Invisalign for teeth straightening.

[Perplexed0522]

Has anyone used Invisalign?

I’m considering giving it a go.

Would you recommend it and how much did it cost??

£1200 ish - worked for me. Wearing the night braces every night is a bugger, but I got a good result in about 4 months. Luckily it was during lockdown so wasn't going out to eat and drink at the pub. You have to take it out to eat and drink during the treatment which isn't easy when in public, and you have to wear it for 22 hours a day, so time starts ticking down if you're out and about

It's not as good as train track but horses for courses..

I had it for some relatively minor straightening and it worked really well. I wear retainers at night now to keep them in place. I confess I did used to just drink in mine and they did get a bit stained but you get a new set every week so doesn’t really matter.

You have to take it out to eat and drink during the treatment which isn't easy when in public, and you have to wear it for 22 hours a day,

How obvious was it to others that you were wearing it?

How come you got new ones every week?

Do they dictate how long you’ll need the treatment for? Or did you just stop after the 4 months because you were happy with the improvements at that point?

And how much did you pay? And did you have to pay up front?

Was this over a decade ago? It’s hugely more expensive now, frustratingly!

I’ve got them now and am happy with progress. I have a new one every two weeks. Not painful, I also drink in them as otherwise wearing for 21 hours a day is a challenge at times.

Don’t use online companies. All specialist orthodontists can offer Invisalign. Moving teeth can cause irreparable damage so chose your specialist well.
It’s not suitable for every mouth, for example severe crowding isn’t suitable because you need room to move teeth into.
The most important thing about all ortho treatment is that you will need to wear a retainer, probably every night for the rest of your life. They will need replacing regularly at a cost of £60-100 each, but they do double up as whitening:bleaching trays.

A enrage cost is about 3k as is more conventional treatment.

Average*

I just really hate my teeth ☹️

They affect my confidence so much.

They aren’t overcrowded but they aren’t completely straight and I have a slight overbite too.

I just really want to have a smile that I’m not afraid to show.

Ask your dentist to refer you to an orthodontist and see what they advise - I had Invisalign for 2 years (my dentist said at the start I was borderline for whether it would be effective or not) and it wasn't in the end so I ended up having train tracks for a further 18 months. I don't regret it though, I'm so happy with my teeth now but wish I'd gone with the train tracks in the beginning!

I got a UK based version (my dentist was adamant Invisalign is American and “Smilelign” or something similar is the UK version). I basically googled “invisible straightening teeth near me” and it came up! I’d recommend doing the actual 3D scan with Invisalign and then seeing if anywhere else can do the cheaper version as the consultation was free with Invisalign but not elsewhere. I’ve had a few friends do it too and they paid on finance so it worked out to be quite reasonable.

It was minor straightening and worked really well, cost about £1500 for seven months worth. I changed my trays every fortnight so I drank in them but did take them out to eat. I now only wear them at night.

I would recommend it completely, I’m much more confident and much happier with them!

I won’t pretend it doesn’t hurt to change trays but it’s absolutely worth it, the pain only lasts a day or two and painkillers shifts it (usually).

I didn’t tell anyone at work I was getting them and nobody noticed until I told them (or at least they pretended not to…). I had attachments which I thought would make it very obvious but then as my husband pointed out, nobody pays anyone that much attention!

I have assisted in a lot of Invisalign treatments.

Firstly, speak to a dentist who offers Invisalign as not everyone can have it. For some people if they need a train track brace they cannot be offered Invisalign.

I think it's great, you can't notice them. I can because I've worked on so many people with them.

But do speak to a dentist to see if you're the right candidate for it.

Also, it's a life time or retainers. Just like any other braces. Teeth move if people are not using their retainers.

Most of our patients got a new set of liners every month not every week. But again, depends on your course of treatment.

Good luck.

I'm in consultation to get them this year on top and bottom after my teeth have moved in pregnancy. The orthodontist told me that he preferred them to fixed braces because they don't get broken wires etc.

I've also been quoted in the region of £2000 and they do payment plans.

I'm just finishing the final tweaks with mine. It's taken 2 years but a lot of that was initial time affected by covid. The bottoms were finished last autumn but there's an awkward top tooth that's taken a little longer to come into line.

I had Invisalign Lite which cost me £3k as that package is predicted to be finished within 14 sets of aligners. Its obviously taken much longer than that but I haven't had to pay any more. I have a thin wire on the back of the bottom front 6 teeth to keep them permanently in line and then I wear a final set of aligners every night to keep them straight.

I'm really happy with the result and my partner is so impressed he's now got Invisalign too.

I only drank water when mine were in and changed them every week to 10 days once established (the first 3 sets or so were worn for 2 weeks each to get the teeth gently moving)

4.2K at our practice. Usually over 9-12 months for most patients but depends on severity and whether you have teeth removed to make space.

Aligners are changed every 7-10 days and should be worn for 22 hrs per day.

Attachments are tooth coloured and blend in very well.

I would avoid online companies who send at home impression kits (Not Invisalign but other well known alternatives do this) - they can be inaccurate and by doing it online, you won’t have the supervision’s during treatment. If you had short root lengths or periodontal disease, this could cause more damage than good but you wouldn’t know about it until it’s too late. An Orthodontist will take full mouth x-rays to check for things like this.

Also make sure you see an Orthodontist. Regular dentists can do a short course and offer Invisalign too, and while this is better than doing it online, Orthodontists are specialist’s in this field and I wouldn’t trust anyone else to move my teeth.

I'm currently finishing nearly 18 months of Invisalign. It was hard at first, as I'm very worried about tooth decay and if you're not careful you can damage teeth, eg not brushing and flossing every time you eat before you put the aligners back. So I never drink with them in. Was fine over lockdown, but much harder now with work events. It's definitely not noticeable when they're in, but it takes a lot of planning and commitment.

No, it was during lockdown. It was Invisalign lite as my teeth weren't so bad I needed the full whack one

4.2K at our practice.

Blimey.

Do they do payment plans?

I couldn’t afford anything like that up front.

I’ve got them at the moment, can’t really say whether it’s working or not as I’m only on tray 2 - second set of aligners out of 18, I change them every 10 days.

I don’t think they are completely invisible, it depends how many attachments you have on your teeth, I think that makes the difference. I have 7 at the top and 5 at the bottom. Also as my teeth are overcrowded they’ve had to file between my teeth which is not pleasant at all (but I’m a wimp at the dentist!) so they move into place.

Cost - £2,500 which includes all aligners, the refiner aligners if I need them (extra aligners at the end to make little tweaks), a retainer to wear at night when the process is finished and also whitening at the end.

Feel free to pm me if you have any questions!

Yes, we offer interest free flexible payment plans, with the understanding that it’s paid by the end of active treatment. That also includes 3, 6 and 12 month review appointments post treatment, to monitor retention.

I'm in treatment now and paid £3800 but that is for 32 trays and also includes whitening and bonding at the end. Hands down the best thing I've ever done, my only regret is I didn't do it before.

I've got 6 trays left and my friends/ family cannot believe the difference when I see them!

OP I say go for it- you will not regret it!!

I started off wanting invisalign but was put off by the inflexibility of being able to eat and drink with them, also they have limited scope as others have said- wouldn't have worked for me. A friend had then for 6 months and was happy with the outcome, but it was a minor change and the eating and drinking aspect drove her mad! I'm glad I had traditional braces overall, you can have ceramic instead of metal which stand out much less if it's a concern.

I paid between 2-3k
It's not about my teeth. Not havingg wonky teeth has meant I have confidence. I bought confidence, not just straight teeth.