Invisalign Allergy Side effects upper respiratory symptoms?

[scb1963]

[quote="guineapig"]While we are suspecting and presuming what's wrong with us, they know they can still make some money. Just google about the FDA fine that Invisalign got for undisclosed facts about their product. Really scary stuff! I'm not gonna put that toxic thing in my body a minute longer and going to court. I'm on a mission to notify about this as many people as I can. Hope, so are you.[/quote]


I have been wearing the Invisalign braces now for about 2 months. About a month ago - i experienced a locked jaw while driving for a few minutes. it really scared me. I finally got it to unlock by moving my lower jaw back and forth. Then i began having symptoms of an inner ear infection. I experienced horrible deep pain in my right ear- went to my MD who had a nurse practioner see me and said that I had chronic otitis media which is a chronic middle ear infection. i also experienced a loss of balance which was labelled as vertigo. I had these symptoms for about 3-4 weeks which forced me to take sick days at work and affected me greatly. I finally went to an ENT specialist who said I neither had fluid or air in my ear (which was good because I have never had an ear infection in my life) and i was told I was displaying signs of vertigo. I have to go for another follow up vertigo test and now realize that all of these signs were leading to a false diagnosis. I was EXPERIENCING all of this. So i stopped wearing my invisalign braces for about 2 weeks as I couldn't take the pain of the braces along with a painful "ear infection" and the symptoms began to subside. Today I am reading online and see how others also have also experienced symptoms of upper respiratory problems. My son is also wearing them and often experiences nausea and I have as well. i don't know if this product is safe to use anymore and is very expensive! Can someone really duplicate the entire experiences of legacy metal braces with computerized imaging and assumptions of movement? i work in technology but am beginning to wonder if this isn't another case where we have jumped the gun and are misusing technology in place of otherwise personalized medical treatment especially without having information about any long term studies or effects available?

[Alfa1969]

I am on tray 7 of 20 and it has been an unmitigated disaster. I should have done my research beforehand and not relied on my ortho's or dentist's "all good" advice. Thank you for this forum and I hope my experience helps others in their decision making process.

1. Grinding my jaw. My dentist knew this was already a problem for me as I had a mouth guard. Liners made it worse (upper and lower).
2. Grinding jaw leads to migraines and jaw-ache.
3. Because of this, I remove the liners ...In My Sleep. I have no control over this. It's crazy. Or I will wake-up and be in such low-grade discomfort that I'll remove them in order to sleep.
4. Dry mouth. Saliva seems to get trapped under the tray leaving the roof of the mouth dry. Constantly trying to 'redistribute' saliva in my mouth.
6. Cannot do an intense workout (e.g. Crossfit) wearing trays as you will be sucking air (plus aforementioned dry mouth).

Perhaps the majority of people have no problems but I wish I had read up beforehand as it seems a lot of people share my experience. Rather disreputable of the industry that they don't tell us beforehand.

I will be ending it this week.

[Lola73]

I had recently posted my bad experience with Invisalign on the allergy reaction archwire chapter under this site.

I started wearing Invisalign in August. I just had a bottom tray. Within one week the whites of my eyes started going severely red. Coworkers became super concerned as I looked like a vampire (no joke). My eyes were that bad. I also had a sore throat, slight cough, moments of nausea and the odd time where I felt like I couldn't breath. After seeing a GP and an Optometrist I was diagnosed with a condition called Uveitis. It's where cells inside your eye swell. I had never been diagnosed with this condition before. Not knowing what was causing it but knowing I had just started Invisalign I decided to remove the tooth tray. My condition improved and the Uveitis went away. I decided to reintroduce the tooth tray weeks later and again the Uveitis reappeared. Needless to say I removed the tooth tray. I do not wish to use Invisalign again. My Uveitis is on the mend as is my sore throat. My cough, respiratory issues and nausea have also disappeared.
Use caution using Invisalign....Uveitis can cause blindness if not treated quickly. In my experience there seemed to be a strong correlation between my symptoms and Invisalign use. I should also add that I was using regular toothpaste/tooth brush and mouth wash to wash my tray. My reaction to the tray seemed fast ( one week). I hope by sharing my story others will be able to monitor and safe guard their experience with Invisalign.

