Invisalign

welshdent

No one is being anti invisalign just advising you see an orthodontist first who is a specialist.
It is unwise to be taken in by marketing.dentistry is not like walking in to tesco and choosing the products you want. It's about addressing a need in the most appropriate way. Yes obviously as dentists we have strong opinions but these opinions are based on a solid foundation of knowledge from training and experience. We are the ones that posses the necessary information to guide your choices not a salesperson.

brook2jack

Stephb1986 wrote: »

I think we're only seeing it from a dentist's point of view here and not a person wanting braces? Early last year I asked about veneers and a few people who are also in this thread said about having invisalign instead

Steph

I think the dentists point of view in 2007 (toothsmiths) was that you should consider braces rather than veneers ,when you thought you were too old for braces, a point that was made again last year with the reasons about destruction etc.I'm really glad you got over your misgivings about dentists and went for the less destructive option and you are happy with it. Here's the thread to save going over the veneer vs brace argument again https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/35104523#Comment_35104523

None of us are posting from any self interest just trying to make sure that people make an informed choice ,not a choice informed only by advertising and hype.

Stephb1986_2

I am agreeing with you dentists in a sense of that braces are better than veneers but also I think that your only looking at it from what you see day in day out with statistics and not how users feel about it as I'm guessing you've not tried invisalign so can only comment on it from a professional capacity.

As a invisalign user there are good and bad points. I know how I feel by having invisalign and in the long run it's probably cheaper to have braces. I did find when I was looking into braces that the metal fixed braces (train tracks) were alot more expensive than invisalign at £2800 in my area and I am only paying £1,695.

I know that in my thread about veneers I was against braces as I was feeling I was too old for them it was more the train tracks I felt too old for. You tend to see spotty teenagers with a mouth full of metal not a young 20 something woman. But I did take your advice on board and obviously chose what was best for me and my teeth.

I can't say it's been easy considering I'm not so keen on dentists I've been through the worst of it I think and it's not quite as bad as I thought it would be I'm regularly seeing the hygienist at the practice and my teeth are coming along great. The dentist I see only does invisalign and I don't think he does any other type of dentistry if you get what I mean?

I can honestly say that I thought it would be alot worse than this. From what I've heard from family and friends who have veneers getting them and having them fitted sound a whole lot worse than having braces.

I'm glad I made the right decision. It is a long trek for me going to the dentist from where I live near wigan to chester luckily it's only every 6-8 weeks it's a 80 mile round trip

I think the advice you do give on here is brilliant and I'm glad you made me think about it, I do think that people wanting advice about dentistry need to hear it from both sides as a dentist and as a patient especially if they are nervous. I know I was I still not 100% keen but I'm a million times better than what I was, taking your advice and getting invisalign is the best thing I've ever done

Steph

welshdent

Again steph no one is saying dont get invisalign.

What I am saying is see an orthodontist. TBH though ... commenting on what we see day in day out and stats is surely a good thing not a bad thing?? How else are we meant to know what works and what doesnt?? As it happens I HAVE been on an invisalign lecture and from that I felt .... moving teeth be it via invisalign, aligners or conventional means .... is best left to the experts .... orthodontists.... Not a GDP that has done a course.

You seem to be under the impression an orthodontist doesnt do invisalign? They do. They just have far more in their armory to address someones needs and can best advise and help

brook2jack

Thank you for that.

As to the point about statistics etc .. it is a very poor dentist who doesn't know how their patients feel about treatment. It is important to hear from someone who has had treatment but bear in mind our opinions will be shaped by what we have done and what hundreds or thousands of patients experiences have told us.

A dentists relationship with a patient can become a very close one and many of us will have seen the same people for twenty years or more. So we get a good longterm view of what is successful for them and what they are happy with . We see the longterm effects of quick fixes and the limitations of the latest miracle treatments. The one certainty is no one is exactly the same as anyone else and everyones ideal treatment is different. There is no one size fits all solution to problems and different people have different expectations about what they want from an end result.

grey_lady

Hhmm, I have a friend who has had veneers for a very long time, twice she has had to have them replaced and coming up to the most recent replacement was constantly taking painkillers, every time they are replaced they take away part of the tooth I think, so eventually do they run out of tooth and suggest falsies? For her its worth it for the results compared to how her teeth looked before.

