Invisalign

[AustinTink]

Just signed on to start Invisalign for my teen son. He has a severe nickel allergy, so this was our only choice for braces.

I'm currently reading everything I can get my hands on about the system. Would love to hear from any of you about your experiences with Invisalign. Thanks!

 

[Lorelei Lee]

My daughter has conventional braces as a tween. She never wore her retainer and her teeth shifted. At 21 she went back to her orthodontist and got invisalign. She preferred the invisalign. Much more comfortable, and she liked that no one could see the appliance.

But I've also just pointed out a problem, didn't I? Invialign is removable. At 11 she couldn't remove conventional braces even if she wanted to. Conventional braces were effective. At 13 she could "forget" her retainer, and her neglect resulted in the retainer veing less than fully effective.

At 21 and paying for her own treatment she was highly motivated and she wore the appliance as instructed.

 

[AustinTink]

Yep, the removable part is my fear. That said, my boy is very conscientious especially with things that cost the family a lot of money. I'm hoping he will wear them as directed.

I'm also worried about the feel. To me (never had braces myself) it just seems it would feel so weird to have those things covering your teeth all day and while you sleep. The doctor swore to me that he has done 1000 invisalign cases and only one woman couldn't tolerate the feel.

 

[Fairyjen1]

I just finished up my Invisalign treatment. I still wear the retainer at night and will probably have to for the rest of my life.

My dentist had me on Invisalign Express, which is for about 6 months, but I have previously had braces as a teen and they had shifted since then, so I didn't have to do any major orthodontia. I am 43.

As a person who has now done both traditional braces and the invisaligns I greatly prefer the latter. Much more comfortable, I would have a bit of soreness for about two days with each new set. I got a new set every two weeks. The retainer looks just like a thicker set of Invisaligns and I wear them only at night. I remember with traditional braces my mouth would be sore for almost a week after each tightening. You also take them off for eating so you can eat things like corn on the cob and popcorn, which are tricky with traditional braces.

They also would dry out my mouth. I found myself drinking a whole lot of water, which is the only thing you can drink with them in. I am telling you, it really cut down on my coffee drinking in the morning as I couldn't nurse a cup or three all morning while I worked. I had to wear my aligners 22 out of 24 hours. You also get used to carrying a toothbrush with you everywhere in case you want to eat out and then go do something, because you need to brush and floss every time before putting them back in (I always brushed, but would wait until I got home to floss). A side benefit (for me anyway) was that I lost a few pounds because this really cuts down on random snacking!

One thing I didn't like about Invisaligns was the price! they are expensive and my dental plan doesn't cover adult orthodontia!

Jen

 

[Kat77]

My daughter and I wear Essix retainers made from same material as Invisalign. It's weird at first but you honestly forget you are wearing them after the first week.

My only advice is for your son to develop a habit of always placing liners into a case when he takes them out. They can easily be thrown away at meals.

Also liners can get stinky so he has to be good about keeping them clean.

 

[AustinTink]

So a lifetime of retainers is in his future? I hope not. My mil has had FOUR sets of braces and wears a retainer at night. My husband, however, only wore one for about a year post braces in his teens. His teeth have never moved. I hope my son falls into the same category.

 

[Kat77]

Yup, sorry. Retainers full time for first six months to a year, then at night for life.

 

[CanBeGrumpy]

I had Invisalign last year and I am happy with the results. However, yes, your son will need a retainer for the rest of his life at night. Orthodontists will also sometimes place a "permanent" retainer on the front two teeth to keep them in place. This is just a small piece of wire glued on the backs of the teeth. It makes flossing those two teeth a chore.

One thing that people sometimes don't realize with Invisalign is that it isn't necessarily as "invisible" as one would hope. In most cases, there is a need to glue "attachments" onto certain teeth in order to direct the forces of the Invisalign trays into the proper direction. These attachments are hard, tooth-colored bumps that remain on the teeth for the length of treatment. So, even when the trays are out, the bumps are there, and I felt VERY self-conscious of them.

AND, to get the attachments off at the end of treatment, the orthodontist has to GRIND them off! Sometimes they will pry them off and then grind off the adhesive, but be prepared for the grinding. OH, almost forgot, sometimes the orthodontist will perform an "IPR", which I think stands for "interproximal reduction". This is where he or she will grind a very small portion off the side of a tooth to make everything fit better. It isn't a big deal, but I wasn't prepared for it and I didn't really like the idea of losing some of my tooth surface. Luckily the IPRs in my case were minimal.

All in all, my smile is pretty much where I want it to be, but I wasn't fully prepared for what Invisalign entailed, so there were some surprises along the way!
Good luck to your son! I'm sure the end result will be worth any negative aspects of the treatment.

 

[AustinTink]

Thanks for the info. As this is our only option due to his nickel allergy, we are moving forward with the invisalign. As he knows he will never have the permanent retainer affixed to his two front teeth since he can't tolerate the metal in his mouth.

