Invisalign question (with photo )

[Invisalignquestion]

Good afternoon,
I have recently had my teeth whitening and my dentist suggested that I should have Invisalign due to overcrowding and some wear on my teeth (she said this will get worse). I am unsure about the proceeding, I am in my mid fifties and it's quite al ong process , does anyone have advice ?

I hope you're all having a good Sunday. X

You don’t need Invisalign. It’s purely cosmetic. If you want to spend £4.5k straightening your teeth then you can (but you will need life long retention.). But you don’t need to.

Me? If I had your teeth and £4.5k to spend I’d much rather a dream holiday…

My teeth looked more or less like yours and I did Invisalign before my wedding in my early 40s because I’m vain 😊. I did not need it at all, but I wanted it. Not many people noticed the difference to be honest! I “only” paid about £2k. Happy to wear retainers now, I would not want to do it again further down the line.

Your teeth and gums look fantastic. I wouldn’t mess if I had teeth that fabulous i my mid fifties.

@Invisalignquestion your teeth look incredible! I know this isn't anything to do with what you're asking but I'm just curious...do you have a before whitening procedure pic? 😁

100% agree with this. At most I would say maybe a retainer would stop any movement. All teeth move towards the middle as we age which is why crowding of the lower incisors gets worse.

your teeth are fab. You don't need to spend Invisalign money on them.

Well, it's not a lie... crowding will get worse but it's 100% not something that needs intervention.

@Infinitebows Sorry my dentist didn't send me a before picture. She sent me this as it was directly after the in chair whitening which I followed by 3 nights with trays at home. I also. had whitening done 10 years ago but then it was just in chair with no trays at home.It was called Zoom whitening and cost £645, I will be able to use the trays again for a top up.

@Invisalignquestion well they look great. I would definitely not be bothering with having them straightened if I were you.

@Infinitebows that's very kind of you, thank you.

I’ve just finished Invisalign and had a wire put in behind my bottom teeth to prevent them from moving. I will wear a retainer for my top teeth, couldn’t have a wire fitted for them.

Are you happy with the results @LizziesTwin ?

Yes, I'm the same age as you and I first visited the dentist I chose at the end of March last year. I picked up my retainers to sleep in at the start of the week. I paid less, my 'real' dentist told me to ring around and find out if any Invisalign providers were holding a special week and mine cost under £3K which was much cheaper than the highest price I was quoted. I went on the Invisalign website and looked for practices which were highly rated and then called them.

Be aware that orthodontic treatment can also in some cases cause gum recession (or gaps between teeth occur because the teeth are moved and there's no gum there to fill in). This doesn't seem to be something people are told either! Personally your teeth and gums look really nice and healthy and I'd leave well alone.

Why ? I was only asking about a treatment my dentist recommended and I am unsure about.

The answer depends on whether or not you are happy with your teeth. I don’t think anyone else can tell you if you should do it but they can provide their experiences, as you say, which should help you make your decision.

I had Invisalign and I am so happy with the results. You don’t need to wear a retainer every night for the rest of your life! Most dentists should suggest a fixed wire behind your teeth when treatment is complete, which you get used to very quickly. Then you wear a retainer every night for the first year or so. I still wear mine a night or two a week but I can tell my teeth haven’t budged, and I’m 18 months post treatment.

They are so straight and white now. I love my teeth for the first time ever! It took 17 weeks for me in the end. Annoying at times but you get used to the trays quickly.

The dentist has told me it will take 12 months in my case. You were lucky that it only took 17 weeks and your teeth look great now..

@MaverickGooseGoose Apologies, I missed your question yesterday. Yes, the dentist does the Invisalign herself.

Actually I don't think that is true. OP is questioning whether what she's being told by her dentist.

There's been a few threads lately along the same lines. One was saying the treatment didn't seem to be working and she was being told by the dentist that she'd need to pay more. Mnetters managed to establish that she was already paying above the odds and the level of service she was getting was also below what they were getting.

The BBC also did an article the other week about online retainer treatments which are cheaper but don't have a dentist involved and it was causing harm to people and certainly wasn't delivering on the promise of a better smile.

So I do think there is a rising issue of dentists - notably because many are now private - seeing this as a massive cash cow which isn't necessarily in the best interests of patients. I do think there is a danger of a lot of people being recommended for them who really don't need them. We have not got much of a culture of being sold medical procedures in this country yet, but this is where you would expect it to creep in.

DH got his done, because quite frankly how he had got to adulthood with his teeth in the state they were looks negligent. They were in a dreadful state both cosmetically and in terms of ability to care for them. I'm in the process of having mine done because I've been having issues with overlapping teeth and too much wear due to excessive grinding. I was offered a number of alternative options but opted for this which we discussed at some length the pros and cons of.

My point is I do think it's very much worth questioning whether you need or whether a dentist is upselling and whether the dentist is sufficiently trained to fit Invisalign, what alternatives are available and what the treatment involves (and whether it's comparible to other providers).

Your teeth look good, better than some early twenties so appreciate what you have! You don't need invisalign that's bollocks.

I’m just coming to the end of my Invisalign- I’m early 50s too. I was originally told it would take a year but it has taken 2.5 years. To be honest it’s been a complete hassle and although my teeth were loads worse than yours I’m beginning to wish I hadn’t bothered. So if I were you I’d definitely not do it

@LoginNow this is what I was worried about. 2.5 years is a long time, it all felt so rushed and the dentist made me feel very bad about my teeth. I do need to grow a thicker skin. I'm pleased that you are coming to end and hope you are happy with the results after all that time. Thank you for commenting, it's been really helpful.