Are you looking for Invisalign reviews from the UK to help you decide about this treatment? If you, or your teen want dental braces but without a mouth full of metal, you're probably considering invisible braces like Invisalign.
But if your looking for reviews on Invisalign you will be aware that clear aligner treatment certainly isn't cheap. Before making this investment in your oral health, you may be wondering “Is Invisalign worth it?” and perhaps even “Does Invisalign really work?“.
In order to answer these questions, we have compiled these helpful Invisalign treatment reviews from across the UK. Keep reading to get honest opinions of what teeth straightening with Invisalign clear aligners is really like in terms of:
- Effectiveness
- Comfort
- Practicalities
- Visibility
- Speech
- Price
These reviewers have plenty of tips and real experiences to share, to help you decide whether Invisalign treatment is right for you.
Invisalign has plenty of positive customer reviews, as you'll see below in the article.
However, if you're looking for a more affordable option, without scrimping on quality, we recommend you give Smile White a try.
Like Invisalign, Smile White treats most alignment problems, thanks to in-person monitoring by a dentist. But, unlike other brands and treatments, you only have 3 in-office visits — the rest of your treatment is done at home.
Use DENTALY5OFF to save an additional 5% on your treatment.
Eight Impartial Invisalign reviews
“They are pretty much perfect, all the gaps are gone”
Before starting her Invisalign journey Mimi had very gappy teeth and also an open bite which affected her self-confidence about her appearance as well as her ability to eat. In her aligner review video, she shares her experience with Invisalign, before and after results and what her treatment with Invisalign cost.
Mimi's treatment cost £5,000, and she thinks Invisalign has totally been worth it. She paid a £1,500 deposit and then £350 every time she had an appointment.
It was supposed to take 11 months but will end up at just over a year because she needed a couple of refinements towards the end. Following her treatment, she will get a fixed retainer to keep her teeth in their new position.
If you have gaps in your teeth, the good news is that Invisalign aligners are great at fixing this problem, as you have just seen. And yes, Invisalign can even fix an open bite.
“My teeth are almost perfectly straight”
Chloe's blog gives her Invisalign honest review of treatment 8 months in, after some unforeseen interruptions from Covid lockdowns in the UK. Despite the interruptions in treatment, her teeth are now back on track with 12 weeks to go, and she is very happy with how they are looking.
A few pros and cons of Invisalign which Chloe mentions are:
- Even with interruptions, it's a simple process
- It's definitely working
- Helped close the gaps in her teeth
- She has experienced a little bit of pain and sensitivity but it settles quickly
- Improved dental habits, as she now carries a toothbrush and toothpaste with her to use after eating or drinking
- There can be other costs if you need a hygienist appointment or fillings before/during treatment
In a previous blog, published when she first got her aligners, she explains the process she went through to decide whether Invisalign was right for her, and also which dentist to use.
At first, she wasn't sure if Invisalign was right for closing gaps between the teeth because she had only seen reviews on crowded teeth being treated.
So she ended up visiting several different providers to compare the treatment plans and prices they offered her. In the end, she decided to go for it when she saw the end of treatment smile simulation.
“They are so not noticeable”
Next, we have this clear aligners review from a vlogger called Lucie who has documented her journey on youtube with a series of Invisalign review videos. In the one below, towards the end of her treatment, she answers some of the common questions she has received from her followers and subscribers.
Her Invisalign results are quite drastic, as you can see from the before and after comparison which she includes at around 17 minutes.
In case you don't have time to watch the video, here is a quick summary of the points she mentions:
- Pain: Lucie found the treatment quite painful, especially the first 2-3 months, but she has friends who haven't found it as bad, so it varies from one person to another.
- Sharp edges: Some of the trays were slightly sharp around the edges which made her gums sore.
- Quick results: She noticed a difference within the first month of treatment.
- Descrete treatment: Even with Invisalign attachments (small tooth-coloured blobs attached to your teeth to help with movement), it's difficult to spot when someone is wearing the aligners.
- Cost: Lucie received several quotes ranging from £3,000 to £6,000 for her Invisalign treatment, so it's worth shopping around for different quotes. In the end, she paid £3,200 including Invisalign Vivera retainers.