I hope that if any dentists or people that work with dentists won't take this the wrong way but from what I understand British dentistry doesn't have the best of reputations compared with countries like the US or Australlia. I would suggest that it's because not only do we want straight problem free teeth, we want that white 'hollywood' smile, so if British dentists arent advertising the fact that they can go some way towards achieving that then it's no suprise to me that people do gravitate towards these 'cosmetic' procedures from other providers.

welshdent

I think it's because the nhs is increasingly restrictive not only in working patterns but also in the dumbing down of the workforce. Why spend thousands improving your skills if the dept of health will not acknowledge your skills and the biggest demand from patients is for bog standard nhs work. It's no wonder we effectively become institutionalised when the vast majority are not interested in higher quality options they just want the nhs. How many threads here talk about seeking private dental options as a first choice? The general media assumption is we are all greedy money grabbers so it all makes a pretty negative back drop for the average practitioner.
I have had patients go to other practices for private work because they assumed as an nhs practice I was seemingly incapable of providing tooth whitening and bridgework despite signs in the waiting room. These are often the most demanding when it comes to what theynexpect me to do for them on the health service too!

Nhs dentistry is IMHO rubbish. Rubbish for all concerned. It has a system in place that forces treatments to be reduced to the lowest common denominator but the public seems to accept it because it's the sacred nhs cow and no one shalt crtiticise it. The major difference between Australian, us and uk dentists is not skill I can assure you. I have seen dreadful dentistry from dentists of both nations and superb work by uk dentists. No the difference is that they are limited in their treatments only by what the patient is prepared to pay or the insurance able to fund.
I am perfectly capable of providing quality work with good materials that will last aesthetically for years. Few want it from where I am looking.

brook2jack

grey_lady wrote: »

II would suggest that it's because not only do we want straight problem free teeth, we want that white 'hollywood' smile, so if British dentists arent advertising the fact that they can go some way towards achieving that then it's no suprise to me that people do gravitate towards these 'cosmetic' procedures from other providers.

The problem is the Hollywood smile is the graveyard of teeth. American cosmetic dentists have a terrible reputation amongst dentists in other countries because of their propensity to take drills to healthy teeth and slice off large amounts often killing teeth in the process.
We are taught minimally invasive dentistry ie the healthiest thing is an untouched tooth. Only remove what is diseased and nothing else. This doesn't square with removing large amounts of tooth to go with fashion. As to fashion you might be interested to know the "Hollywood" is going out of style because it looks so false and a more naturalistic look "Kensington smile" is becoming fashionable in America!(for an example see Duchess of Cambridges teeth).

I would have thought the most important thing a dentist can advertise is a healthy smile!

welshdent

that too! I was going off on one about our apparent reputation of a nation with bad teeth and bad dentists if anyone was wondering

Toothsmith

grey_lady wrote: »

I hope that if any dentists or people that work with dentists won't take this the wrong way but from what I understand British dentistry doesn't have the best of reputations compared with countries like the US or Australlia. I would suggest that it's because not only do we want straight problem free teeth, we want that white 'hollywood' smile, so if British dentists arent advertising the fact that they can go some way towards achieving that then it's no suprise to me that people do gravitate towards these 'cosmetic' procedures from other providers.

A couple of years ago Demi Moore tweeted a picture of herself sitting in a dentist's chair without a front tooth.

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.gossipsucker.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/demi_moore_missing_tooth.jpg&imgrefurl=http://gossipsucker.com/tag/demi-moore/&usg=__uSvsgJIw7MHfmcn_EdPdNsHbxQc=&h=485&w=478&sz=61&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=NlbiFFSeAqeDeM:&tbnh=134&tbnw=152&ei=EF3JTZuZFIiq8APn9e3ZCA&prev=/search%3Fq%3Ddemi%2Bmoore%2Bwithout%2Btooth%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DX%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-gb:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7ADBR_en%26biw%3D1004%26bih%3D563%26tbm%3Disch%26prmd%3Divnso&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=288&vpy=53&dur=57&hovh=226&hovw=223&tx=118&ty=103&page=1&ndsp=17&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0

This shows the 'lie' that is the Hollywood Smile!

This woman has had dentistry so destructive throughout her life (On teeth that were probably perfectly healthy) that now she is reliant on implants and post-crowns.

If that's 'good' dentistry, then we have different definitions of 'good'.