Had braces when I was younger, but for some reason it took months to get my retainer. As a result, it gave me headaches and I stopped wearing it and the predicable results are my teeth moved. Also clench my jaw at night which does not help.

Looked into braces and gotten a few consults with costs and treatment times ($6k and ~15-months). I actually looked into it 5 years ago and wish I'd have just bitten the bullet and gotten it done then ($1k cheaper + insurance had $1k benefit - insurance now has zero benefit).

Had two Ortho's tell me traditional braces would work a lot better than Invisalign. Third insist he can straighten my teeth with Invisalign which is much more appealing as I won't have a bunch of metal in my mouth*. Third one also mentioned polishing the spaces between my front lower teeth to give more room to move things around and straighten the teeth! Removing tooth material sounds like a terrible idea, but I'm not an orthodontist. Third Ortho showed me some before/after photos of other adult clients with Invisalign and some had much worse teeth than mine.

Thoughts?

* I realize that absolutely NO ONE will say anything about an adult having braces as several people I know at work got them done, but still hate the thought of it. Just the flossing alone seems like a PITA. Wife was all "wait, you can still kiss me, RIGHT?!?!?!)

Obviously, we don't know how jacked your teeth are, but Im amazed at what they can get done with Invisalign.

I too had this question when I was told I need "braces" as an adult to fix part of my bite to prevent bone loss (and just so happens to fix some mild cosmetic issues). I went to a well regarded ortho, and I point blanked asked whether braces or Invisalign would be better. He said, in the vast majority of cases, Invisalign is the better choice. It is just as fast, and actually more accurate than trying to mess with the adjustment of braces (springs, tension, etc.). He does braces too, usually for teenage patients who can't keep up with the Invisalign.

It was also about 6K.

Invsilign nowadays can even put these types of "hooks/buttons" on your teeth snapping the trays in to place and changing the tension that can make the process even more effective depending on your treatment plan. Point being, the gap between braces and Invisalign is extremely small.

Not sure I would want ANY removal of enamel material. Even if I had to keep the Invisalign on longer.

Punch line, more than likely Invisalign is the better choice for you, and eff getting any teeth "shaved" off. I think you need to keep looking for better orthodontics. I used the guy below that came recommended by two different "teeth" professionals. I don't know if you are in Houston, but I used the guy below.

https://advanceorthodonticshouston.com/

Thanks, sounds like you had similar questions and found answers. They mentioned the hook/buttons thing to keep them in place. The teeth "shaving" was not a "we must do this" more of a "we can also do this to solve the crowding" thing. I can ask more questions. Also said they can write a letter to HSA to get the payments approved (which saves me ~20% based on my overall tax rate).

I do have one more consult this week.

I'm not in Houston but thanks for the recommendation.

agracer said:

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Thanks, sounds like you had similar questions and found answers. They mentioned the hook/buttons thing to keep them in place. The teeth "shaving" was not a "we must do this" more of a "we can also do this to solve the crowding" thing. I can ask more questions. Also said they can write a letter to HSA to get the payments approved (which saves me ~20% based on my overall tax rate).

I do have one more consult this week.

I'm not in Houston but thanks for the recommendation.

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Nice on the HSA deal! I was completely out of pocket.

The Invisalign should be able to solve your teeth crowding issue as well. (Did for me anyway).

The Hooks/Buttons aren't merely to keep them in place but to also effectuate the movement. I don't need them, but I overheard that they can even do the "rubber bands" thing (like they do with braces) if a treatment plan calls for it.

The hooks took some getting used to (about two weeks) as its weird when you take the trays out, but you still have the hooks in. But otherwise, Invisalign is no big deal. You get your system of how it works for you, and thats that.

Good luck!

I'm doing invisilign now. I have a pretty easy case - no attachments or rubber bands or anything like that. It will take longer than they initially say. You go through the first round of trays, then you get rescanned for refinements, and you repeat that until you're happy with it. It took me about a week to get used to, but it's been a pretty easy process for me overall.

I was in the same situation. Had them as a kid, didn't wear my retainer. 30 years later and here I am.

I have great insurance so my part is relatively cheap.

I went the braces route, somewhat reluctantly. I went that route because my understanding was it was quicker and potentially more effective. He thought it would take me 14 months. I don't recall the cost difference, if there was one.

It's a little odd running around as a middle aged man with braces but I'm 7 months in and pretty amazed how quickly my teeth have adjusted. I dont love eating with them, my teeth are sore for a couple days after adjustments, but overall it's been an easy thing to do.

It's just a year and change, then the rest of life I should be set. I'm glad I did it.

Don't think you can make a wrong decision, as long as you do something. Everyone likes a pretty smile. Pick a plan and go for it. I think you will be glad you did.

