Objective To explore the effects of invisible appliance and traditional fixed appliance on facial soft tissue profile and smile esthetics in adult patients with Angle class Ⅱ division 1 malocclusion. Methods A total of 80 adult patients with Angle class Ⅱ division 1 malocclusion admitted to our hospital from June 2021 to June 2023 were selected as the research subjects, and they were divided into the control group and the observation group by the random number table method, with 40 patients in each group. The control group was treated with traditional fixed appliance, and the observation group was treated with invisible appliance. The smile esthetic indicators, improvement in anterior occlusal relationship, and satisfaction with facial soft tissue profile esthetics were compared between the two groups. Results After treatment, the exposure of maxillary incisors, smile arc matching degree, and gingival exposure of the observation group during smiling were better than those of the control group (P <0.05). The overbite, overjet and maxillary central incisor inclination of the observation group after treatment were better than those of the control group (P <0.05). The scores of nasolabial-mental coordination in the lateral view, profile smoothness, and mandibular line naturalness of the observation group after treatment were better than those of the control group (P <0.05). Conclusion Compared with traditional fixed appliance, invisible appliance can effectively improve the anterior occlusal relationship and smile esthetic indicators in adult patients with Angle class Ⅱ division 1 malocclusion, thereby enhancing patients' satisfaction with facial soft tissue profile esthetics, which is worthy of clinical application.