Dental Work - Invisalign?

RHarris

Hi all,

Been thinking about spending some money on some work on my teeth. The first thing i am thinking of is maybe getting invisalign braces? Does anyone have any experience with these or can anyone recommend good orthodontist to get them? (Im in Essex/London area)

Thanks in advance

:money:

brook2jack

Do not go looking for a particular orthodontic system . Invisalign has its limitations and is not necessarily the best choice for sorting out all problems.

You need to see an orthodontist who can offer many systems and will advise which one is the best for your situation and the pros and cons for you of each system.

Ask your dentist which orthodontist they refer to , as most orthodontist will be able to offer Invisalign or similar systems.

MichaelVisciones

You think well get braces it .

Toothsmith

Is that an anagram?

GlasweJen

I can't recommend a dentist as I'm in Scotland but I have had a consultation for Invisalign.

I wanted to straighten my teeth, the centre of my bottom teeth was 4mm left of the centre of my top teeth. When I bit my teeth together my top teeth were 5mm off the top of my bottom teeth and a few mm forward of them.

I saw a proper orthodontist and I think that's important, some dentists learn to fit one system but the guy I saw did all systems pretty much.

I was referred by my dentist and I said that I wanted something discreet, not big metal train tracks.

The orthodontist took impressions of my mouth and used a computer programme to show me how my mouth looked, he then used the computer to work through various models to show me how the different systems would work.

He recommended removing 6 teeth (4 top, 2 bottom) to relieve crowding, removing the rest of my wisdom teeth, jaw surgery to align my top and bottom, 2 years of train tracks and a permanent retainer to fix the rest with various bits like using bands to pull the front teeth back a bit and straighten them up. All in this was going to cost about £6K and I would have the perfect smile.

The solution I went for was removing the wisdom teeth, 2 top teeth and 2 bottom teeth. We skipped the jaw surgery. We used lingual braces that fitted behind my teeth and stayed in place. After the surgery the braces went on with bands to pull the teeth back, I was having the braces tightened really often at this stage, once the teeth were where they should be they started turning teeth that were at the wrong angle, that's where I am now.

When I bite down now the centre of my top teeth is only a mm out from the bottom, the front teeth still protrude forward but not by as much and my cross bite has reduced to about 2.5mm. All in I'm going to have paid £3K for this and the process has taken 18 months with another 6 months work to go and then I'll be fitted with permanent retainers to stop the teeth sliding back to how they were.

The end result will see my bottom teeth match my top teeth, a cross bite reduction to 2mm and the model said my teeth protruding wouldn't heal but it already has so I'm really happy.

definitely see a real orthodontist who can do many systems and have an idea of what you want at the end. I was happy to have better teeth stopping short at Hollywood teeth.

Also be prepared for the hard slog, my teeth need brushing constantly, I bought a water pik to clean the rubbish from the wires, for the first time in my life I need inter dental brushes and I can't chew gum because it will stick to the braces.

cashewnut

Had braces as a kid and they frickin hurt! It is worth it in the end but not an easy ride...

stokeyboy

Have you looked into a brace called Smilelign?
Similar to invisalign but a fraction of the cost.

owtfornowt_2

Having had wonky bottom teeth and an upper tooth turning to 90 degrees, I got referred to my dentist orthodontist.

After my consultation I decided not to go for them as I wasn't 100% happy with them, but after some research I chose another orthodontist who had won various awards (figured it was the least moneysaving thing I would ever do in my life, so I may as well go for the best I could afford!) Although I did get discount for seeing the orthodontist nurse for most of my appointments and for paying up front.

After getting xrays/photos etc taken, Invisalign was suggested and just under 2 years later I had perfectly straight teeth!

The upside of Invisalign is that you can take the braces out to eat/drink which in turn stops you from grazing on food!

After I got the initial impressions made and had worn the braces for approx 2 months, I got little bits of glue attached to certain teeth to help pull the braces tighter to help the the realignment. I needed very few trips to the orthodontist between the checkups.

You wear the same braces for approx 2 weeks and then put in a new set for the 2 weeks & so on. I did find that wearing the new braces gave me slightly tender teeth but some paracetamol sorted any pain out as the teeth moved into the new braces position. My tongue also took a little while getting use to the plastic braces being there!

I now have retainer wires on the back of my teeth to prevent them moving again. I use an electric toothbrush and an air flosser instead of the flossing wire brushes.

As I've never experienced any other type of braces, I can only say that my experience with Invisalign has been very positive.