I was in a similar situation, had braces as a kid and didn't wear my retainers. I did Candid during COVID, it is a less expensive alternative to Invisilign.

I recently completed Invisalign treatment - in the retainer phase now for about 9 months now.

I had a similar situation- a lot of crowding in my front lower teeth, along with the need for straightening my upper teeth. I too had braces as a kid, then in my teenage and young adult years eventually neglected to wear my retainer, and had the permanent lower retainer removed as it was just impossible to keep clean.

My orthodontist told me I needed 5mm of space to un-crowd my lower front teeth. She gave me two options- either polish the sides of all my lower teeth to create the space, or extract one of the front lower teeth (which happened to be 5mm wide) and use the treatment plan to close the gap. Her recommendation based on my case was extraction, and she shared several photographs of other patients that had a similar case.

Went the extraction route- was pretty skeptical at first but in the end, I am pretty happy. It took about a year longer than expected but that was because she really was trying to dial in the final rounds of the treatment. Also getting a tooth pulled sucks. Now I have 3 front lower teeth but you can't tell because they are all straight.

If Invisalign is an option I would 100% recommend over braces. I basically saw the ortho every 10 weeks or so to get a new set of trays, vs having to go in weekly. I also do Jiu Jitsu so the trays act as a pretty effective mouth guard, at least for that level of contact.

The only thing I have been disappointed about is due to my dentist who did the extraction, he polished off a little too much of the corner of the tooth next to the one that got extracted, now it looks like that one tooth is chipped. But it is a lower tooth so I don't really care. Everything else is straight. Good luck!

As a provider for both, Invisalign just can't do what traditional braces can achieve. If you have had braces once the traditional braces should be a quick easy fix.. Most of your kind of cases take 6-8 months with amazing results. Invisalign is the patient choice in your kind of situation but there are limitations. Seldom a perfect smile but generally a nice smile.
Your experience will be nothing like as a teenager. If you have already made up your mind about the convenience of InvisAlign that where ai find most adults but a quick Cosmetic case of traditional will produce the best smile

Agreed with the orthodontist who said braces for kids who'd lose the invisalign. Have had both in my family, braces for kids, invisalign for my wife. Hers turned out great. People never noticed she was wearing it. Price about the same, ~$5000.

Similar to your story, I was the teenage boy who had braces, eventually stopped wearing my retainer because it was plastic that gradually fell apart and I was slow to get it replaced, then did Invisalign 7 years ago. When I picked an ortho, I just made sure my ortho was one that was clearly very experienced with it. My teeth weren't bad by any means, but he did use the "buttons" on some teeth which allows the Invisalign to work more effectively. It was a 6-7 month process and I was done. And as an adult vs a dumb young guy, I don't think I've missed a night wearing that retainer in 7 years.

The braces Ortho's both said ~12-month to fix.

Invisalign Ortho said 12-15 months but sounds like it could be longer? They did do a 3D scan of my mouth during the consult, which was kind of cool looking, and took x-rays and photos.

The Invisalign appeals to me b/c of the "adult wearing metal braces" and as I said, I'm very self conscience about my smile. Also, I am religious about flossing every night (my dentist showed me what would happen to my teeth if I didn't - I guess my gums are just susceptible to things getting stuck and gunk) so in the last 35 years I've not flossed maybe 10 times before bed. I remember trying to floss as a teen with braces and they gave me some plastic loop thing to pull the floss thru the brackets/wires and having to repeat that FOR EACH TOOTH sounds miserable ....

Invisalign worked great for me as someone who had braces as a teen.

3.5 months and then another 1.5 months. Retainer 24/7 for about six weeks and then transition to nightly.

Mid-30s single male so braces were out of the question.

Im on week 7 of a 54 week Invisalign treatment.
I had braces as a kid.
Invisalign is much easier. Ortho gave me a cash up front discount. It has its challenges. The buttons on my teeth are obvious and I'm a little self conscious about that. I sleep with rubber bands.
I agree with other posters in that I would not remove enamel. If Invisalign is an option I'd suck it up and go that route

I did Invisalign as an adult. It was 10 years ago. Seemed like it lasted about a year. After a few months I mostly forgot they were there. Just take them off to eat and pop them back on

I had the "dots" on my teeth to help have the Invisalign have something to grab onto. If I recalll my dentist said that is mostly done in incisors since those teeth are mostly "cone" shaped.

I was a little concerned about then "shaving" down of some of the enamel but wen with it and don't regret it

One benefit of getting braces in my mind is getting a clear retainers afterwards. With those you can add the whitening gel and whiten your teeth as well.

I was always a smidge self conscious about my teeth and now I get a lot of compliments on my teeth

I'm glad I did it