A little background info about me and my teeth (skip this part if you like) .
Well, I am 22 years old. I was put forward (to go on a waiting list) for a brace when I was 12 years old by my dentist. Back then the waiting time/list for a brace was about 2 - 3 years.
By the time I had turned and passed 15 years old, I still had not received an appointment for braces.
I went to see my dentist for a normal regular check up and while I was there I thought I would mention to him that I hadn’t received an appointment. He had a look at my notes then said “the letter may have gone to your old addressâ€
Hey Chrystal, I recently got my Invisalign in the UK (London). I was referred to the orthodontist by my dentist and I went down to see him for a free 15mins consultation. I've been really self conscious about my teeth since about 17 (a gap between my front teeth - top and bottom... not very attractive I know)... but I wasn't ready to go down the metal brace route even if it was for a year or two... so when I was told about Invisalign - i jumped at the opportunity without getting a second opinion... I liked the orthodontist, he seemed like a really good guy and he has a premier status at Invisalign so I thought why not... price wise - it is costing me ~ £4000 (£3800 i think?)... all costs included... however I dont think I get the free whitening... my case is a bit different... I had the money sitting there in my bank account and getting my teeth fixed is the best thing that £4k could have gone to (sounds really shallow doesnt it?)... I paid £1k up front for the invisalign and paying the rest via installments over 12months
£3,200 all included + retainer of my choice. No whitening tho.
Sounds like you've found a great deal and an experienced dentist. Congrats!
From what my dentist was telling me, Invisalign has dealt with quite complex cases and is improving all the time. He had recently gone to an Invisalign conference in Italy where they showcased more complex cases.
Unfortunately, I doubt my dentist would be able to refer me to an orthodontist that does Invisalign. He was meant to refer me to a normal orthodontist 10 years ago and look what happened there! lol.
No it doesn't sound shallow at all! I know exactly where you are coming from. I know how it feels to feel conscious about your teeth and I totally understand where you are coming from.
If I was quoted £4000 for Invisalign, I would certainly go for it! if I had that money spare of course. But because I don't, I have been having to ask around many places to find the best possible price/package (sounds bad I know).
Unfortunately I have no savings, all my earnings are paid out on bills and whatever I have left over tends to get wasted... so I don't put any away to save. If I had savings I know I wouldn't hesitate to spend it on teeth straightening.
I am loving the package this ortho is offering. Everything he mentioned/listed is included in the quoted £2400 price. I asked him alot of questions through email... mainly about anything costing extra. I was worried I would go for it then find out half way through that certain things weren't going to be included in the price and that I would have to pay extra. Because it's the cheapest I have found it, I couldn't believe much would be included.
Apparently this practice gets 40% discount from Invisalign, so that's why the price is so cheap.
How far are you in to your treatment? If you don't mind me asking.
Hi PaulInc,
£3200 doesn't sound bad either! that was the mid range I was getting quoted with different practices.
Well I emailed them again lastnight. I mentioned that sometimes certain people might not be a good candidate for Invisalign, maybe because their case is too "severe"? so they would have to go for "train track" braces instead.
He replied: "It is incredibly rare for us to not to be able to treat a case with Invisalign"... which made me feel better.
I wouldn't say my case is severe... I don't know what you would call it. I'm not sure if it would be classed as overcrowding...
My dentist often told me I have a small mouth, so my teeth are crowded in my mouth, or something like that.
I'm not really sure what you would call my problem... so I will have to wait to see what he says at my consultation.
Fingers crossed!
The thing is. Because I don't have that £1400 deposit yet (well I have half) and I am going to need to save for the rest. I wont probably have the money until February time. So I should imagine it would be best to book my first appointment/consultation for January... as I know I will have to wait roughly 6 weeks after first appointment for the aligners to arrive. I would have to pay that £1400 deposit at the time my aligners arrive.
Ah! Why can't I have the money spare! I could get an appointment next month... (I am impatient and excited, sorry).
Well I'm still a newbie tray 2 30U/30L... it's going ok, no cuts/rough edges and the pressure seems to disappear after 2days or so... I guess the ortho is really good
I'm getting attachments in about 2weeks (10 in total; 5 on top, 4 at the bottom)... not really looking forward to that because taking on and taking off the trays have been a piece of cake so far... (the teeth is quite tender on day 1/2 of changing into a new tray... other than that... things are groovy!!!!)
Since you're in the UK, there's a new invisible system which I'm using called Clearstep UK. The advantages over Invisalign is that the lab. is in the UK so quicker for your trays etc and it is cheaper - a moderate problem will set you back about £1200-£1800 for the whole course of treatment - although your dentists time taking moulds etc might be extra.
The other advantage is that there are no attachments needed and from what I've read I think it might well be a quicker (but possible more uncomfortable) system. I had a moderate overbite and the majority of this has been sorted with only 1 box of 8 trays in 4 months. I am now on the 2nd and last box of trays but they are only doing minor adjustments and I LOVE smiling now.
The trays are completely invisible - even when I explain to people that I have a brace on and bare my teeth for them to see, they still can't see it unless the peer really, really hard.
Clearstep use attachments for certain tooth movements exactly like Invisalign. I asked a dentist about Clearstep because i was interested myself and was told that they're not as discreet as Invisalign, but i've yet to see any decent comparisons. Perhaps you could post some detailed pictures of yours? I am really interested to see more pictures and hear more stories about them. The lack of both is very discouraging and one reason why i dismissed it early.
I would still choose Invisalign because they've had many years to perfect the process and have made many improvements. If you look at one of the original Invisaline aligners (from 2002?) compared to todays, they're totally different. The 2002 aligners look like boxers gum gaurds. The tooth movement is also designed and plotted in an advanced 3D software application (probably cost millions to develop!), that software can be improved constantly, which it has (there is a video by Invisalign about that some place).
My dentist is currently treating 3 people with this system and none that I know have got attachments including me. I do have risers put into my back molars because my bite is too close in order to give space to pull back my front teeth - but there are no attachments and no wires. I also do have to wear a bottom tray at night to make sure over the treatment that the bottom set don't shift.
The trays are completely invisible - people have NO IDEA at all that I've got a brace on. I am actually really amazed at how well this system has worked for me. My overbite was quite noticeable if I smiled my front teeth would rest on my bottom lip and I had gaps between my teeth. Half way through the first box - they had pulled back my teeth enough not to noticeably stick out and by the end of the first box - my dentist thought they were good enough to be finished - that's only 4 months. However, new impressions were taken and the lab sent back a further full box for refinements + retainers. That's a total of 16 trays over 8 months.
This system I'm sure is based on the Invisalign system in that moulds are taken and computer generated 3-D models are made over which the trays are formed.
The downside of this system is that it is quite uncomfortable (sometimes downright painful) for the first 24 hours of each new tray and eating is difficult, especially cos of the risers. But this may be comparible to Invialign - I don't know. All I know that it is definately cheaper, certainly does the job well and there's far less trays than Invalign - that sold me - my teeth now look fantastic and I love smiling.
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