There are a number of things to address. The first thing is looking at the previous treatment.

What did the orthodontist who provided you with braces suggest your end result would be before you started treatment? Is the end result what you were told or has there been something which has necessitated the removal of the braces before the end result could be achieved? If you are not happy with your treatment then you should primarily take this up with the orthodontist.

Secondly, the essex retainers should not be so tight after not wearing them for 1 hour. Again speak to the orthodontist about this, and if you cannot settle down with a removable retainer, i suggest trying a bonded retainer.

From your description it seems that your top jaw is positioned further ahead of your lower jaw, and there a number of procedures which can attempt to correct this. A few surgical procedures aim to correct the skeletal discrepancies and allow for a more pleasing profile. Your orthodontist should in conjunction with a maxillo-facial surgeon be able to provide you with more details and be able to arrange a consultation with you.

For a non surgical approach, the removal of teeth at the back would create space to attempt to move the teeth back, but what you might find is that you are limited to the distance you can go back, since the teeth will only move within the limitations of the jaws. Invisalign will not offer any more significant advantages over traditional orthodontics – apart from superior cosmetics, so again any problems experienced with the traditional orthodontics may again be faced with the invisalign.

An alternative to the orthodontics, should you be prepared to have your teeth prepared is to consider treatments such as crowns and veneers. The preparations may be extensive and you may find that root canal treatment may be one of the complications but it is certainly a way to correct the alignment of teeth and redefine the lip position.

Without a clinical view, i cannot provide more options but my first advice is to speak to the orthodontist who treated you, as if you were unhappy with the result at the removal of the braces then he should have been able to provide reasons as to why he could not improve on the result.

I hope my advice helps.

Regards