Smile Aligners - Any Experience?

[Prudie]

Has anyone had any experience with Smile aligners or family members who have? A relative took delivery of hers on Saturday and has apparently been in total agony, living on paracetamol ever since. Her parents are actually in tears for her suffering (she's in her 50s). Surely they are not meant to hurt that much? On top of that she is apparently supposed to wear it 22 hours per day and can only drink water when it's in. I'm somewhat in disbelief.

[webbo3]

go to an orthodontist, retainers and braces can be adjusted by the dentist.

[Prudie]

Well I agree webbo but these Smile ones you order yourself online and not via a dentist. Haven't you seen the ads?

[Buenchico]

This website brings together both good and bad reviews, including some YouTube posts (with one stating "“I was in agony for two days”)
https://www.dentaly.org/en/braces-for-adults/smile-direct-club/reviews/

[webbo3]

Yeah, Ive spoken to the dentists in my hospital and they said you need regular appointments to adjust any kind of appliance

[calmck]

My granddaughter has an Invisalign. Before having moulds made she had to have a special X-ray. The system is a series of braces each worn foe 3 weeks.She sees the dentist every 8 weeks when she is given the braces needed until the next visit. It is a slow process and she has never had any pain. She takes them out for meals. She has never had soft drinks and actually hates coke etc. Were these ordered through a dentist. If so they are obviously not correctly fitted for her mouth as there should be no pain

[calmck]

Reading from the website that you are sent all the aligners needed for the treatment has she put the correct one in first

[barry1010]

Reading the last paragraph of Buenchico's link I am convinced that the article was written by Invisalign

[douglas9401]

I'm pretty sure there's a reason for dentists studying for years, doing placements then going on to specialise in orthodontics rather than selling stuff from a virtual barrow online.

[barry1010]

I know times have changed but I had to wear my braces for over 3 years when I was a kid, attending the dental hospital every 3 months to get them adjusted.

[davebro]

my teeth are crooked - too late now to do anything about it!

[barry1010]

Even after all those years of braces my teeth went back to being crooked.
I accepted it long ago.

[bednobs]

i keep being absolutely bombarded with ads for this company - american girls with perfect straight teeth in the beginning!
in one of the adverts a girl points to her mouth and says she can even eat and drink with them in.
i had train track braces when younger, and can remember them being painful after being tightened but not for days at a time, or necessitating pain killers

[Prudie]

Having now looked at some of the reviews it seems this intense pain is not uncommon and also users are regularly filing down the rough bits themselves!! Yes I wore braces around 12 for a couple of years fitted by a proper hospital orthodontist, it was a little sore each time they got tightened but certainly not agony.

[barry1010]

My brace couldn't be seen, it was to push my teeth out towards my lips. It was a plate similar to a full denture plate (without the teeth!) but it was in two parts, with the front joined to the back by a screw. Once a week I had to take the brace out and use the key to move the screw a notch.

I know you are all really interested in my brace :D

[Prudie]

Mine was because I had goofy front teeth. I wore 3 braces in succession, the last one at nights only. It made a huge difference and I had lovely teeth for years but now I'm older the front ones are starting to move again. My dentist says nothing can be done as my bones would be too old and solidified for braces to work again :-(

[Smowball]

What are they??

[jennyjoan]

my neighbours 3 kids wore braces and believe me they weren't crooked as teeth are so well known to me being a lipreader, however for a while back (don't know whether it applies now) but it was the fashion to wear braces. My neighbour told me their teeth were rated 1-5 and they were about "4" and so warranted the braces. They do have lovely teeth.

[Cloverjo]

Prudie, didn’t the orthodontist give you a retainer? I still use mine every night, 14 years after my Invisalign. If you’re quite old when you have teeth straightened they will move back without a retainer.

I found my brace quite painful in terms of rubbing on tongue. Better than the full on train track braces which can really be sore.

[Cloverjo]

Prudie again.
Your last sentence sounds rubbish to me. You can have your teeth straightened at any age. Make sure you get a retainer if you do it again.

[Prudie]

Clover no I wore braces at age of 12, once it was finished by 14 that was it, no retainer (probably not invented then) and my teeth stayed beautiful for 40 years plus. My current dentist told me nothing could be done except file it back and fit a veneer (one front tooth has started to stick out again a little bit, others don't notice but I do, the same happened to my father).