Anyone had their teeth straighten as an adult - Invisilign or 'invisible' braces?

[Bellebelle]

I'm thinking of finally getting my teeth straighted (crooked front middle teeth) and wondered if anyone else has done this as an adult? There appear to be 3 main options

1. traditional braces in a 'putty' colour which are meant to be less noticeable than silver 'train tracks'
2. 'train track' style braces fixed on the inside so that they aren't visible.
3. Invisilign - don't know much about this other than you wear some kind of plastic mould over your teeth?

Has anyone had any of these or suggest any other options? Is it painful, affect speech, how long does it take?

Thanks

Hiya,

I had mine done about 3 yrs ago via a private dentist.
I had clear brackets fixed to my teeth and a regular metal wire. It was only on my bottom teeth but was very discreet and i would have it on my top if need be. I had it on for just over a year.

My 4 front bottom teeth were all overlapping so the dentist removed the front two and used the brace to bring the rest of my teeth forward thus creating room for my wisdom teeth to come through and not be compacted. They have since come through with no pain at all and no problems.

They removed the brace after about 14months and fitted one on the back of my teeth. It is a wire glued on. The globs of glue are not visable because they are on the back of my teeth as is the wire.

The removal of the teeth was painless - numbed the gums with local A. this takes 6 weeks to heal before the brace went on.

I had the brace tightened at regular intervals usually about 6 weekly. This was uncomforatble for a day or two afterwards but not painful.

When it first goes on, the brackets can rub the inside of your mouth but they give you wax for this. You break a bit off the strip, roll a ball and push it onto the bracket. They stay pretty well but sometimes you eat them!

The brace didn't affect my speech but sometimes i would lisp slighty from having the gap in my teeth but you quicky overcome it and it is worse for you, others nver noticed or were to policte to say! The teeth moved together soon enough.

Sometimes the wire snapped (i.e eating toffee apples!) but they just replace it, no great deal.

It was the best thing i did, especially from an oral hygiene point of view.

p.s, the brace behind stays for about 5yrs to ensure your teeth dont move out of the new places.

my bottom wisdoms were compacted, kind of leaning forward into my other teeth. My dentist looked at an old x-ray at my last check (he didn't do the work) and you can see the wire so it was post surgery and the gap is quite closed from where the teeth were removed.
He said he was suprised looking at the old x-ray that my wisdom teeth have come through so well because it didn't look like they would. They must have straightened up as they came through.

I had a brace about 10 years ago and was given removable retainers.

Which I did not wear.

So I had braces again 2 years ago. I had external clear brackets both times. My dentist was not a big fan of invisalign as he said it can be slower, more expensive and you still might need braces after all.

It wasn't too bad, bit uncomfortable at times, and I now have permanent retainers on the back of my teeth now.

a top wisdom tooth came through last week, i had no idea until it broke the gum. No pain at all.

My 17month old son has only just got his 3rd tooth and im 27 and getting ones i really dont need!

Thanks for this. I hadn't even considered my wisdom teeth, mine still aren't in (I'm 32) but my mouth is pretty crowded already so reckon it could cause problems.

LadyAlex did you have noticeable gaps then for a while until your other teeth moved?

Interested to hear opinions on Invislign, didn't realise the price difference was that big. May not be suitable for me as my teeth are pretty crooked with the front two being the ones which really bother me.

Do most orthodontists allow you to pay in installments?

A couple of years ago I had the moulds done for invisalign and unfortunately they told me i wasn't a suitable candidate. Bloody annoying, never got a decent explanation. my teeth aren't that crooked either. I would have thought I'd have been an ideal candidate.

The xrays and the moulds had to be sent off to some place in california if i remember rightly and I was told that even if I wasn't a suitable candidate for it, I'd still have to pay for the assessment, which wasn't cheap. So beware of that.

Thanks Valium, I'm going to make an appointment with an orthodontist to look at the options. Originally I was going in thinking that I would definitely be going for Invisalign but I'm now thinking differently. Reckon it will be train tracks for me - but it will be worth it for lovely straight teeth!

is that something you just put in at night?

I have that...... mobility they call it. I've had to see periodontists. I could lose my bottom teeth if I am not careful. The words gum graft have been mentioned.

I was fitted for a teeth shield, some plastic thing, to stop me knocking my teeth against each other when i'm asleep but it was so huge and solid that I just can't fall asleep with it in.

Is yours the soft kind? I think I need to get that one.

I'm terrified of the gum graft. Even a small burn on the roof of your mouth is horrible. I am telling myself I mgiht lose some weight, but even that is not cheering me up.

They would but I asked for a general anaesthetic and they looked at me as though I were insane. But I would rather give birth again I think.

ps, and as they say, never google!!

Because I googled 'gum graft' and it came up with loads of people saying 'oh it was torture'.

yes... If I have it done I want to clear the diary afterwards for a fortnight of taking it very, very gently!

Crikey, a gum graft! I had never heard of such a thing before. I've been getting a hard time from my dentist for a couple of years over the state of my gums. I floss, brush 3 times a day and use alcohol free mouth wash but they still get inflamed and bleed. Interestingly my little sister was at the dentist last week and told that she also has issues with her gums but that it's probably genetic as she obv takes such good care of her teeth. So maybe it's not my fault...

I had moulds done for Invisilign and was told my case was moderate-severe. Lovely! My top teeth are crowded and lower jaw slightly too.
I didn't go for it due to cost- around £4K- and was told I would need to go back for the new Invisilign moulds ever 2 weeks for up to 3 years. This was a commitment in terms of being in the same place that I didn't want.

My own dentist ( not the orthodontist I saw) has reservations about Invisilign as she says the teeth move quickly and can move back quickly. She prefers the old fashioned kind of brace.

I think if it was cheaper I would go for it, but again, being tied to a dentist for years when you might just re-locate was a worry.

Have you thought about veneers? That was an option he gave me- they file each tooth to a stump then build up a new tooth with a pocelain veneer- I was quoted about £500 per tooth so the front 6 would be £3K. Bottom jaw another £3K!

I didn't want this as basically you are losing good teeth in order to support the veneer.

purple Thanks, invisalign is looking more and more unlikely although I will keep an open mind.

Veneers are something I used to dream of getting as they seemed quick and easy but I wouldn't now. As you say it's getting rid if healthy teeth and apparently they only last 10-15 years so if I couldn't afford replace them I would end up with stumps for teeth! I always think when watching those 10 years younger programmes that it's all very well giving them a new set of teeth but what happens regards paying for the upkeep?