 

[pookybean]

My DD recently got braces put on and has a severe nickel allergy as well. The orthodontist said the invisaline wouldn't work for her and so they are using (if I remember correctly) titanium instead. She hasn't had any problems so far (a little over a month).

 

[pooh4evr]

So a lifetime of retainers is in his future? I hope not. My mil has had FOUR sets of braces and wears a retainer at night. My husband, however, only wore one for about a year post braces in his teens. His teeth have never moved. I hope my son falls into the same category.

My daughter just got regular silver braces yesterday ouch, anyway, retainers for life are pretty much a given for all braces.

 

[AustinTink]

My DD recently got braces put on and has a severe nickel allergy as well. The orthodontist said the invisaline wouldn't work for her and so they are using (if I remember correctly) titanium instead. She hasn't had any problems so far (a little over a month).

The titanium are 8% nickel and work for most people with nickel allergies. His allergy is off the charts. We can't risk it. Luckily his teeth aren't that bad really, so invisalign will do.

 

[blana]

DH had a gap between his front teeth & got invisalign to fix it. Took a little less time than the initial estimate. I've considered getting it to fix the crowding issues caused by my first set of braces. (Gaps in the top that were fixed using rubber bands attached to the bottom, which, when everything came off, shifted my bottom teeth. *sigh*)

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

My friend did the Invisalign and they worked well for her. However she stopped with the retainers at night and her teeth shifted.

I considered them as well for myself as an adult. However I was told by multiple orthos that Invisalign is good for pulling things together and straightening teeth, but not pulling teeth forward/creating space. My teeth needed to be pulled forward to the proper angle so I couldn't use them.

Good luck to your son!

 

[NY Disney fan]

Can anyone tell me how much Invisilgn costs (out of pocket)? I'm considering it in the next few months. I only have to align about 4 teeth at the top. Thanks!

 

[AustinTink]

Can anyone tell me how much Invisilgn costs (out of pocket)? I'm considering it in the next few months. I only have to align about 4 teeth at the top. Thanks!

I can tell you. We don't have dental insurance so we are paying the whole thing out of pocket. They gave us 5% off because of the no insurance thing which brought it down to $5300. We also have the option of another 5% off if we pay in full when he officially starts. We are going to choose that option. Might as well.

If you only have the top to do, I don't know, could be half the price?

 

[Desnik]

I just finished up my Invisalign treatment. I still wear the retainer at night and will probably have to for the rest of my life.

My dentist had me on Invisalign Express, which is for about 6 months, but I have previously had braces as a teen and they had shifted since then, so I didn't have to do any major orthodontia. I am 43.

As a person who has now done both traditional braces and the invisaligns I greatly prefer the latter. Much more comfortable, I would have a bit of soreness for about two days with each new set. I got a new set every two weeks. The retainer looks just like a thicker set of Invisaligns and I wear them only at night. I remember with traditional braces my mouth would be sore for almost a week after each tightening. You also take them off for eating so you can eat things like corn on the cob and popcorn, which are tricky with traditional braces.

They also would dry out my mouth. I found myself drinking a whole lot of water, which is the only thing you can drink with them in. I am telling you, it really cut down on my coffee drinking in the morning as I couldn't nurse a cup or three all morning while I worked. I had to wear my aligners 22 out of 24 hours. You also get used to carrying a toothbrush with you everywhere in case you want to eat out and then go do something, because you need to brush and floss every time before putting them back in (I always brushed, but would wait until I got home to floss). A side benefit (for me anyway) was that I lost a few pounds because this really cuts down on random snacking!

One thing I didn't like about Invisaligns was the price! they are expensive and my dental plan doesn't cover adult orthodontia!

Jen

This is almost exactly my case! I actually just got out of the ortho office because at age 37, after having braces for 4 years as a teen, my bottom teeth have shifted.

I too will do the Invisalign for 6 months. I can't imagine wearing braces again even though I know something's have changed. It's only for 6 months so I'm sure the brushing after every meal & wearing them constantly don't be an issue for me.

My teen daughter is a different story! lol she just got metal braces put on today. She would probably loose the Invisalign, or never wear them. My DH will also be getting regular braces, clear ones, in about a month. He wasn't a good candidate for the Invisalign. And not to be left out, DS is getting early treatment for braces too!

If your kid is responsible I wouldn't worry about the Invisalign. I've heard really great things about it & every I've known to have them has great results. You just gotta realize you'll have to wear them at night probably forever because your teeth can shift no matter what type if braces you get. I was told from age 30-40 is when they shift a lot.

 

[AustinTink]

Forgot to ask how hard the invisalign were to take out? I've been reading online that they can be quite difficult to remove for eating, brushing, etc.

 

[AustinTink]

Got his Invisalign today, one week early! So far, so good. He had no problem taking them off at the orthodontist. That was at 2pm. Dinner is almost ready and he'll be trying to take them off again and eat for the first time. Fingers crossed!