Wow, I can't tell you how happy I was to find this board! I'm just getting started and I'm finding out so much here... thanks to everyone who shares!
Anyway, my story is as follows.
From a purely cosmetic standpoint, I guess my teeth must look pretty good b/c most people ask why I'm having ortho work done.
But, if one looks closely, my two front uppers are chipped and worn, as are the four front lowers (though less noticably) from a lifetime of clanking together due to a bad bite. It all "came to a head" last May when I was playing volleyball, dove for a ball, hit my chin on the floor, chomped down really hard and fast, and chipped one of my uppers enough to finally ask my dentist to fix it (veneer, building it up, whatever... I wasn't picky).
Much to my surprise, he told me I needed to take care of my inverted upper teeth and poor bite before doing so, as he worried about how long any option would last with the current situation. I was really bummed... I always knew my bite was a bit odd, but BRACES? At 40+? Why was this not mentioned before?
Then I remembered... I grew up kind of financially challenged, with two sisters who had wickedly messed up teeth, the kind that scream for braces in early elementary. I was the "lucky one" when it came to teeth, relatively speaking.
Anyway, I put it off for awhile, then saw an ortho late in the summer. My plan going in was whatever is cheapest and fastest, as I what I really wanted was to get rid of the funky looking front teeth. After the consult, the first question was "do your jaw joints ever hurt?"
When I said no, both the ortho and the asst. looked surprised... then I told them about 10 years ago I had some real problems that were resolved with PT, exercise and good drugs. They both commented that that was great and that they were kind of surprised I didn't still have problems and pain, as my alignment was quite bad.
I didn't know what to say... I didn't tell them that I also had a serious shoulder injury that I didn't seek surgery on for almost year, it doesn't hurt to have my hair pulled (sorry mom, I was lying all those years!), that I let an alvusion fracture in a finger go for six weeks before seeking treatment, and that I had a baby au natural.... I think I don't feel pain like a lot of people. I'm not bragging, I really think there actually something different with my nervous system, if that is possible.
Anway, at the end of it all, I said I wanted to hear about all options, with cheap and fast being my top two criteria, and vanity and convenience being a bit lower.
He talked first about basic metal, explaining that due to my bite, he'd want to start with my uppers and once the inverted top teeth had moved a bit, then get going on the lowers. I was immediately concerned about the time involved... ACK!
He went on to talk about the different brackets and how they can make them less visible, ya da ya da, something I totally didn't care about.
Then, he said with Invisalign, we could do both at once, but it would cost more, a lot more. Still, I was intrigued and asked a bunch of questions, then went home to think about it. For two months.
Finally in October I committed to Invisalign and went in for the most miserable appt of my life - those horrid molds they have to make.
Then I waited, and waited and waited. Until February, which seemed like forever, but with the holidays and all, I really didn't mind not having them in 6-8 weeks as expected.
Finally, 2 days ago, I got the first set. And I think I got screwed over in my first appt. I didn't get very much info, and in the excitement of the moment I didn't ask many questions, and the first two days I drank hot water with the liners in (I know it sounds weird, but when I can't have coffee, like when I was pregnant, I like hot water). They seem fine, but I feel like dolt.
Anyway, so far so good. There was some pressure and discomfort at first, but no big deal. The weirdest thing is I can't close my mouth like I was used to doing (one of the issues was that my bite was way too "overlapped" in the front, creating the chipped teeth and jaw problem they were looking for). Funny thing is, now that I can't do that, I realize my jaw is more relaxed, my neck doesn't feel tense and maybe I did have jaw pain after all.
Sorry so long... but that's my story. I'm happy to have a place to find answers and ask questions!
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Moderator: bbsadmin
Thanks for sharing and welcome to the board!
I have to say that I am surprised but more confused that Invisalign was recommended for a bad bite when it is not vanity that you seem to care about.
It doesn't seem as though one of Invisalign's strong points is bite correction and there have been plenty of stories on this board of people that didn't have a bad bite until they did Invisalign.
If you want cheap and fast, it sounds like you should have gone with regular metal braces. You said that the Invisalign cost is a lot more. How much more does your ortho charge for Invisalign over regular braces? I read that Invisalign recommends only charging about $500 more than regular braces. If your ortho is charging more than that, I hate to wonder if your ortho is only looking at dollar signs when recommending Invisalign to you.
Did you only go to that one consult? If not, I recommend going to a few other orthos to get more opinions on whether Invisalign is the best way for you to go before you get too far in.
