Invisalign vs. traditional braces

[bear_mom]

Dd has the option of either Invisalign or regular braces. She will be 12 when she gets them, she is 11 right now.

We are leaning towards the Invisalign - eat what ever she wants and easier to keep her teeth clean (and personally for me - she already wears glasses and is going into 7th grade where I know the girls can be mean). She is VERY responsible so I'm nor worried about her losing trays (plus we get 5 free "replacement" trays).

Her only reason for wanting the traditional braces is the cool color bands she could get.

Anyone have any thoughts/opinions?

Emily

 

[ElizK]

DH wanted to do Invisalign for our older DD. I said NO WAY. Having worn braces myself, I know that there is a certain amount of pain involved. If she had the ability to take out the appliance because it hurt, she probably would have. I really don't think they are a good option for kids. Just my opinion.

 

[Tinijocaro]

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2547161&highlight=invisalign

Here is a thread I started about this same thing a few months ago.

 

[ncmickeyluvr]

DH wanted to do Invisalign for our older DD. I said NO WAY. Having worn braces myself, I know that there is a certain amount of pain involved. If she had the ability to take out the appliance because it hurt, she probably would have. I really don't think they are a good option for kids. Just my opinion.

This is my thought, exactly. My niece just got her traditional braces off a few weeks ago. She now has to wear a retainer that is very similiar to an invisalign tray. I was at their house last night and she would not leave that thing in her mouth. Dsis kept fussing at her but she constantly takes it out because it hurts.

 

[golfgal]

Neighbor girl got them, didn't wear them as she was supposed to, ended up in real braces 2 years later, nope, don't do it. Get her contacts for 7th grade but for the most part, braces are cool these days-especially with the fun colored bands, etc.

 

[Mickeyluver37]

Dd has the option of either Invisalign or regular braces. She will be 12 when she gets them, she is 11 right now.

We are leaning towards the Invisalign - eat what ever she wants and easier to keep her teeth clean (and personally for me - she already wears glasses and is going into 7th grade where I know the girls can be mean). She is VERY responsible so I'm nor worried about her losing trays (plus we get 5 free "replacement" trays).

Her only reason for wanting the traditional braces is the cool color bands she could get.

Anyone have any thoughts/opinions?

Emily

DD's Orthodontist priced out both and the Invisalign Teen was significantly more expensive. There was a maximum contract price that could be charged with our insurance and regular braces (applied like a discount), and our insurance covers $1,500 of the metal braces. Neither of these applied to the Invisalign, so out of pocket would have been more than 2X the price for us.

So many of her peers have braces (and I don't know a single kid with Invisalign) that I really didn't feel like having braces was a big deal. Once seeing the cost difference between the two, we didn't even consider it.

 

[ShuisFan584]

Honestly, for a teenager, I would go with regular braces. First of all, Invisalign is typically more expensive. Second of all, you need to keep them in for at least 23 1/2 hours a day. So you can only really have them out when you're eating. I've had braces twice and your mouth can get really sore. With regular braces, you have no option to take them off. With Invisalign, it's possible to slack off by not putting them in when it hurts.

Regular braces are also going to accomplish the job a lot better. The only reason I see for getting Invisalign is for someone who is past the braces stage and is embarassed to wear regular braces as an adult.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I don't think these were around when I had braces and I don't think I was eligible.

My only (uninformed) concern, is remembering to wear them. I hear of kids forgetting to wear their retainer. I would be concerned if invisalign wearers prone to forgetting.

If the patient is disciplined to not make constant exceptions on not wearing it and only removing it for the short events of eating and brushing teeth, then they may be a candidate.

And the pain is a consideration. When one is hard-wired, you can't throw in the towel. With invisalign, the temptation may be too great to just suffer through it.

My first day or so in braces...

 

[Magic Mom]

Dd has the option of either Invisalign or regular braces. She will be 12 when she gets them, she is 11 right now.

We are leaning towards the Invisalign - eat what ever she wants and easier to keep her teeth clean (and personally for me - she already wears glasses and is going into 7th grade where I know the girls can be mean). She is VERY responsible so I'm nor worried about her losing trays (plus we get 5 free "replacement" trays).

Her only reason for wanting the traditional braces is the cool color bands she could get.

Anyone have any thoughts/opinions?

Emily

I don't think kids make fun of braces much. At least not around here. So many kids have them that it doesn't really stand out.

 

[bellebud]

around here now, all the girls want braces because they want the colored bands they get changed every month. DD11 plans her next months colors w/ excitement. I offered to get her invisible braces, and she said no way.

I was a girl though, with what looked like almost clear real braces. I have to find out what she had, because I'd like those for ds9 when the time comes. He won't want colored bands, and these you could hardly see.

 

[JLCJMC]

My son had the invisaligns -- that were wonderful! I did keep a close eye on him to make sure that he wore them, but over all he was very responsible. They worked well and corrected the problems well. We were very pleased! Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[bear_mom]

DD's Orthodontist priced out both and the Invisalign Teen was significantly more expensive. There was a maximum contract price that could be charged with our insurance and regular braces (applied like a discount), and our insurance covers $1,500 of the metal braces. Neither of these applied to the Invisalign, so out of pocket would have been more than 2X the price for us.

Honestly, for a teenager, I would go with regular braces. First of all, Invisalign is typically more expensive. Second of all, you need to keep them in for at least 23 1/2 hours a day. So you can only really have them out when you're eating. I've had braces twice and your mouth can get really sore. With regular braces, you have no option to take them off. With Invisalign, it's possible to slack off by not putting them in when it hurts.

Regular braces are also going to accomplish the job a lot better. The only reason I see for getting Invisalign is for someone who is past the braces stage and is embarassed to wear regular braces as an adult.

Same cost Invisalign vs braces so that doesn't come into play at all.

Time and end result would be the same with the two. Might be slightly longer in braces as they wouldn't put the bottom ones right away.

From what the office person said - the pain is less with Invisalign than braces but more often, every time you change trays.

Emily

 

[IDoDis]

I would go with the regular braces. They don't look bad now like they used to years ago. My DD had an invisalign retainers. She was extremely responsible and was great about not losing them. The problem with them was with the fact that they have to be removed when eating and then they have to be put right back on. Food left on the teeth can grow bacteria with plaque build up easily under the retainer resulting in cavities and other dental problems, so unless your DD carries a toothbrush with her and brushes after she puts anything in her mouth, then she is not better off in that respect vs having traditional braces.

Also, at age 12 when my DD had her braces, she wasn't a big purse holder, so instead of carrying the case for her retainers, she'd just wrap up her retainers in a napkin when she ate. There were a few times she had to go digging in the trash to retrieve them! One time was when we were at WDW. We had just eaten lunch at the Main Street Bakery. DH collected all of the trash and threw it away. We left, but then DD realized 10 minutes later that she didn't have her retainers on. We ran back to the bakery and had to dig through the trash, but we found them! Had we been a little later, we wouldn't have found them and DD would have gone 10 days on our trip without a retainer plus the time it would have taken for a new one to be made.

I also say to let her wear contacts and have traditional braces. I think tweens look cute in them, too!

 

[tvguy]

Same cost Invisalign vs braces so that doesn't come into play at all.

Time and end result would be the same with the two. Might be slightly longer in braces as they wouldn't put the bottom ones right away.

From what the office person said - the pain is less with Invisalign than braces but more often, every time you change trays.

Emily

My kids were interested in Invisalign. Orthodonist said to expect the correction to take twice as long, that was enough to put them off them and go with traditional braces. Never got a price.