Invisalign advice

red

Hi! On my last dental appointment, my dentist asked if there was anything I wanted done and I mentioned the fact that my teeth are a little out of line. I think the bottom teeth are particularly noticeable as the bottom two teeth are at slightly odd angles (if that makes sense). Also, I think I have a bit of an overbite. But, my main reason for looking at fixing them was to help cleaning.

My dentist suggested invisalign braces but I do not know if there are any potential problems this could lead to (aside from the significant dent in my finances!), how painful it would be and how long the treatment goes on for...

My teeth are pretty okay and do not cause too many issues for me, so I do not want to launch into something without getting as much advice as possible...so I would be very grateful for any views or feedback anyone can offer!!!

Toothsmith

A standard thing that I say to my patients is that orthodontics is great at taking teeth that are way out, and getting them somewhere close to good. It's not very good at getting teeth that are somewhere close to good, and making them perfect.

Even if they are perfect at the end of treatment, unless you have a wire bonded to the back of them for the rest of your life, they will move a bit, and cross a bit, and space out a bit, and crowd a bit.

Invisalign is a very good, inconspicuous way of moving teeth about - and it works really well for the cases it's suitable for. It is expensive though (it would be cheaper to sort your teeth out with more conventional, but much more visible 'train tracks'). Another 'problem' is that it is often carried out by dentists who aren't specialist orthodontists - as all the dentist has to do is to take the impressions and send them off to the people who make the series of appliances.

Two things about what you wrote about your teeth:-

1. Lower teeth usually aren't as visible as patients think they are. When you smile, your lips generally move upwards, so upper teeth are visible, and lower teeth are masked. They are visible to you when you grimace and gurn at yourself in the bathroom mirror - but how often do you do that to other people in polite company?

2. Everybody has an overbite! It describes how much your teeth overlap each other.




The 'ideal' is for a 2mm overjet and a 2mm overbite. Malocclusions are described by increased or decreased overjets and overbites. Even then though, problems are rarely more than aesthetic, so if things still look OK, then I'd seriously consider parting with money to make things 'better'.

If you have a good relationship with your dentist, and have faith in him, then there's no reason to doubt his assessment of you,and if the problem you describe really is a problem to you, then he might well have suggested a good remedy to it.

If your dentist is a dentist who does a fair bit of orthodontics, then he probably has a good idea of what he's doing. I would ask him how much orthodontics he actually does.

If he doesn't do much - and only Invisalign, then it might just be worth asking him to refer you to a specialist orthodontist for an opinion. He should be happy to do this, as it would be unethical for the orthodontist to 'poach' you and do the invisalign himself. If the orthodontist thinks it suitable, he should send you back to your dentist to get it done. If he doesn't, he should explain to you, and your dentist, why he thinks it isn't before offering a more suitable treatment.

Good luck.

red

Thanks Toothsmith for such a helpful and informative response. My relationship with my dentist is still a little new - I switched to her about two years ago when I moved to London. She is always very friendly and helpful. She said that she would refer me to an orthodontist but gave no idea of cost or the procedure - she then followed it up with a suggestion for teeth whitening which I did not request as I have never really considered it necessary (my teeth are not particularly stained as I do not drink tea or coffee or red wine - even drink juice with a straw as I am obsessive about keeping my teeth healthy!).

Part of the issue is that I live in London and so the cost of these things can vary dramatically (I am in Central London also) and doing a quick google search I can see prices can vary from nearly £4k to under £1k. Obviously, I am not guided purely by price, but I feel really out of depth as my natural and obvious course of action would be to trust my dentist and have an initial consultation, but I have no confidence I would be better informed out of it as I do not know what questions to ask!

welshdent

Invisalign is normally determined by the makers of the product with regards to the costings. They charge a set price to the dentist to make the "braces" and the dentist must then charge accordingly from there. If you dont want tooth whitening then dont have it Maybe your dentist was just making a suggestion as many people do like it rather than saying you need it?

niknak30

I've had invisalign treatment to straighten my teeth - uppers and lowers. I had overcrowding of my teeth making them difficult to clean and floss. I also had a very sticky-out upper right canine which would catch on my lips. I got a referral from my dentist and met with two orthodontists. One recommended that for perfect teeth, I needed block and wires for a year and then my jaw breaking, filling and resetting. The other recommended invisaligns. I went with the invisaligns. I still have an overbite, but my teeth are perfectly straight. It took 18 months, changing aligners every two weeks. It took a little getting used to. The aligners are tight when you first put them in, and can give a bit of dull tooth ache. And I lisped badly for a few days! I did have to have little blocks cemented onto my teeth to allow the aligners better grip to pull the teeth in to place. These were removed at the end of treatment. I still wear retainers on a night to prevent my teeth moving. I can't afford to get them straightened again! My treatment cost over £3k, and included all orthodontist visits. I'm very happy with my treatment and would highly recommend Invisaligns.

recovering_spendaholic

My daughter (aged 20) has got 6 month smile braces fitted. She will have to wear them for 6 months and then will have a retainer and finally a wire bonded to the back of the teeth. I am a bit worried about the bonded wire thing but her teeth look so much better already and you can hardly see the train tracks as they are white. The total cost of treatment is £2500 which I thought was reasonable and the dentist does almost entirely orthodontics.