Adult brace experiences?? (teeth variety!)

[chasingtail]

I have hated my teeth for as long as I can remember (courtesy of thumb sucking until 30!) and at 40 I finally plucked up the courage to see a specialist orthodontist.

After assessment I was offered Invisalign (4k) or traditional train tracks, albeit clear ones (3.5K). Once I picked myself up off the floor, he went through the pros and cons of each. Although I was initially thinking Invisalign, apparently it takes longer to work (approx 2 years in my case) and there may still be a requirement for fixed braces at the end, so I am now swaying to fixed braces.

Anybody had fixed braces as an adult - are they horrifically painful and ugly? Do they look really obvious? They will take 18 months to work which seems like an awfully long time but I'm trying to envisage that beautiful Hollywood smile at the end of it!!

IPR stands for inter-proximal reduction I think. It used to be common to extract teeth, but nowadays IPR is preferred as if less space is needed, it means the space can be obtained without extractions and without leaving 4 massive spaces, so treatment is quicker and has the advantage of you keeping all your teeth. I was really worried about it weakening the teeth though as I don't understand how it can possibly be a good thing, but in the end had it done as it was that or extractions and I was assured by various dentists it was ok. If I'd gone for extractions, then a much longer and more costly treatment and not possible with Invisalign. I wasn't prepared to go through that (and wanted my teeth done in time for my wedding!) so decided Invisalign and IPR. However, some dentists I saw wanted to do Invisalign anterior (I think no longer available) which just moves the front teeth and would have involved a larger amount of enamel loss (though quicker treatment and a bit cheaper). I found a dentist who really tried to minimise IPR and had all my teeth moved to create as much space as possible to reduce the amount of IPR required. I'd be wary of quick fix orthodontics as I think often excessive IPR is used to achieve a speedy result.

Hullaballoo, I agree once you get used to Invisalign it is much better then fixed braces. Also, when wearing it you can smile for photos without it really showing, unlike all those horried photos of my metal mouth as a teenager! I even had head gear as a teenager...how I've suffered! Am currently pregnant and really hoping baby will inherit my husband's teeth. Otherwise we'd better start saving...

i am lucky as getting mine done onthe nhs so not cost to me at all i will also need surgery on my jaw at the end so at teh extreme end of what treatment was needed.

As with everythign else it depends on your orthodontist it is an art.

BigFairy thanks for the explanation! I hadn't realised any of that.I think I had 4 extractions when I had braces. I think I would have preferred to have lost some enamel given the choice back then.
It seems loads of people who had braces years ago have had their teeth go back to some degree - such a shame after years,in some cases,of braces.
So glad it's so much better now,and I'm thoroughly behind people who choose adult orthodontics.I have a lot of trouble, and gum disease, because my teeth are so overcrowded (despite orthodontic treatment in the past) so it's not necessarily just cosmetic.
Good luck rain.I'm glad you have got nhs treatment in your case.

I had to have ipr (the enrol shaving thing) with invisalign - but my orthodontist told me I'd have needed it also with train tracks as I'd already had teeth removed for orthodontic purposes in my teens so didn't have any more 'spares' that could go to make space. I had 7 attachments ony teeth (I think they are to make the teeth rotate).

I second what someone else said about the convenience of being able to just take them out for a special occasion/nice dinner etc. I did follow the plan quite religiously though - I wanted to get my money's worth!

I gather from Conversations with my orthodontist that one of the main reasons why Invisalign is considered to be less effective than train tracks is that clients are less likely, or more precisely less obliged, to follow the program exactly as prescribed. That's why its not so often prescribed for teenagers. If you are committed to it and keep the braces in it should work pretty well.

Has anyone mentioned Lingual braces? They are train tracks fitted to the back of your teeth. Gives the benefit of train tracks, no one can see them. Sorted by wonky, overcrowded mouth put and no one was any wiser.

Re Invisilign, no matter now much people insist they are invisible, I have always spotted them. Not for me.