[Rere2015]

[quote="Corklass"]I have been wearing Invisalign for about 18 months-just about done I believe and its not soon enough. I did have some nausea here and there but have attributed that to perhaps not enough cleaning/ hygiene. Since I started to put much more effort into a lot more on cleaning and soaking in Efferdent those issues have gone away pretty much.
However in the year and a half that I have been wearing them my health had deteriorated drastically. My vitamin D levels dropped to zero, my glands were constantly swollen although thyroid tests did not indicate hyper or hypothyroid condition. My diet had not changed as I have always been a healthy eater and don't eat fast food, junk food, frozen or canned food.
Now I am seeing a neurologist because of brain function impairment and I question the biocompatability testing that has been done on invisalign. I am assuming that as they are not "implants" they have passed biocompatability testing for devices only with contact up to 24 hrs. However that test is intended for temporary contact up to 24 hrs. If these devices are in contact for 20 hrs a day for 18 months what test has been conducted to determine that they are safe. The material that they are made of is not well published- I noted a mention to polyeurethane somewhere. That what we laquer our furniture with!!
Regardless, all plastics are scary materials as the material manufacturers are not required to divulge their formulation even to the OEM manufacturer. (I work in the medical device field) While they may be polyeurethane or similar we will never know what additives are in the materials. Has the material supplier to Invisalign filed the material formulation with the FDA? I have a ton of questions but doubt I will ever get all the answers even from my orthodontist.
If I had to do it again I would look for alternative treatments even regular metal braces.[/quote]


Hi there!
It's crazy that I'm quoting you after 7 years! Your post first lifted me up then got me concerned .. Was your brain function impairment related to the Invisalign? Did you experience any side effects after you were done with the treatment! I really HOPE that you would reply!
Thanks!
Rere

[Smiledirectuser]

Hi Everyone, joined the board to comment on this discussion. 10yrs ago I did Invisalign for top teeth only and had great results that reverted as soon as I stopped wearing the retainer. Thursday I started smile direct for top and bottom and by Sunday I was Very ill and I am NEVER SICK! It progressed with a knife-like feeling on one side of my throat and today was diagnosed with acute tonsillitis!! I’m taking antibiotics but from reading on here and other sites it seems there is a link. I was awful before, ashamed to say I’d do reckless stuff like eat and pop trays back in, leave trays random places, moving them all the time without washing my hands and I lived in nyc at the time!! All of this with ZERO issues. This time I’m doing everything right and very ill missing work! I will try the efferdent with Listerine soak but I’m seriously nervous that I may not be able to complete this program because something has changed in how these clear trays are made. I noticed that many of the posts are from many years ago. Has everyone come to a conclusion on this issue? These trays may be toxic!

[MikeT]

I started my Invisalign treatment on Tuesday March 20th 2018. That same day, late at night I began with a sore throat. Next morning, I not only had a severe sore throat but extremely bad sinus infection. I couldn’t believe how overnight I had developed these severe symptoms. My cousin who is an RN suggested I take amoxicillin. I did for 2 days and each day I kept waking up worse. By Friday morning I was very ill and now dealing with laryngitis. It was scary! Friday morning I went to see an ENT Specialist- I asked him if it could be the aligners but he probably didn’t even know what are aligners because he didn’t answer my question. Instead he recommended a stronger antibiotic, Levoflaxin and an anti-inflammatory. That Friday night my voice was completely gone but I remained hopeful that the medication would start working. Saturday & Sunday I was very ill. Sunday afternoon my mother and partner suggested that I remove my aligners. Monday morning the laryngitis was gone but still dealing with the other symptoms. FINALLY I called my orthodontist- he said “You are having an allergic reaction to the aligners, stop using them”. He also said that he himself had the same allergic reaction when he used Invisalign. In 2 weeks I get my new hypo-allergenic aligners. But now I ask myself, who’s going to pay for my medical expenses?

[bbsadmin]

Perhaps you should send your medical bills to Align Technology. This sort of thing has been going on for years, but they don't admonish patients because (I think) they consider it a "rare" anecdotal reaction. I'm sorry that you had to take antibiotics for no reason. Be sure to eat yogurt for a couple of weeks and take some probiotics every day for a while to restore your normal flora!

Also, you should report your reaction to the FDA. The FDA will want to know about it.

[Mom2Son]

I believe that my son developed heart failure from over growth of bacteria in his mouth when he was using Visalign to straighten his teach. I don't believe he was provided enough information on the risks of the affects of bacteria overgrowth due to lack of proper care and cleaning of the Visalign. He almost lost his life and was hospitalized for more than 2 weeks and suffered 4 strokes due to heart failure that cause blood to pool in his heart. It was found that bacteria in the heart wall was the cause of the situation. He is currently under the care of a cardiogistic. His health and lifespan has become compromised. I am no doctor of medicine, but this is my opinion.

