Invisalign anyone?

[acommondisaster]

Anyone here had crowded (adult) teeth realigned using Invisalign? Were the results good? Cost? I'd appreciate any input, including dentist used.

 

[ginwoman]

I used Dr. Doumit. Quite pleased with the outcome. I think it was around $6,000 and that was like 5 yrs or so ago.

 

[GWguy]

Hmm... did you by any chance just have a visit with Tidewater Dental?

 

[itsbob]

I did it, results were ok. You progress throgh "trays" and each tray moves your teeth a little more. First couple of days on a new set of trays hurts.

You have to wear them 24/7 when going through the process, removing them to eat and brush, and after about 6 months to a year you move on to night time only retainers possibly forever.

I stopped after about a month with the retainer, after going all day without it it hurt like hell putting the retainer (another "tray") in.

Unless you are willing to go through all of the above possibly forever it's money wasted.

 

[Aerogal]

I have them now. I thought I couldn't get them because a tooth was twisted but they're working out fine.

Note - get some cheap emery boards. Sometimes there's a ridge on the edge that can be very uncomfortable. I file it off and then no worries. Like anything else it takes abit getting used to.

edit: A retainer needs to be used - otherwise your teeth will shift again. But you need only wear it a couple of times a week.

Unless you're ItsBob.

 

[ginwoman]

I wear my retainers every night.

 

[acommondisaster]

Hmm... did you by any chance just have a visit with Tidewater Dental?

Me? No....I just keep seeing adverts for Invisalign and my son's teeth need some straightening; thought I'd check into it for him.


Thanks for the info; I think I'll make an appointment for him.

 

[BadGirl]

Me? No....I just keep seeing adverts for Invisalign and my son's teeth need some straightening; thought I'd check into it for him.


Thanks for the info; I think I'll make an appointment for him.

I think that Invisalign works best for those people who require minimal tooth movement. If you need significant shifting, you will likely do better with conventional braces.

Also, if your teeth are more "settled" into your jawbone, the better that you'll do.

Let me explain: I've worn braces on three different occassions, for a total of just over 9 years in braces. Yeah, fun.

Apparently, my teeth have a natural disposition to shift, so from the outset, my teeth responded pretty well to braces. But as soon as the braces came off, my teeth easily moved back in to their original place. Wearing a retainer helped to minimize this re-shifting, but what I was doing was move my teeth to a new place, the teeth would shift back to the original spot, and I'd re-do this song and dance all of the time. When I finally gave up on wearing the retainer, all of my teeth had shifted back to the original spot.

Now, you say, well, why not just wear the retainer all of the time?

Easier said than done.

They are little plastic devices that - oddly - turn up missing or lost pretty frequently. And they are expensive to replace.

Having said all of this, I had my best success when I wore conventional braces, and had a semi-permanent retainer in my mouth after the braces came off. That way, my teeth had FOUR years to adjust to being in one spot, and followed-up with TWO years in a semi-permanent position. Still, I find that I have one tooth in particular that still wants to move....apparently, this one tooth isn't firmly planted in my jawbone, so I'll always have problems with it moving.

But there are some people who find Invisalign successful.....I just wasn't one of them.