Mega Nubie -- Invisalign or Metal

[SandyCheeks]

Hello Everyone!!!

This message board is most excellent!!! I've been reading for about 6 months while at the library. I finally broke down to get a computer and with all this learning?!!! Registries, avators, tickers and dental research-whew!

Anyway, I was all gungho to start treatment for my 12mm overjet? and 6mm space between my front teeth (tongue thrust) but my dentist wants to pull my wisdom teeth first- on Sept 15th!!!!

I was looking forward to all the (metal) rainbow colours when my dentist recommended Invisalign; only $1500 more!! He said 12 months with Invisalign or 20 with metal.

I've learned lots here, both for and against Invisalign. Please keep posting your stories/adventures. Thanks!

p.s. I found a picture of Kim Fields (while wearing her braces on The Facts of Life) I hope I've attached it right!

[Attagirl2]

Welcome SandyCheeks. I chose not to get Invisalign after I read up on it. I have been in Damon 3 braces for almost 9 months now and am I glad I went this route. My arches have widened out and really given me a wider looking smile. Had I gone with Invisalign (same ortho), he would have shaved between my teeth to get them aligned correctly. That would have left me with my narrow arch. Opening the arch has also allowed the lowers to slide forward almost eliminating my overjet. He originally told me to do a perfect job I would need surgery - now, I don't think that would be the case. (I wasn't willing to go with surgery, in any case). I don't know how much my overjet was officially but my guess would be about 6mm.

Best wishes which ever way you go.

[SandyCheeks]

Hi Attagirl2,

Thanks for the reply. The Invisalign demo shows a gap like mine closing up. I don't know if an archwire can reach that far across.


The ortho has moved up the date of my wisdom teeth extraction by two weeks. (Yeah!!?) Then he'll see me again in October - for a checkup and a decision. I'm not as nervous as before.
Mom's gonna hold my hand.

I forgot to mention that I'm 35 and from Vancouver, B.C. Canada

I've got some before pics. I'll try to post them ASAP.

[bbsadmin]

Also be sure to read this page:

http://www.archwired.com/ceramic_vs_metal_braces.htm

[jennielee81]

I originally wanted invisalign and went in for a consult for that. I ended up getting Damon 3's. But I am VERY happy with my decission.

I could have done invisalign, but I would not have ended up with a perfect outcome. My ortho said my teeth would look straight, but I would have an overbite that might prevent me from closing my mouth.

Like Attagirl2, my arch needed to be windened and the Damons are doing that beautifully. This will allow my front teeth to move back into proper position.

I wanted perfect results. If I needed to do traditional braces AFTER 2 years in invisalign, I might as well just do 18 months in metal.

Best wishes to you!

[SandyCheeks]

Hi bbsadmin.

Thanks for the link!!!! - This forum is a great source of information!! Keep up the great work!!!

Here are my photos:

[Ebonygurl00]

Hi bbsadmin.

Thanks for the link!!!! - This forum is a great source of information!! Keep up the great work!!!

Here are my photos:

Hello SandyCheeks, I love her on Spongebob, haha. My aunt had an even bigger gap than that between her two front teeth, and she got regular metal braces and the gap is now non-exsistent! I wish you the best of luck with whatever option you choose!

[SandyCheeks]

Hi Ebonygurl00 & jennielee81

Thank you for your input. It's really helping me out. My family thinks that the braces/invisilign isn't a big issue. But it's not their mouth, eh?

[SandyCheeks]

Hi Guys,

I haven't posted for a while Here's a summary of my adventure.

The procedure went very well. Proabably great, I don't have teeth pulled often enough to rate on a scale of 1-10. When I got there on Thursday, they let me take anti-nausea pills then gave me the post-op prescriptions to fill while I waited the 30 min for the pills to kick in.(one for swelling, one for infection. I WAS given a prescription for Tylenol 3- The nurse said that Advil works MUCH better.)

Mom & I were back in the office just as I was getting drowsy. I was taken to a COMFY leather chair where they put a needle in my WRIST instead of my ELBOW. The anesthisa olo gisty - put the cover on my mouth and started to tell the WORST jokes. I guess the drugs were working TOO well.

I don't remember passing out. I didn't have an out of body experience. The only white light I saw was dentist's overhead lamp when I woke up. WOW. The brightness can shine through a Midnight Black Velvet Underground Bat Cave Convention!!!!

A nurse gave me some Advil and helped Mom and me to the car. Note for next time: Wear sneakers, not heels. (But damn I looked good.)

The next 48 hours were sleeping yogurt and soup. The meds had to be taken with food. (Midnight feedings were a b**) I got to sleep on the sofa in a reclining position. I was certain that if I had sleep in the bed, the weight of my head would crush my jaw. The Orthodonist had called after 24 hours, but also called 48 hours to get updates from my mom. GO MOM!!!
Turns out the doc had put in (dissolving) stitches and that "regular cleaning actions" can pull them out. I had to LIGHTLY brush my teeth and not to swish, just let the stuff dribble out. (NOW YOU TRY IT).

While mom was out on Sat. (72 hours) the doctor called again. When he realized it was me, he said he was quite surprised to know I was up & about. Then he ordered me to floss my teeth and to eat a baked potato. Mom came home and saw me chewing. Bad move. She deemed me cured and kicked me out. Damn.

Don't remember much about Sunday. But my work-mates swore I was gonna take Monday off.
Next time I will. I forgot to pick up my drycleaning. LOL.

[SandyCheeks]

Oops duplicate posting.

[geekgirl]

Congrats for taking the steps to take care of your bite, and welcome to the club!

As for invisalign, if you really have a 12mm overjet (which is measured as the distance between the front of your bottom teeth to the back of your front teeth, or a horizontal plane) then I can pretty much guarantee you won't be a candidate for Invisalign, because that's a pretty large overjet. (My overjet is 10mm, and it's a doozy!). From your pic, the overjet doesn't look nearly as big as mine, but it's hard to tell because your lower teeth are tipped out as well.

If your dentist recommended it, then Invisalign might be a possibility, but.. personally, i'd go for metal or ceramics. I've never used invisalign (i'm definitely not a candiate) but everything i've read says its for minor problems only, and i think just about everyone here who's tried it ended up in metal braces anyway. At the very least, perhaps you could get a second opinion from another orthodontist. I'd definitely look into getting treatment from a qualified ortho and not a dentist tho; altho some are good at ortho as well, orthodontists have tons more of special training, and deal only with orthodontic problems.