- Flexible treatment: After her initial treatment, Lucie needed some further refinements. Because she got Invisalign Full (now called Comprehensive), there was no extra charge for this work.
Everything considered, Lucie is happy that she got Invisalign vs metal braces, even if it made the treatment slightly longer and more expensive.
“I feel more confident with my smile”
Bronte has been wearing her aligners for a while and in the following video, she has compiled a helpful Q&A based on some common questions she gets asked.
She begins by explaining how the process works and then goes on to talk about cost, pain and some practicalities of living with Invisalign. We've summarised her Invisalign experience below in case you don't want to watch the whole thing.
Here are some of her answers:
- How much does Invisalign cost? £2,995 plus £200 for fixed wire retainers. This included everything involved with the treatment.
- Does Invisalign hurt? Yes – you are moving all of your teeth at once! Put a new set in right before bed and “sleep through the pain”.
- Can I still have a night out? Yes! It's not the end of the world if you very occasionally have the aligners out for more than the recommended 2-4 hours. Just don't forget to brush your teeth and put your aligners in before going to bed… otherwise you'll regret it in the morning.
- Is Invisalign worth it? Yes, for me it was worth it. I'm more confident with my smile and people compliment me on my teeth. I made it affordable by saving up £20 a week.
- Treats up to 90% of Cases
- Up to 40% cheaper than Invisalign
- Buy now, pay later in interest-free instalments
- Rated 4.9/5 on Trustpilot
- As seen on 5, BBC, 4, DailyExpress, TheMail
- Get 5% OFF with our discount code DENTALY5OFF and FREE Whitening and Retainers worth £790
“Now that I’ve done it, my only regret is that I didn’t do it sooner”
Scottish blogger Amber had Invisalign treatment which took just under a year, and most of that was spent straightening her bottom teeth. In her Invisalign review she talks about her results, pain (only once, for a couple of days) and the annoyances of wearing aligners.
One interesting thing she mentions is that as her treatment progressed she started to notice more and more imperfections with her teeth. Some things, like irregular shape, were tidied up with filing at the end.
She concludes by saying that the cons were all quite minor and worth putting up with. In fact, she wishes Invisalign invisible braces had been around when she was a teen – perhaps then she would have got her teeth straightened much earlier!
The good news is that Invisalign treatment is suitable for teenagers as well, even if some of their adult teeth are yet to appear.
“It was so difficult”
Not everyone finds wearing aligners a complete breeze. Temi's Invisalign experience left her with quite a bit of pain for the first 3-4 weeks, especially when she had to take her trays out to eat. She also had problems with mouth sores where the trays rubbed against her cheeks.
To add to that, she started getting headaches from caffeine withdrawal since she wasn't drinking as much coffee!
Temi's clear aligner review video is quite long however if you are wanting honest Invisalign reviews, negatives included then we suggest giving her video a watch. Her treatment is for diastema and overbite. She shows us what it's like using Invisalign's app to scan your teeth to record your progress, and also shares her dentist's recommendation for an electric toothbrush.
After the first month, Temi did find the pain subsided and life with Invisalign was much easier. Now, she doesn't regret choosing to get her teeth straightened.
“There are certain aspects of Invisalign that I didn't anticipate”
Sometimes things don't go to plan, and Laura's experience of Invisalign treatment definitely did not. In fact, she starts her Invisalign honest review by saying that she just had the most horrific Invisalign experience that she could have ever imagined.
Fortunately, she follows this up by saying that she is by no means warning people away from it, only that her particular experience wasn't pleasant.
Laura explains at the start of her video why she wanted to get Invisalign aligners in the first place. Then she goes on to talk about why her treatment experience was not ideal, and what happened that she did not anticipate.
Laura's treatment required using TADs, which are temporary anchorage devices. These are mini screws placed into the gum and bone to allow controlled movement of the teeth and help treat misalignment and in Laura's case, her open bite. These TADs caused her intense pain, to the point that her orthodontist actually had to remove one of them as her jaw and gum were so inflamed.
You can hear more about her Invisalign story in her vlog, and if you are interested in seeing what these TADs look like she shows them off midway through the video.
