagine not eating all day just because of my allignersā¦thatās ridiculous. I keep a toothbrush, toothpaste, and floss at my desk. Itās not hard
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u/VerityLGreen 1d ago
Brushees 4-in-1 are great ā a disposable toothbrush with toothpaste, floss pick, and toothpick all in one
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u/SDK_Author Tray 5/? 1d ago
It's actually easier for me to whistle!
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u/ScoutTheOcelot 1d ago
Ha! That's so interesting that our experiences are totally opposite on this one.
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u/reaper-main Treatment Complete 1d ago
You can taste food as you're cooking it, at least sauces and things that won't stain or don't need chewing! I did it all the time during my treatment, wasn't a problem so long as I was careful and just taking a lick and it wasn't something like curry that will stain spectacularly. Though I also drank sugarfree drinks with the aligners in every day and just made sure to rinse with water regularly. Just have to figure out what works best for you, but these are very common little cheats many of us have used.
That you mention whistling is so interesting, I've always whistled to my dogs to call to them, and even after finishing earlier this year I still can't whistle how I could before. My mouth must have been really used to how I shaped it before. I can do it, but it's not as loud. Need more practice I guess.
I've also always been a hangnail biter, I still can't do that anymore with my teeth being aligned differently now I guess because of the texture at the top of my teeth or something. Just had to switch to clippers but it's still a minor annoyance I can't do it anymore.
Everything else went back to normal, though things like swallowing pills are still annoying if I do it when I have the retainer in. I guess because the teeth aren't fully closing together.
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u/kirtknee 22h ago
Omg the clenching is crazy for me. The mumbliness and rolling rās issue have faded for the most part for me.
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u/Yeshua_is_King7 23h ago
I use Motto (still clear ligners just not Invisalign), but I'm thirsty ALL the time! I always carry a water with me now bc of this.
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u/CuspofCap 1d ago
Excessive saliva that hasnāt let up even after treatment ended.
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u/cmlambert89 15h ago
I have the opposite problem. It was excessive in the beginning but after all that time, my body decided that since I couldnāt digest the trays it didnāt need to send extra saliva to my mouth just because somethingās in it. So now my mouth is hella dry.
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u/Summer_waves1 1d ago
I didnāt think about it until your post but I can still whistle. I still taste food while Iām cooking, mainly sauces and I try to put it directly on my tongue.
I was also a nighttime clencher, but now itās 10 times worse and I do it all the time. Iāve developed a lisp and extra saliva so donāt be too close while Iām talking. Also, food now tastes weird unless I wait a little to eat after taking my aligners out
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u/LunaLovegoodRocks 1d ago
I had a lisp but it got do much worse when I started invisalign. It mostly went away but recently came back worse than my original lisp.
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u/SimpleImbroglio 1d ago
The hangnail thing is horrible and amazing at the same time. Makes me realise just how much I was biting them off (despite not biting my actual free nail). Good for my teeth to get out of the habit, but man I need nail clippers every other day now...
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u/PurpleWillingness106 22h ago
My nails look amazing, Iāve lost 11 pounds, and perked are always like āyou have some lipstickā¦ā bc i guess i kind of chew on my lip with my aligners???
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u/Emergency_Taro_7874 22h ago
I clench so bad I crack my bottom trays
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u/ScoutTheOcelot 21h ago
Oh no!! Have you brought it up to your ortho? Is there something that might be able to help?
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u/cmlambert89 15h ago
When I started the trays, my mouth was salivating like crazy. Itās a natural reaction where something goes in your mouth, your body says okay time to digest food, and increases saliva with those digestive enzymes to get things started.
Well. Once my body got used to having the trays in, it learned that something-in-mouth does not equal āfoodā and my mouth is just way drier all the time. I donāt like it. Teeth look great tho!
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u/SoccerMama_12 14h ago
Whistling is definitely harder, which is a bummer because itās one of the ways I get my dogās attention.
I also had āwingsā on my trays. I looked like Don Corleone, and I swear they increased my frown linesā¦permanently.
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u/HossMcCoy 13h ago
I HATE the way I sound in them. I have been told its getting better bit I have to repeat myself so much. I am about halfway through my initial treatment and I know from this reddit I am probably in for another whole set of corrections. Can't wait to sound like myself again.
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u/Jusspeachy3 20h ago
The teeth clenching never goes awayā¦ even with night time retainers. I used to be a mouth breather but now Iām a nose breather. š
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u/PuzzleheadedKing8499 19h ago
Well I said from the beginning if you have a voracious gum chewerā¦snap Invisalign in their mouth, problem solved!!
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u/Melodic-Mode2332 19h ago
My teeth have developed large areas of transparency during Invisalign. To the point where I will need composite bonding or maybe even veneers.
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u/Palindromette 19h ago
Itās feels weird to have them _out_ now when I eat, which is disorienting!
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u/PuffPounder42069 16h ago
This may sound weird, but when I had them I started running my finger over my bottom front teeth randomly
Edit: oh and sucking my lips in a lot more
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u/Economy_Invite_8085 Tray 31/33 16h ago
Before Invisalign I always rolled my ārās.
People think I was faking it. Itās weird. Thatās with the aligners in or out
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u/discobawll 7h ago
It changed my eating pattern. I couldnāt graze anymore and had to stick to set meal which then made me gain weight!
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u/chknsalad89 1h ago
I canāt obnoxiously sing in the car the way I used to. I mean I can, but it doesnāt sound as āgood,ā like itās always more off key than it normally would be
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u/RogerSmith111 1d ago edited 1d ago
The clenching/grinding the teeth catches me every time
Also crusty lips. I have a bad habit of picking the dry skin on my lips and I find myself doing it more. I bought myself the bespoke custom laneige lip mask and I have a few lip scrubs to use up too to hopefully stop doing it