I have to say that I am surprised but more confused that Invisalign was recommended for a bad bite when it is not vanity that you seem to care about.
It doesn't seem as though one of Invisalign's strong points is bite correction and there have been plenty of stories on this board of people that didn't have a bad bite until they did Invisalign. If you want cheap and fast, it sounds like you should have gone with regular metal braces. You said that the Invisalign cost is a lot more. How much more does your ortho charge for Invisalign over regular braces? I read that Invisalign recommends only charging about $500 more than regular braces. If your ortho is charging more than that, I hate to wonder if your ortho is only looking at dollar signs when recommending Invisalign to you.
Did you only go to that one consult? If not, I recommend going to a few other orthos to get more opinions on whether Invisalign is the best way for you to go before you get too far in.
Jeni: I have to say that I am surprised but more confused that Invisalign was recommended for a bad bite when it is not vanity that you seem to care about.
I hope I'm using the right term in saying bite. The issue seems to revolve around my front teeth overlapping too much (top covers most of bottoms when I close my mouth) but not a big space (in fact no space, teeth hit together and chip).
If you want cheap and fast, it sounds like you should have gone with regular metal braces. You said that the Invisalign cost is a lot more. How much more does your ortho charge for Invisalign over regular braces?
Due the above described situation, having tops and bottoms at the same time was not an option (already fragile top teeth would be hitting the brackets) and that meant a longer time in braces.
As I recall, the cost breakdown was something like $4500 metal, $4800 for composite (ceramic, natural colored, something like that), and $5300 for Invisalign. Since I am paying the whole thing, $500-800 seem like a lot more. But, I got a 3% loan and it didn't seem like much when divided into 24 payments.
Did you only go to that one consult? If not, I recommend going to a few other orthos to get more opinions on whether Invisalign is the best way for you to go before you get too far in.
My second opinion concurred that Invisalign would be a good option, particularly for protection of the front teeth (which was really the whole motivation for getting this done - I am actually acting out vanity in the long term).
The other thing that sold me on this ortho was asking other adults I know with braces about their experiences. All but one gave him glowing reviews and her only negative was cost. One guy had seen five orthos before choosing this guy and at the end of his tx was very happy. A couple were really bummed that I was getting Invisalign - they wanted that option and were turned down.
Thanks for the cautionary thoughts... I have to admit, maybe I didn't do as much research as I should have, but I definitely felt like going with Invisalign was my choice, not the orthos. He send me home with cost estimates on all three options and I made the choice based on protecting my front teeth and getting it done in a year. If anyone screwed up, it's me. Not the first time, I'll tell ya! And not the most expensive nor extensive either.
If it doesn't turn out perfect, but I can get my front teeth beautified and my is still functional, I'll probably be happy.
I hope I'm using the right term in saying bite. The issue seems to revolve around my front teeth overlapping too much (top covers most of bottoms when I close my mouth) but not a big space (in fact no space, teeth hit together and chip).
If you want cheap and fast, it sounds like you should have gone with regular metal braces. You said that the Invisalign cost is a lot more. How much more does your ortho charge for Invisalign over regular braces?
Due the above described situation, having tops and bottoms at the same time was not an option (already fragile top teeth would be hitting the brackets) and that meant a longer time in braces.
As I recall, the cost breakdown was something like $4500 metal, $4800 for composite (ceramic, natural colored, something like that), and $5300 for Invisalign. Since I am paying the whole thing, $500-800 seem like a lot more. But, I got a 3% loan and it didn't seem like much when divided into 24 payments.
Did you only go to that one consult? If not, I recommend going to a few other orthos to get more opinions on whether Invisalign is the best way for you to go before you get too far in.
My second opinion concurred that Invisalign would be a good option, particularly for protection of the front teeth (which was really the whole motivation for getting this done - I am actually acting out vanity in the long term).
The other thing that sold me on this ortho was asking other adults I know with braces about their experiences. All but one gave him glowing reviews and her only negative was cost. One guy had seen five orthos before choosing this guy and at the end of his tx was very happy. A couple were really bummed that I was getting Invisalign - they wanted that option and were turned down.
Thanks for the cautionary thoughts... I have to admit, maybe I didn't do as much research as I should have, but I definitely felt like going with Invisalign was my choice, not the orthos. He send me home with cost estimates on all three options and I made the choice based on protecting my front teeth and getting it done in a year. If anyone screwed up, it's me. Not the first time, I'll tell ya! And not the most expensive nor extensive either.
If it doesn't turn out perfect, but I can get my front teeth beautified and my is still functional, I'll probably be happy.