“You may lose weight”
Anna is a 26-year-old Brit who had traditional metal braces when she was a teen but still had a severe open bite – only 4 of her teeth made contact when she bit down. She was putting off getting any more dental work done because she'd been told 10 years ago that she would need jaw surgery.
Then, in 2017, her orthodontist suggested Invisalign braces as an alternative. In this article, Anna details her experience.
Anna's braces didn't end up that “invisible” because she had to have attachments on 20 teeth – including all her front teeth. This was drastically different from the two that her orthodontist originally predicted.
Anna's biggest complaint is having to wear the aligners for the recommended 22 hours per day.
Since the wear time is 22 hours, that leaves two hours to eat three meals a day. It's pretty ambitious, but I do my best to, because it really beats trying to pry the aligners off my teeth more than necessary.
Invisalign recommends wearing the invisible braces for 20-22 hours a day. The remaining 2-4 hours can disappear quickly since you need to clean your teeth and aligners carefully after eating and drinking anything except water.
Many reviewers will share their Invisalign weight loss stories as a result of treatment and you may hear this referred to this as the “Invisalign diet”. You can't be bothered to clean your teeth numerous times every day, so you just stop snacking. Anna also mentions that she finds it quite painful to remove her aligners, so she does it as little as possible.
She lost weight in her first month but managed to stabilise her weight by adding protein smoothies to each meal. She also recommends taking an aligner case and toothbrush everywhere you go.
“I absolutely recommend that you go for it”
Finally let's look at an Invisalign review from Rob, who decided to get his teeth straightened at age 49. This video explains what his daily routine with Invisalign is like and why he decided to get Invisalign aligners.
This would be good to watch if you want to know what the Invisalign experience is like in practical terms. Just like Anna, he saw almost immediate benefits from giving up snacking!
Rob has uploaded some other interesting videos, including this one explaining why he decided to get this treatment so late in life and describing the lead-up to getting his aligners.
Invisalign before and after
You've already seen some Invisalign reviews with before and after images from individual patients. Now, here's a compilation from a dentist who shows that Invisalign even works for some quite severe problems, including dental underbite and crossbite teeth:
We have a separate article featuring a lot more photos of people's Invisalign results, so you may want to take a look for more examples of how these aligners can work on even quite severe occlusion problems.
Conclusion
We hope these Invisalign clear aligner reviews have helped you get a better idea of what it's like to wear Invisalign aligners. All these reviewers reported an overall positive experience with promising results, despite some slight discomfort and inconvenience.
Remember that it's normal to experience some discomfort in whatever type of braces you choose. Fixed brace brackets, in particular, often cause mouth sores where they rub against the cheeks and tongue.
So, is Invisalign worth it?
On the whole, people seem to consider the drawbacks a small price to pay in return for improving their smile without it being obvious they're wearing braces. Being able to remove the aligners for important meetings or events is also a big plus, and results appear surprisingly quickly.
Depending on your orthodontic needs, there are teeth aligners to suit everyone. Our recommendation for the best clear aligners for teeth is Smile White, for convenience at an affordable price starting from £1,695.
If you're ready to get started on your Invisalign journey, make sure to speak to a dentist or orthodontist first before deciding on any treatment!
FAQs
Does Invisalign work?
Yes, Invisalign has a very high success rate with around 90% of patients who receive this orthodontic treatment being satisfied with their results. Invisalign has been treating patients for over 20 years however if your case is very severe you may require dental braces.
Is Invisalign worth it?
This is up to you, as only you can decide whether the price of Invisalign is worth the results you get. If your teeth are causing problems with speech, eating, or appearance then it's certainly worth considering, as Invisalign certainly have a lot of happy customers.
Does Invisalign hurt?
You can expect to experience some discomfort, even minor pain, especially after switching to a new set of aligners, as reported in these reviews for Invisalign. However, this is usually short-lived and should only last a day or two.
How much does Invisalign cost?
When buying Invisalign in the UK it will cost you anything between £2,000 to £5,500, however the price is based on the severity of your needs and will vary depending on the kind of treatment you need.
American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics: Has Invisalign improved? A prospective follow-up study on the efficacy of tooth movement with Invisalign. Consulted 12th December 2022.