Teeth straightening aligners - daunted and regretting discussion

[Janch13]

I have recently committed to doing clear aligners with Smile White. My teeth have moved during my 2 pregnancies and are no longer straight, I can’t say I’m deeply insecure about it (they aren’t that bad!) but at the same time I would like them straightened and I feel like if I leave it they will continue to move and potentially take longer to straighten when I finally decide it’s the time.
Smile White said I was a moderate case (mild, moderate, complex) and treatment would take 4 to 6 months (providing I wear them 22+ hours a day)

Now I am starting to panic about getting them. I’m a client facing role for work, I have a good social life, I’m really starting to worry that I will be super self conscious of them!

it’s the “buttons” (heard them called various things, buttons, brackets, fixtures, attachments) - the little things they place on your teeth for the slingers to secure to. I feel like I have seen some cases where the buttons are positioned horribly (some vertical, some horizontal) and make the teeth look so weird.

Im actually not too bothered about the appearance of the aligners as I think they just make your teeth look really shiny but it’s the buttons that are giving my anxiety.

I mentioned this during my consultation and was advised that as they are widening my top arch, the buttons would most likely be down the sides (molars) but on the bottom where there is some overcrowding I will have to have some buttons on the front of the teeth.

Im already looking at my diary and trying to delay the date of getting them as I have some work and social events - which is silly because the sooner they are on the sooner they are off! But I’m just so worried they will put on the buttons and I will hate how they look and regret signing up to this. I have already paid £2.5k and like I said, if I don’t do it now I bet my teeth will continue to move and then I could become a “complex” case and need to wear the aligners for a longer period.

so so anxious about this! Any advice or experiences welcome!

thanks

Not going to lie, I hated the buttons, they feel rough when the aligners aren't on and I think were very visible. But I did get used to it and it went pretty quickly.

I'm sure people noticed but no one ever said "urgh wtf!" I did have one or two colleagues say (only once I had mentioned it myself to pre-empt it) that they'd just finished their course of aligners and loved the outcome etc.

So yes, I think go in thinking the buttons will be visible but don't assume anyone else cares.

Hi, I have a client facing role too and was concerned about this when I had Invisilign. I have to say that no one noticed I even had braces in which I found surprising but I think we’re more conscious of them because we’re wearing them. I felt the buttons were really noticeable but I didn’t spot anyone staring at my mouth.

Just go for it! You can always mention to clients / social types ahead of events that you've just had aligners fitted and might talk funny or something if you're worried. That might put your mind at rest a bit as in my experience nobody gave it any care and said they weren't bothered.

Coming back with an update. I had my first consultation with the dentist and luckily for me, they said I won’t need the attachments on my front teeth, YAY!

However, shortly after my consultation I recieved my plan, and call me crazy but I am not seeing £2.5k worth of difference here in the before and afters:

Do you think this is worth the £ and wearing the aligners for 6 months, the retainer for 2 months (day and night) then the retainer every night forever ?!

I’m really disappointed

I’m glad I went through 16 months of discomfort and cost for mine, but now they’re straight I detest wearing overnight retainers, they always feel tight when I put them in and I grind my teeth now before because they irritate. I’m glad I did it, but I’m not sure I expected lifelong discomfort afterwards.

may look into getting those metal retainers behind so I don’t have to wear these bloody things every night.

My teeth were like tomb stones though so I’m happy with the result.

The teeth in the after photo are perfectly aligned. I don't think your before photos are all that bad so you don't really notice much change.

I had invisalign. One of my front teeth was noticeably out of line so it looked so much better once straight. And I could properly bite things.
I think the worse the position when you start the more improvement you'll see. Obviously.

I think I'd save my money if I was you.
You also have to wear retainers at night for ever which is a massive nuisance. I hate them.

You will have a wider upper smile as opposed to your back side teeth disappearing. There's not much in it though!

@sausawyee this is what I was after but I’m not seeing much difference at all in the images. I feel like why even bother with the top?

I felt like I only wanted one tooth fixed, the one that was obviously out of place.

But invisalign sorts out all your teeth into the optimal place. If they only fixed half then they probably wouldn't match up properly and you'd end up with teeth that didn't meet properly or couldn't bite or get all worn away.

It's all or nothing. I guess you just have to decide how much you hate your teeth right now.

agree, it's all or nothing. Your teeth will move with the treatment and can cause other issues if your top plate doesn't align properly with the bottom plate.
There is very little wrong with the alignment of your teeth to start with!
That said teeth do continually move (unless you wear retainers) so what may be a little out of line now will be a little more out of line in 10+ years.
Personally I find as you get older you care less about perfection and more about being healthy and will probably just be glad you have teeth (as opposed to perfect nashers!)
If you won't miss the money and are still young, I'd say go for it, though do be aware of the risks (eg. nerve damage).
Also keep that retainer extremely clean!!
My son has had 7 fillings (since wearing a retainer post invisalign treatment). No fillings prior!