[Beemur]

I started my Invisalign treatment on Tuesday March 20th 2018. That same day, late at night I began with a sore throat. Next morning, I not only had a severe sore throat but extremely bad sinus infection. I couldn’t believe how overnight I had developed these severe symptoms. My cousin who is an RN suggested I take amoxicillin. I did for 2 days and each day I kept waking up worse. By Friday morning I was very ill and now dealing with laryngitis. It was scary! Friday morning I went to see an ENT Specialist- I asked him if it could be the aligners but he probably didn’t even know what are aligners because he didn’t answer my question. Instead he recommended a stronger antibiotic, Levoflaxin and an anti-inflammatory. That Friday night my voice was completely gone but I remained hopeful that the medication would start working. Saturday & Sunday I was very ill. Sunday afternoon my mother and partner suggested that I remove my aligners. Monday morning the laryngitis was gone but still dealing with the other symptoms. FINALLY I called my orthodontist- he said “You are having an allergic reaction to the aligners, stop using them”. He also said that he himself had the same allergic reaction when he used Invisalign. In 2 weeks I get my new hypo-allergenic aligners. But now I ask myself, who’s going to pay for my medical expenses?

I would do what someone else said and maybe contact align technology. Did your ortho have you sign a contract? In my contract it mentions the possibility of allergic reaction and has a list of symptoms and if they persist more than 3 days to stop wearing them and call the orthodontist and they order hypo allergenic ones. I think it's a bit negligent that it seems most orthodontists aren't informing their patients about this more. While I think my ortho has it in the contract more to save their own ass than anything, it was good to know. I feel like all invisalign providers should be made to inform patients of possible allergic reactions.

[JohannaHocque]

November 2017 the American Yournal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics shows a very interestig study. A group of about 200 Invisalign users were investigated and showed (a lot) of live treatening ​events: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/a ... 0617306030 ​

For who have this same healthproblems. How long until you were feeling better and did you take medicine or such? I stopped last Februari and still have problems like difficulty with breathing.

[Speck]

A day or two after starting Invisalign I noticed a scratchy throat and a small measure of bronchial discomfort with a mild cough. It occurred to me that the latex elastics could be the culprit, so I went with non-latex. Voila, problem solved!

[Speck]

Howdy. In my previous post I commented on upper respiratory issues that developed pretty much immediately following the start Invisalign treatment and so changed to non-latex elastics in an effort to solve the problem. I really thought switching elastics had solved the problem due to the fact symptoms were significantly reduced very soon after having done so. It’s been a bit over a month now and, though symptoms have faded, a measure of upper respiratory (UR) discomfort persists (episodic, mildly scratchy throat and associated cough with some congestion). I’ve been waiting it out thinking an allergic reaction to the latex elastics may take awhile to completely resolve but, though mild in nature, a UR condition continues to be an issue. I’ve been taking Zyrtex (OTC allergy medicine) and that has brought a measure of relief. Is it too much of a coincidence to have suddenly developed and allergy to some random environmental thing? Dunno.

Does it seem likely that I’m experiencing an allergic reaction to the aligners? And If so, does it make sense to take Zyrtec everyday (300+ doses by the finish of the initial 48 aligner treatment)?

I’m concerned when it comes to the notion of taking antihistamines on a daily basis for so long and I’m massively resistant to having brackets placed on my teeth. I’ve read here on the board that Align Technologies offers a hypoallergenic aligner option. Unless prohibitively expensive, why wouldn’t all aligners they produce be made of that material? Evidently all of the 48 aligner trays for my initial treatment have already been made and are in the ortho’s possession so, unless they’re the hypoallergenic ones, new aligners would need to be made.

Any ideas you might have would be most welcome.

In any event, I reckon the ortho and I will talk about it during the next office visit.

[KidAlondon]

Thank goodness I found this forum thread. About ten days ago now I got my third cold of the year, five weeks after finally being rid of another one. I was on week four of Invisalign braces. This time the cold went straight to my chest and I’m coughing so badly, it’s making me extremely down. It’s so bad my downstairs neighbours called tonight to make sure I was okay. I’ve never had this before and I’m convinced that the braces are causing chronic post nasal drip into the back of my throat.

Why oh why don’t Dentist’s warn you about all the negatives with Invisalign? They make it seem like it’s going to be plain sailing when it’s nowhere near that. I’ve always got a dry mouth, the braces feel like they are swollen in my mouth, I can’t exercise because my chest is so sick, these tracks on my teeth make me feel like I’ve got the biggest peanuts stuck to my teeth.

And this is week five now of what my dentist says will be a 18 month treatment.

I don’t know what to do. My dentist will probably say that she’s never heard of anyone with these problems. It’s just me. Plus I’ve paid for the entire treatment. £3000. And I’ve had a few teeth shaved down in size.

Maybe, just maybe I’ve been unlucky and caught another cold but I’m sure that the braces are making me more prone to these viruses and causing the post nasal drip that is making me so sick.

[bbsadmin]

There is supposed to be a non-allergic material that Invisalign can make for you. Tell your dentist that you are allergic to the aligners and have him/her contact Align Technologies (the makers of Invisalign) and request that your aligners be re-made with this non-allergic material.

[bbsadmin]

Does anyone have any new information about allergy or upper respiratory problems from Invisalign and other clear aligners?