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Comment by ChrisNorstrom | Hacker News Reader

I would NOT recommend these or invisalign to anyone. I had invisalign and while it's great at pushing teeth closer or further apart, the aligners cannot twist or pull teeth into position, and it's unnecessarily painful. You can get traditional braces for the same cost and get your "perfect smile" results with less pain.

Why are they painful? Because every time you "conveniently" take them off to "eat or brush your teeth" your teeth are loose and moving them around hurts like hell when brushing or eating. Snapping the braces back on and they'll hurt like hell again for about an hour until the braces stabilize them and they start settling again.

It was a huge waste of money, and now I'm saving up to get traditional braces. My teeth aren't even all that crooked, traditional braces can straighten mine out in less than a year.

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Just so you know, traditional braces hurt like hell for a day or two after each appointment, sometimes longer. They are also uncomfortable the entire time.

I'm 29 and got standard metal braces 5 months ago (top and bottom teeth). My bottom teeth are particularly messed up

Maybe it's different for others, but I strongly disagree about the pain. It's only painful up to a few days after having wires adjusted or installed, and even then I wouldn't call it painful -- just soreness. My dentist recommended Tylenol but I never had to take it, because the pain wasn't that bad. Currently day to day I barely notice I have braces on. The only real annoyance is eating food, as food easily becomes stuck in your braces. Investment in a water flosser, like the Waterpik, is highly recommended, as well brushing after every meal -- including lunch.

My braces cost $5k (my own pocket) and I pay monthly. I have to wear braces for two years, but I foresee no issues because it's been a breeze so far wearing them. I do wish I got them earlier, and suggest anyone thinking about it to get them sooner than later.

Thank you for review. I had traditional braces for 8 years and I cannot convey much it would have meant to me to brush my bare teeth or eat some, say, corn on the cob, if only for a brief (albeit painful) moment.

All the same, good luck with your braces. I cannot recommend a "gum stimulator" enough!! http://smile.amazon.com/Gum-Butler-G-U-M-Stimulator-Pack/dp/...

Good point about being able to feel your bare teeth every now and then.

I had braces for six years, and after they finally came off, I could not stop licking my teeth for days! It was such a great feeling.

I had metal braces as a teenager, and now about 20 weeks into Invisalign as a 40 year old to close a gap from a lost tooth, and my god, the Invisalign is wonderful compared to the metal braces.

Almost no pain, super convenient, and eating is normal. I remember all the times I used to have to eat by smashing food against the roof of my mouth with my tongue, because my teeth hurt so much from newly-tightened metal.

I think the risk of dental decay is another factor. If I am not wrong, you have to keep the traditional dental braces in place without ever taking them off for the entire duration of the n months / year? Not being able to take them out and brush / otherwise clean the tooth under them is apparently a cause for dental decay when using traditional braces.

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