So I’m thinking about getting braces. I had them when I was younger but didn’t wear my retainer long enough (I guess current thinking is that you have to wear your retainer for the rest of your life!) and am having some spacing issues - just about anything I eat gets caught between my molars and it’s annoying and painful. I’m looking into Invisalign and was wondering if anyone has any stories to share before I pop five grand on them.
My oldest is currently in them. Started last August and should be out by this August. The main problem he has is the urge to constantly be popping them on & off his teeth. We are always riding him about doing it, but within a couple minutes, he’s doing it again. Orthodontist may be putting him into brackets if he can’t wear them properly. His teeth are moving as predicted. Every month when he goes in, the ortho gives him the next 2 sets to wear–one every 2 weeks. Once in a while, he has to have a little bit of enamel shaved off so the teeth will move as needed. I expect that means he will also need the teeth sealed when it’s all done.
What??? I’ve never heard of the enamel shaving thing. Are his teeth crowded?
Yes. His canines are slightly forward of where they should have been. Likewise, he had to have his wisdom teeth removed before the ortho would fit the Invisaligns. If you are having spacing issues, you probably won’t have to deal with the enamel removal.
I had what I think were Invisalign but I’m not sure. I mean, the doctor didn’t say “you had regular braces but now I am giving you Invisalign ones.” Instead, I had regular braces for a bit and in a different part of treatment, they came off and I was fitted with clear plastic “covers” that fit my teeth like a glove.
I really didn’t like them…they made me lisp, I had to take them out when I ate (thus, I left them at a restaurant once), and I spent a ton of time popping them on and off. Especially when my teeth were sore. It was so much easier to pop them off than to deal with the pain.
I don’t know why I had this sort of treatment rather than regular braces. I guess maybe because I was already in my 20s at this point, and the treatment was to keep my teeth in line now that they had been moved by traditional braces.
If anything, I would talk to the doctor and see if you can get a test run or something, to see if they give you a lisp. Meh.
I did palette expansion w/ retainers and then metal braces (no bands) starting in 4th or 5th grade. I can’t remember for sure how long it took but I’m sure I was done with all of it by high school.
When I got out of the metal braces my orthodontist was concerned that my teeth would move so he made me an Invisalign retainer to wear at night, he said I should wear it the rest of my life. It was by far the most uncomfortable device I was ever made to wear.
I stopped wearing it and one of my teeth did move a little. I kind of regret not heeding his advice but I’m also glad not to screw with a retainer every night.
I’m just one person and my info is probably out of date but if I had it to do it all again, I’d opt for metal braces over the Invisalign.
That definitely tracks with my experience. I was only to wear mine at night and I couldn’t stand the bloody thing, it really, REALLY hurt.
I remember how bad it sucked to get a retainer adjusted, that horrible tight feeling lasted all day and it hurt but by the next day I was used to it. Maybe that’s the bad thing about Invisalign, they try to do too much too fast?
Like you though, I was told that the Invisalign were to keep my teeth the way they were - seems like it shouldn’t have hurt at all.
Did it make your teeth hurt or did it rub on your gums/roof of mouth etc.?
It made my teeth hurt. It felt really tight, excessively tight. I complained of the fit but was told it was dandy-fine. I never managed to sleep through a night wearing it and the ache in my teeth would spread into my jaw and even give me a headache if I wore it a long time.
This was awhile back though, somewhere between 1997-1999, my experience could be completely out-dated. Or I could just be a wuss.
Standard metal braces are no picnic and lots of people have to deal with rubber bands - that always looked awful to me. When I first got them, my metal braces cut up the insides of my mouth and I kept accidentally eating the wax that you’re supposed to put over them to prevent such cuts. Also, I looked kind of stupid with all that metal in the maw.
That said, I’ve always been grateful that my parents spent 2 grand fixing my teeth. If the choice were between painful Invisalign braces and doing nothing, I’d like to think I could suck it up and deal with the pain.
Are metal braces even an option any more? I would go that route if you can.
