Invisalign is expensive- so am thinking about Smile direct - any experiences appreciated

[Munichfam5]

I really want to fix my teeth which are crossed over at the front and so i had a quote for invisalign braces which came to over £4,000

unfortunately Its too much , so i am looking at lower cost clear braces like Smile Direct

Has anyone had any experience with them or similar ,? TIA :)

ive just finished a 2.5 year Invisalign a treatment, it is expensive but the quality was worth it to me. I had meetings with the Orthadontist every 2 months, twice my teeth didn’t track right and we did new moulds and got a whole new aligner set (all included). I paid £3,300 split over 12 payments during the first year which made it much more manageable

Yes , have seen and heard of many many patients who have irreparably damaged their teeth, and in some cases have needed to have teeth out , because of treatment by smile direct and other direct to consumer brace services.

A real orthodontist will take x rays , study models of your teeth and examine their health and gum health. They will then come up with several treatment plans depending on what you want to achieve. They will then see you and review the teeth every 6 ish weeks or so . They will spot anything going wrong quickly and correct it.

A direct to consumer service like smile direct you will never seen a dentist let alone an orthodontist , they will not examine your teeth and gums so have no idea if you have problems that mean you should not have braces.

You only have one set of teeth to last your life, don't cut corners looking after them.

https://www.independent.co.uk/health_and_wellbeing/smiledirectclub-dentist-customer-complaints-refund-a9298421.html

Definitely recommend saving further or looking into payment plans for invisalign. We heard from a friend of ours, doing their degree at the minute, several horror stories about smile.

@Drummend01 how did you find doing it for so long? My dentist said a treatment plan for me would be around two years and I'm not sure I could cope with it for two years-not being able to just take my time with a coffee whilst working in the office and stuff! X

@Munichfam5 it was fine, the first couple of months are the hardest and then you get yourself into a good routine and barely even think about it. I’m not a tea or coffee drinker so that made it slightly easier for me. I found it difficult to not snack in between meals because you’re forever taking the aligners in and out otherwise, but I got used to it and now even though I’m done I don’t really snack much

I did Smile Direct in 2021, 5 month course. I found it very painful, and although I knew there would be a degree of discomfort and a little pain, it was quite bad at times. Some sets didnt feel like they fit me properly, some better than others. The trays would cut my gums a lot too so I had to constantly fiddle with them by filing them. The course was £1500 roughly and I did get good results in the end. I've heard it's gone up in price quite a bit.

However, I wasn't aware that I'd need to wear a night retainer indefinitely to keep them in place (although was probably in the small print somewhere). These were about £100 every few months. I replaced one with a new night retainer and it didn't fit at all. Wouldn't click into place. I requested a new one and the same thing happened. Got fed up and packed it in for good.

I feel guilty I wasted all that time, money and effort as my teeth have gone back slightly so I don't have the really positive results when I finished the course. But it was just so uncomfortable 😕

All orthodontic treatment (braces) needs retainers for life afterwards. Either permanent wires on the backs of front teeth or retainers that need to be replaced on a regular basis.

I done smile direct and had a really positive experience. Yep I had to file some sets down, the customer service was slow but I got really good results. Straighter and whiter for £1500

A friend did smile direct and found the results didn't last, they went down the route of old fashioned braces afterwards which were successful.

I've had Invisalign, it worked really well but to be honest if I had my time again I'd just go for standard train tracks. Invisalign aren't really Invisalign, you have attachments on your teeth which show and also they constantly collect saliva which is gross. I really struggled not drinking cups of tea and I always had a horrible dry mouth despite sipping water constantly. I love my teeth now but ugh I hated the Invisalign process.

Should say aren't really invisible

Like @Drummend01 I also had some difficulties after the first few aligners and so needed a completely new set measured from scratch so I'm so glad I went to a great dentist even though the price is eye-watering as this couldn't have been sorted online.

I've been on invisalign since Oct 2021. It's via an orthodontist at my dental practice. I'm on my second set of refinements and will probably finish the treatment after this stage. Then retainer at night for 6 months, then regularly for life unless I want to risk the teeth moving back.

Given the complexity I wouldn't have liked to leave it to a company like Smile. My progress has been so carefully monitored and adjustments made throughout. I've had attachments to help with pressure on certain points (which have been changed as part of the plan 3 times). Plus elastics at night for the refinement stage. All the x rays prior and partway through treatment.

