I am (hopefully) finally coming to the end of my course. I was told it would be 40 weeks (9 months) but I’ve now had them in for 16 months and still looking at a further month - mainly due to Covid as I didn’t have an appointment for over 6 months, but other delays were due to things like the orthodontist being in holiday - not major delays but if that happens a few times it can add a few weeks to the length of the course. Just be aware that it could end up taking longer than you’re initially told. I’m paying £3500.
It is also a big faff as the pp said. The only thing you can have with the trays in is cold water, so to eat and drink anything else you have to take the trays out then brush your teeth before putting them back in. This is ok if you’re at home, but having to brush your teeth in public toilets is not much fun especially as many toilets now don’t have any cold water taps! This can make it hard to rinse the trays as you can’t use hot water on them. It helps to carry a bottle of water around with you for this purpose.
I also found that the trays can make your mouth very dry which can feel quite uncomfortable towards the end of the day.
They were really uncomfortable when they first went in - your teeth hurt where they’re being moved but I also found my mouth got sore where it rubbed against the trays - this does go after a few days once your mouth gets used to them. As another pp said it’s also a bit painful each time you get a new set of trays as different teeth get moved. Be aware that on these days soft food is best as you might struggle with anything you’ve really got to bite!
I’m almost at the end of my course now and my teeth do look good. However, they also don’t feel quite as ‘secure’ in my mouth as they did before I started this. Some of the front bottom teeth now feel slightly wobbly which make me a bit nervous about trying anything really crunchy like an apple or a baguette. I expect once I get the final retainer wire on this will feel better though. I also find that my upper and lower front teeth don’t match up as well as they did before so I can’t bite down on anything small (e.g. biting on a thread if you don’t have any scissors handy).
So just be aware that depending how bad your teeth are it can take longer than you expect and you might end up with teeth that look great but feel more uncomfortable in your mouth than they did previously. While I can’t give a final verdict until I’ve completely finished the course and see how the fixed wire works, I’m not convinced I would do it again (although I do admit that my view is coloured by having been stuck with them 6 months longer than expected due to Covid which is nobody’s fault and hopefully won’t happen to you!)