If you don’t mind my answering slightly tangentially, I had a boss who had another type of plastic (or polymer) braces … they were bonded to the front of his teeth but did not go around his teeth. They were almost completely invisible. Literally I had worked for him for about six months before I knew he had them.
Metal braces certainly hurt a LOT when I was 14. I’m sure they would hurt now too.
I’ve done both Invisalign and braces.
Braces are cheaper (about half the price) and they work faster (because the metal wires and rubber bands apply more force 24 hours 7 days a week.)
Today’s speed braces are much smaller and less noticeable than what was offered 20 years ago.
Each time your change to a new one, your teeth will hurt for 1 or 2 days.
I made an appointment and asked about both. At this ortho, metal braces are only about $500 cheaper than the Invisalign, which surprised me. When I had braces about 20 years ago, they were $2700 IIRC and the receptionist said they run about $4,500 now. Ouch! I’m not worried about speed, I just think I’m a little old to be walking around with a mouth full of metal and rubber bands…
I’m 62 and just finished up with Invisaligns to correct spacing issues that made flossing difficult. I had 27 iterations because a lot of movement was called for. They weren’t particularly uncomfortable; when switching to a new set I noticed them for the first few hours, but not really much after that for the two weeks until the next set. Only occasionally did they cause a lisp. I had to do a little behavior modification to cut out random snacking and constant tea drinking because I didn’t want to have to pop them in and out constantly and rebrush, but that was about it.
Only rarely did anyone notice that I had anything on my teeth.
I guess prices are all over the place.
I just looked at my ortho paperwork again. In 2001, the Invisalign cost $5500 and the traditional braces were $4000. However, now I’m thinking that the $4000 quote was for old-style braces instead of the more expensive and newer “speed braces.”
I went with Invisalign and they worked fine. However, I got speed braces a few years later to solve a different problem. That treatment actually cost more than Invisalign but it was a different doctor and different city.
I guess it also depends on the type of natural smile you do. If you have a wide smile where your gums show, then I could see being self-conscious of braces (even if they are the smaller speed braces.) My natural smile is a “half” smile so most people didn’t even know I had braces on. Invisalign was a waste of money in my case.
I’m a pretty big smiler (see me at the Dope Gallery!) so braces are very obvious. Hence the Invisalign thoughts. But we’ll see what the ortho says next week - Invisalign may not be able to accomplish what I want (my bite seems a little off in addition to the spaces).
My wife has been using the Invisalign for 8 months and loves them. They do hurt when she changes them, but she likes the fact you can’t see them and they have helped her teeth a lot!
I had an Invisalign retainer made when my regular one broke in Korea. It worked all right but the nasty thing was they will up with saliva and start to really fucking reek. The thing got to be pretty disgusting after a week or so and never really felt “clean” again. It also broke about 2 months after I got it and I just gave up.
Did you have regular type braces first? And did it make you lisp? Rinsing it didn’t help at all?
How about your wife, depocali? Any lisping problems? I spend much of my day yapping so lisping would be bad. Although I suppose it’s something you would eventually adjust to.
You do have to clean them with toothpaste and a brush everyday (just like real teeth.)
However, I agree that even with daily cleaning, they will start to yellow and won’t ever be as transparent the day they were new. At least they won’t smell.
Shouldn’t be an issue. You’ll get over the lisp in a day or so.
If they’re anything like the clear plastic retainer I had to wear on my bottom teeth after the metal braces came off – YUCK.
Worst thing ever, for me. So uncomfortable that I’d chew it in my sleep, or chew/clench my jaw if I wasn’t paying attention (and of course if I paid attention, it was distractingly uncomfortable).
I came out of that with a brand-spanking-new case of TMJ. And every dentist I’ve asked over the years has told me there’s nothing I can do to fix it, either. The hinge of my jaw is corrupted on both sides and I can no longer open and close my mouth smoothly. I also used to go through periods where my jaw ached like hell for a few weeks at a time, usually when under stress. Thankfully those episodes are very infrequent, now.