To ask if you have had braces as an adult

[pattyhoo]

My teeth both upper and lower have got more wonky as I've got older. I'm 35 and the past five or so years seem to have got worse. They don't stick out, but overlap a lot and I feel like I now look like a cartoon-character English person.

I'm thinking of having braces but I'm worried about the cost and how long it will take. I'm also concerned that people will laugh at me

Have you had braces as an adult? How long did it take, which type did you have and how much did it cost? Is it worth it?

Thank you

I've had upper teeth straightened with Invisalign. Just at the end of it now. Cost £3300. It was worth it to me and not painful.

I had invisalign. Took 8 months. Maybe €4500, something like that.

I had Invisalign top and bottom and have no regrets. Like you my teeth were getting worse as I aged. They were always a little wonky but it looked fine in my 20’s.

It’s not cheap but has changed how I look.

My sister has recently had her braces removed at the age of 34. They were the white braces, to be less visible than the metal ones. To be honest they were noticeable, but not as much as the metal ones & they're just braces, nothing to be ashamed of. She paid around 2500 for hers and wore them for around 18 months I believe. I'd say it's definitely worth it as her teeth look perfectly straight now, I wish mine were the same!

I'm actually considering getting them done myself because my teeth are wonky & because of it I hate having my photo taken & don't tend to smile a lot. I did look into it about 2 years ago & was quoted around 2500 for the white braces that my sister had. I couldn't have Invisalign because the orthodontist said my teeth require too much movement.

I have braces now, proper silver train track ones. Im 34 and my normal dentist referred me to the orthodontist and I got them on the nhs (im in Scotland)
Ive had them for 18 months now so im used to them but I was a bit embarrassed at first.
When I go to get my wire changed the orthodontist keeps asking me if I want a jazzy colour. No thanks im in my thirties!
My teeth are amazing now, they were a higilty pigilty mess before but now I have a movie star smile. Well almost theres one wee tooth that needs to come into line.

I have recently completed braces treatment in my 50s...just had my first Christmas without train tracks since 2015! My treatment took 29 months but was a "complex case" involving extractions as my teeth were overcrowded. I had ceramic brackets top and bottom. I chose ceramics as I thought they would be less obvious. I wish I had just gone for metal braces as the ceramic ones got grubby over the length of time I had them despite fastidious tooth brushing and regular hygienist visits. I am very pleased with the results. Cost was £3500 including £300 extra for complex case fee. In addition I paid another £280 for fixed retainer wires top and bottom.

I’ve got them and am entering year 3. I’m 40. They are proper train tracks. I’m in London and loads of people have them, I’ve never cared about them being visible.
Going to cost £5k by the time it’s finished.
I had quite straight teeth but they always stuck out a bit and in my 30s they moved a lot after I had the DC.

I decided to have clear, cermaic braces as an adult, when I was 24 and teaching in a high school. My students didn’t notice at all until I pointed them out to them. No one laughed, the kids thought it was quite cool really.

What got me was the eating - anything like curry or chilli stained the wires which meant they were much more noticeable, so I only ate those the day before I was getting the wires changed...roughly every 4weeks.

Over all it took about 5/6months and I am pretty happy with them now. They cost £3500, I’m in the North West and used an amazing private dentist. I really thought it was worth it, the smile on my graduation photo when I am trying to hide my teeth compared to my wedding pictures is unbelievable. Both extremely happy days iyswim, but my smile is more confident in the latter.

I’m watching with interest. I have very overcrowded teeth that I’d love to get straightened but I was quoted nearly £7k and it will be a long time before I have that spare.

I had adult braces too. I was in my late thirties and didn't want to turn 40 with the wonky teeth I had put up with all my adult life! As it happens I still had braces on my 40th birthday but my teeth looked so much better then before so I didn't care

I initially wanted Invisalign but was advised I'd get better results with braces. I had clear plastic brackets with metal wires and they were in for a total of three years. The results are amazing and I can't stop smiling 😬

I was in Aus at the time and it cost $5000.

Hope this helps. It's the best money I have ever spent.

Best 4K I ever spent!