Question for the folks who have had Invisalign - is there a plastic bit covering the hard palate like with traditional removable braces? Just want to know whether you can expect to have problems with diction.

I had train tracks for years as a teenager and am super annoyed/sad that my teeth have moved again after all that effort ...

Sarf my orthodontist did mention Lingual braces but said he doesn't really recommend them anymore as not as effective as the traditional front of teeth brace.

Scare no the Invisalign covers the teeth only - the orthodontist showed me his!!

Thanks OP.

My fixed brace was only taken off when I was about 19? 20? so I do remember pretty well what it was like. I was initially really self conscious about having it at university, but it was ultimately ok. Nobody was mean about it.

Your teeth do feel sore after each time the brace is tightened, but you can deal with it with paracetamol or similar. You do sometimes get sore spots where a bit of metal irritates the inside of your cheek or catches your tongue but I was given little lumps of wax to stick over any metal bits that cause chafing. I think it also depends if you are having them for bite correction as well - you get little elastic bands to hook the top and bottom together with and that can also make your jaw ache a bit as it gets used to being in a new position.

You have to be very good at brushing them and watch what you eat - no chewing gum, and I didn't drink fizzy drinks at all while I had them. They didn't affect me speaking - only had that with the plastic removable ones.

The thing that I was most worried about was spearing a kissee's tongue or lip on a bit of metal, but I can report that much heavy duty snogging was done without injury .

TBH if you need serious bite correction work I think the train tracks are the best option. If it's just for sorting out wonkiness and you can afford it I'd probably do Invisalign.

I had fixed braces in my teens (15/16) that was around 10 years ago now, my teeth have completely slipped back to how they were before and I was also left with really bad discolouration.
I do have week tooth enamel anyway which my dentist was aware of but it still caused a lot of damage which meant that for the two or three years my teeth were straighter then they ended up with lots if brown patches and have only been able to afford to have the appearance of that improved in the last couple of years. I'd like to try straightening them again but I would use invisalign if I did as wouldn't want to end up with straight brown teeth again! Currently happy with wonky but white tho :-)

I havent read all of the posts so apologies if I repeat anything.

I have the train track clear braces (mine are called 6 month smiles) and have had them on for 5 months. Usual wearing time is 4-9 months with the average being 6, I think I will be around 7 months.

Costing me £2.5k which includes braces for top & bottom teeth plus proper dentist whitening at the end (in itself worth £300 according to the dentist).

I can already see an improvement in my teeth and think the 'before' and 'after' photos will be significantly different. My teeth were not horrendous but bad enough to bother me (mine also trashed by thumb sucking into my 30s!!!). Because its a gradual process its not like veneers where there are instant and very noticeable results, but I hope that I will be happy with how things turn out.

Pain: Painful and very hard to eat for 2-3 weeks but after that things started to improve. Worst bit was probably the TERRIBLE mouth ulcers that I got during the 1st week. On the plus side I did lose 4lbs though :) Ask for some dental wax which you rub on the metal bits to stop the rubbing (can also buy this from large Boots stores).

I had real problems with breakages and was at the densist every week until week 12 having bits repaired, the dentist finally then did adjust things and I have had less problems since then. Apparantly this isnt normal though and I was very unlucky. was a REAL pain having to go back so often and I reckon has possible slowed things down a bit as with bits being lose/broken off it surely must have affected the effectiveness of the braces for first 12 weeks.

In hindsight I would probably have had the metal traditional train tracks to be honest as 1) I believe they are cheaper, and 2) the 'clear' ones get very stained and a lot of the time I have yellow/green tinged elastics due to eating which isnt very attractive!

My dentist said that sometimes train tracks have to be finished off with invisalign and invisalign finished off with train tracks so works both ways.

PM me if you want more info!

p.s. the 6 month smile ones gave me a noticeable lisp for a few days and now I just have a very slight lisp but only notice it now and then.

A colleague of mine had lingual braces - obviously totally invisible but she did have quite a lot of discomfort and couldn't eat much. She was slim before but still lost masses of weight as a result!

Invisalign v comfortable for snogging in. :D