My orthodontist doesn't even agree with dentists doing it who attend a course (why would you go to a GP for plastic surgery.. ) I guess I can see why it's in her interest to say this though but I do agree now I'm nearly finished.

Cost: £4500 for full treatment including all check ups, xrays, aligners, retainer at end etc

I did brace work for years as a general dentist, under the supervision of a consultant orthodontist . I would say always go to an orthodontist as they will be experts in many systems, not just one.

Invisalign , quick straight teeth, smilalign etc have their limitations, the gold standard for brace work is still traintracks as it allows subtle refinements and movements that aligner systems cannot.

In fact many aligner treatments are more expensive than aligners as the laboratory fees for aligners are so expensive. Eg Invisalign starts from £1300 ish up to £4000 or more depending on refinements , and that's just the lab fee.

As said before with invisalign you have "buttons" of composite placed on the teeth to direct the forces of the brace. You may also have elastics. Some courses of treatment will require either teeth out or shaving small amounts of tooth off. No dentist in the U.K. will do this on invisalign say so as it would make the dentist liable for your treatment.

I’ve had Invisalign for nearly 4 years. I absolutely hate it I was about £4-5k and its an absolute pain in the arse remembering to wear them taking out to eat and drink then you have to brush to put back in how the hell are you meant to do that and wear for 22 out of 24h a day. Wish I just got train tracks!!

Thanks for your responses - that’s really helpful :)

i’m now thinking about going with the train track braces

i’m looking in to ‘6 month smile ‘ as read some recommendations for that

I've had Invisalign and have no idea how the direct to customer would work. I needed regular orthodontist appointments, new scans, checks the teeth are moving correctly. Everyone I know who has had Invisalign needs teeth shaving to make sure the teeth will fit into position.

Highly recommend saving for longer to get too treatment

You mentioned your front teeth overlap, is it just this really that needs fixing or are all wonky? I had an Inman aligner which is only good for fairly straightforward cosmetic fixes to the front 6 teeth, but if that's the case for you it can be pretty quick, and reasonable price compared to Invisalign.

It's not as commonly used I think because of its limitations, but might be worth looking into if it would suit you, just as another potential option?

I'm surprised you were told as long as 2.5 years! My DS (who had bad overcrowding top and bottom) did it and it was 18 months, but only because he started literally a week before Lockdown, so he was then given a number of weeks' worth (I was regularly asked to take photos of him from lots of angles with and without the aligners) and then he just had to wear his last ones until they were able to see him again. This happened a couple of times - I think it would have been a year otherwise.

He inherited my teeth - overcrowding and overbite, although not as pronounced, as mine have got much worse with age. He now has a near perfect smile.

I decided to do it too and started earlier this year. This was on advice of my dentist, as my overcrowding was starting to cause problems, which I complained about (when I was younger I was told it was purely cosmetic so opted out of train tracks, tooth extractions and other things that sounded highly unappealing to a teenager, for what seemed like not much gain).

I'm now 6 weeks in, and my teeth are already transformed. Less severe overcrowding on top (but it was still bad) is already almost gone, and I can see the progress week on week on the bottom, where it's a lot more severe. And my overbite is already a lot less prominent, and my upper front teeth don't stick out nearly as much. I'm 52, why did I never do this before?

My initial treatment plan is for 15 weeks, so I'm over a third there. It has also involved a number of sessions of filing spaces between my teeth to make space - I believe they call it IPR. It sounds scary but it's minuscule amounts and you don't feel it at all - and it replaces tooth extractions which they used to do in the past.

Depending on where we are at 15 weeks, I'll have the option to continue refining with further treatment at no additional cost. At my age I really don't need it to be perfect, so I'm not expecting to!

My full treatment is over £3000, but as I've so far had over half a dozen long appointments with my orthodontist, including taking moulds, 4 IPR appointments so far and more coming (he does a minuscule amount each time and we're not finished yet, but it takes nearly an hour each time), as well as the actual Invisalign costs - and I'm only a third through the basic treatment, then come follow-ups, retainers etc etc - I don't actually think this is unreasonable. Since starting, I've been seeing my orthodontist every 2 weeks or so. The intervals will get longer once my IPRs are finished, but I have to say, I feel in really good hands.

At the end, I'm also going to opt for teeth whitening as you can use your permanent retainer aligners for this.

I can warmly recommend it if there is any way that you can afford it. And please don't take a chance on something cheap and cheerful for something so important.