Late 30s - would you get orthodontics (photo)

[museumum]

I had braces from age 10 to 18, have had my incisors removed. Teeth were straight till my late 20s, now they look like this.
Would you pay for orthodontics? Price is ten times more than I'd normally spend on S&B in a year. We can probably find it but it will impact on the family.
Worth it or not???

Yes. I had terrible "" rabbit" front teeth and my bottom set were very crowded. I'm 4weeks away from completing my invasalign course and now I have almost Hollywood teeth. I'm in my late 30s and I thought it was now or never. Crooked teeth has quite an aging effect in my opinion. Good teeth can take years off you and really alter your face in a positive way. It cost me about £3500 not cheap but I paid monthly to make it manageable. I'm really ecstatic about my teeth and love smiling. Just wished I did it earlier!!!

What's it like wearing Invisalign? I'm sensitive to gagging but would love to get my teeth straightened.

You really get used to it after two weeks I say. I experienced no gagging at all. It's not painful. You just need to get used to getting into a routine of brushing your teeth after each meal and hot drink before putting the invasalign back in. That is a downside as I drink tea a lot but as long as you wear them as much as you can during day and sleep in them, you'd be fine.

I had braces as a teenager and my bottom teeth are now out of alignment, which has caused one of my top two front teeth to move very slightly. It got worse in my early thirties and I went to an orthodontist to talk about invisalign or somesuch. The orthodontist said that she didn't think they'd get any worse (5 years on they haven't) and that I would have to wear a retainer for the rest of my life, the straightening process would take three years and cost about 5k. I couldn't be bothered so didn't. And so far don't regret it.

I think your teeth look absolutely fine.

If you think it would make you more confident and relaxed then I would.
I recently got an Inman aligned at the age of 34 and I now love my teeth. They expanded my upper arch to create space then moved one front tooth back and the other to the side and forwards. It took a matter of months and I wore a retainer at night for another 9 months and have just had a fitted retainer attached. Total cost was around £1600 and was worth every penny- my teeth were so bad before that I can't bring myself to share before photos

Bounce-it's a great feeling isn't it,I had a big gap in my teeth and it's lovely to have pictures taken and not worry about your smile.

My DS will be getting braces when he's a teenager-I don't care if he wants them or not,if he needs them he's having them!

£1600 is much cheaper than I'd have guessed Bounce.

Bouncearound as I posted above, I though arch expansion was only possible in children.

Where did you get this done? and how long did it take?

This is fairly typical of stuff I've read about this:

While some believe that they can nonsurgically expand the dental arch through orthodontics in an adult patient, it has been proven that “expansion” (crown tipping in an adult) at past the age of 13 years is not significant, and it is prone to relapse.1 Posterior crowns tip to the buccal without significant root translation resulting in an unaesthetic and
unstable result also prone to gingival recession.

www.dentistrytoday.com/orthodontics/8086-difficult-case-types-part-2-a-discussion-of-adult-short-term-orthodontics

Is there anyone posting who has had arch expansion and would recommend their treating orthodontist? If so please PM the details, I would be v. grateful.

I think you have lovely teeth. I wouldn't do it personally.

Yes. They look much like mine and I opted for an Inman aligned. Took 16 weeks. Straight teeth now and a fixated retainer.

CheersMedea I had braces as an adult with treatment starting about 3-4 years ago. I had an overbite and the options given to me were either have two teeth removed in my upper arch or have my lower jaw broken and reset in a more forwards position. Expanding the arch to avoid extraction wasn't given as an option. This was NHS treatment.

Not sure why Scarlett thinks this is such a bad approach?

I'd say yes you ought to.
Your 2 front teeth are set back and as you age they are likely to end up more set back.

My mum had a brace at 75 and 2 extraction for over crowding.
So far I've said no to the same as don't fancy a fixed brace for 2 years and extractions but yours looks quite an easy job.