I had Invisalign then had to have ceramic fixed braces. Wish I had never bothered with Invisalign but we live and we learn. A dentist explained it beautifully to me ‘Invisalign is the polite bouncer who asks you to leave when you’ve had one too many. Fixed braces are the forceful bouncers who pick you up and throw you out!’ So Invisalign will only push your teeth so far. Fixed braces will push them to where they need to be. I had fixed braces for just under a year, they were ceramic/clear so not too noticeable but not completely invisible! I felt a little self conscious at first but got used to it and it was soooo worth it in the end!! It cost me just under £4,000 for fixed braces plus what I had paid for Invisalign a few years prior 🙈 (let’s not talk about that!) I hope you’re happy with whatever choice you make! But I’m so grateful to have my smile back, it’s so important 😁 xx

Thanks so much for all the replies! It takes longer than I had hoped (I'm getting married this summer so no chance of a nice smile by then!). I wish I had looked into it sooner.

Did you have to pay for it all in one go or do they spread the cost of the braces?

I had braces at 40 years of age due to a trauma resulting in my bottom teeth being pushed back.
My teeth before crossed at the front but never looked bad so to speak. My treatment took 19 months and I had a combination of both ceramics and traditional white bracket train tracks on both top and bottom. Yes they were noticeable and no one commented ever.
It cost just over £4000 and I too have retaining wires to maintain.
I now have the perfect bite!

Remember to factor in the cost of additional cleaning over the course of treatment. I also pay for a yearly check with my orthodontist to ensure all is well with the wires, glue etc.

Oh god yes the fastidious dental hygiene. I'd forgotten about that haha. Small price to pay though. A water flosser was my friend.

Here's a comparison between start and final result. Good luck!

I pay for my on 0% interest finance, £150 a month which is totally manageable for me. Most practices offer payment plans to make it accessible for everyone.

I'm currently 3/45 of the way through Invisalign treatment. My teeth became very crowded after my wisdom teeth came through in my early-twenties. My upper arch was already narrow before, so my teeth are sort of collapsed inwards at the back, and overlap in all sorts of directions in the front.

I would have been perfectly happy to go with metal braces (and actually can see some benefits to them over Invisalign), but actually for me the price difference was very small. My Invisalign treatment is costing me £4200 (with a very experienced orthodontist with expertise in my sort of case), whereas metal braces would have cost me £3900. Metal braces would also have required 6 extractions beforehand, which would have brought the cost up to the Invisalign amount.

For what it's worth, metal braces on adults seem quite commonplace now, and whenever I notice anybody with them I think "good on you for going for it".

Did any of you have lower teeth only done?

I had them at 51 - took 18 months invisalign.
Start them now & you might see some improvement by your wedding.

Like @meikyo, I am currently sporting ceramic braces. She seems to have kept hers whiter than mine though (bah).

I had mines applied at age 39 and they should be on for at least another year.

I've had a few braces when growing up but my last pair I got shortly after turning 18 to prepare me for jaw surgery, it didn't bother me except trying to get served at told because they thought I was a teenager even though I was on my care assistant uniform . I had them on about 18 months I think. Oh I'd also suggest Invisalign braces because the traditional braces give you sores every time you get them tightened

@DMF1305 if you're really keen on Invisalign, I'd urge you to see a couple of other orthodontists for a consultation. Invisalign is a seriously powerful system that can correct a huge array of really quite severe misalignments, but it's entirely dependent on the expertise of the Orthodontist. I was told by the first orthodontist I saw that he didn't consider me a candidate, but the second one I saw is an Invisalign specialist with a huge amount of experience, and some of the before-and-afters he showed me really shocked me.

I did 6 month smiles. Cost £3k all in with a 5% discount for paying upfront. They also offered pay monthly and credit accounts to spread the cost further. Best thing I ever decided on apart from DH!

I'm currently in braces and I'm 34 soon.

I'm on month 14 but due to have them moved at month 24. (2 years.)

£4000, paying in £215 installments interest free.

I've got a blog I've kept updated every week since they were put on, all my experience & loads of info on it, don't want to spam here but I can PM it to you?