Do Teeth Aligners Hurt?

Experts say aligners are much less painful than traditional tooth-straightening solutions like braces. They apply less force and don’t scrape up your sensitive mouth tissues. 

But all aligners can cause discomfort. Bundles of nerves are tucked into each tooth within your mouth. Aligners apply pressure to nudge your teeth into their proper positions, and the pushing can irritate your nerves. 

Byte can ease aligner pain. The HyperByte tool delivers gentle vibrations to seat your teeth into the trays, and the buzz helps to soothe uncomfortable nerves. With this tool, your treatment will be more comfortable.

Why Do Aligners Hurt So Bad?

While brushing and flossing, we only interact with a tiny part of our teeth. We may not feel the flick of the bristles or the slide of the floss. But our teeth are wired to send alarm signals when they experience a perceived threat.

A pulp chamber tucked within each tooth holds blood vessels and nerves. Hollow sections in tooth roots allow signals to pass from each tooth to your brain. Aligners can cause those signals to fly.

Pain doesn't happen to everyone. Patient satisfaction studies suggest that less than a quarter of people who wear aligners have pain, and the wide majority of them report that they look better when the process is complete. But if you do have pain, it's both natural and normal.

Comparing Pain from Braces & Aligners

Plenty of tools can straighten teeth. Each method works a little differently, but they all cause discomfort. Aligners, however, do cause less pain than braces. Study after study has proven this fact.

Aligners are less painful than braces due to the following:

• Construction: Brackets and wires lie on the surface of your teeth when you're wearing braces, and all that hardware can scrape and rip up your cheeks and gums. Aligners have a smooth surface that protects the inside of your mouth.
• Hygiene: Braces are glued to your teeth. A dentist must help you to remove them. Brushing around the wire isn't always easy, and insufficient cleaning can lead to bacterial growth and inflammation. You can slip out your aligners for cleaning, so this issue is less likely.
• Positioning: Aligners wrap around your teeth and push from several angles. Braces pull from one central spot at the front of your teeth. Indirect pressure like this can lead to enhanced pain signals.

If your teeth aren't in the optimal position, you may need more help than aligners can provide. Significant dental corrections are best handled with braces. But if you need only mild or moderate help and are extremely worried about pain, aligners might be a better choice.

Common Reasons for Aligner Pain

Wear aligners, and you will do the following:

• Slip clear trays over your teeth. Each tray looks slightly different than your natural smile.
• Receive constant pressure. Each moment you wear your aligners means pushing your teeth into the positions found on the trays.
• Repeat the process. Every week or so, you'll start this process again.

Teeth can and do move in response to pressure. But your body isn't accustomed to a shifting smile. The gentle tugs might seem unusual or wrong to your body, and pain signals tell your brain something is happening.

References

Pain Levels Between Clear Aligners and Fixed Braces: A Study Review. Aesthetics and Digital Dentistry Academy. 

Tooth. American Dental Association.

Patient Satisfaction and Quality of Life Changes After Invisalign Treatment. (June 2018). American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics.

Managing Pain and Discomfort in Orthodontics. (2011). Journal of Dentofacial Anomalies and Orthodontics.