dental braces

has anyone tried the new braces that are out? there are clear ones, and i believe some that you can take off when eating or brushing.

i'm interested in the possibility of getting braces but i don't want to look like a metal mouth at my age.

I have not tried them personally. Last year I worked on a case with a woman who had them (the clear kind, I have no idea if they were removable - I did not know they were an option). I would not say it was immediately apparent that she had braces on first glance, but obviously if you spent time in the same room, speaking face-to-face, you would certainly notice.
That said, I thought they were quite unobtrusive. This was an attractive, professional woman who probably was in her mid-thirties. I did not find the braces to detract from her general attractiveness, or her image as a mature professional. (While I'd like to think that I'd look past them, had she had the kind of obtrusive metal braces some of us wore as kids I think they would have proved distracting.)
Bottom line, if the benefits of getting braces outweigh for you whatever expense and inconvenience may be involved, I wouldn't be put off by the appearance factor.
But YMMV, of course.

Originally Posted by lawyerdad

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I have not tried them personally. Last year I worked on a case with a woman who had them (the clear kind, I have no idea if they were removable - I did not know they were an option). I would not say it was immediately apparent that she had braces on first glance, but obviously if you spent time in the same room, speaking face-to-face, you would certainly notice.
That said, I thought they were quite unobtrusive. This was an attractive, professional woman who probably was in her mid-thirties. I did not find the braces to detract from her general attractiveness, or her image as a mature professional. (While I'd like to think that I'd look past them, had she had the kind of obtrusive metal braces some of us wore as kids I think they would have proved distracting.)
Bottom line, if the benefits of getting braces outweigh for you whatever expense and inconvenience may be involved, I wouldn't be put off by the appearance factor.
But YMMV, of course.
yes, i think that with the clear ones, it won't keep people from noticing i have braces, but it will minimize the attention on it. thanks.

i haven't looked into the expense yet or the procedure for doing this, so i hope someone with experience will chime in.

Funny that you ask, I just went yesterday to have the impressions taken for Invisalign braces. I had traditional braces when I was younger, however, my retainer broke around six years ago and I never had it replaced. As a result, my teeth, especially the bottom set, have started to shift back to their original crowded positions. From what I have read, your bottom jaw continues go grow and change until the age of 23, so this is a somewhat common complaint even from those who have worn a retainer. Minor corrections such as this tend to be excellent candidates for Invisalign braces. They aren't really recommended for children though, maybe because they don't apply as much pressure as traditional banded braces? I'm not too sure on that one, but it would make sense. To adjust your teeth, you receive a series of "braces" that you wear for a specified period of time until you are ready to move on to the next set. Basically, they are just clear plastic retainers that you go through, each series providing the next set of adjustments, until your teeth are back into alignment. You have the convenience of taking them off when you need to, but I imagine it would be beneficial to keep them in as much as possible. Probably would help decrease the length of treatment as well.

I am having the procedure done through the University of Florida dental school, which I believe is substantially cheaper than going to a private orthodontist. You have two options, having the faculty complete the treatment, or the graduate dental students. Obviously, having the students do the work is the cheaper option. I believe the costs were $4400 for faculty and $3000 for the graduate students. The treatment received between the two is supposed to be identical, since the faculty is right there supervising the students. The main difference is the length of time the appointments take. I chose to have the Invisalign done by the students, and, for example, it took the girl 4 tries to get proper impressions of my bottom teeth, where as it might have taken the faculty only 1 or 2 tries. I didn't feel that it was worth spending an extra $1400 or so just to save a little time. If you are near a college or university with a dental program, it might be worth checking to see if they accept patients. Although I am a student at UF, they accept anyone for treatment.

After I had the impressions taken yesterday, they said that I should receive the first set of braces by mid January. They expect the total length of the treatment to last less than a year. Once I actually get started with the braces, I can report back and let you know how it is going.

http://www.invisaline.com/generalapp/us/en/index.jsp
They do work miracles.
Yes you can take them off and put them back on.
The average treatment is around 5000 and most doctors offer interest free financing.
I would like to repeat: Invisalign is the greatest invention in a current dentistry and it works miracles.

Originally Posted by dkzzzz

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http://www.invisaline.com/generalapp/us/en/index.jsp
They do work miracles.
Yes you can take them off and put them back on.
The average treatment is around 5000 and most doctors offer interest free financing.
I would like to repeat: Invisalign is the greatest invention in a current dentistry and it works miracles.
thanks dkzzzz. for some reason i was guessing $5k. but tell me why you like them so much. have you worn them? are you a dentist?

About 5 years ago I have been dating a very pretty Russian girl who had a noticeable gap between her front teeth. I liked it, she did not
She had quite an inferiority complex about it, so I set up a consultation with my friend who is a dentist.
His verdict was porcelain veneers on all front teeth. I know the guy very well, we are close friends and I know he was honest with her in his conclusion.
Later that year I discovered an Invisalign web site (they just started to advertise in US) and found an office that had a trained doctor (my friend was not one of them at that time).
To make a long story short: It cost us 3500 and her teeth were perfect in less than a year.
She had no discomfort while wearing those braces and they were almost unnoticeable.

Needless to say the day her teeth became perfect she broke up with me. I love women, I really really do.

the moment i read, "It cost us 3500" i knew you made a mistake.

thanks for your advice.

Thank you for this. I'm thinking Invisalign this coming year. I got two quote $3300 and $4500.

I just finished my invisalign treatment about 2 months ago.

I'd originally gotten traditional braces to fix my teeth, and afterwards, the alignment was terrific. Each tooth was packed snugly against it's neighbor, and the projection of my uppers and lowers (their forward angle) was corrected wonderfully. Then I began the habit of not wearing my retainers on a regular basis. To compound the problem, I'd also begun losing them. Finally, by the 3rd time I'd lost them, I kind of shrugged my shoulders and didn't think about it. And I paid for it -- the gapping that was noticeable between my two front teeth (pre-braces) began creeping back, and the projection of my uppers and lowers were also headed back towards their original positions.

Then I paid a visit to the orthodontist who had done my original braces work -- she hooked me up with invisalign for 2000-2400 (can't remember which); this is near the pasadena area in california, too, so I'm somewhat surprised to see all the high numbers that everyone else is throwing out. Maybe it has to do with the fact that I didn't need as extensive work as I did before, seeing as I'd already done the braces bit?

Anyway, long story slightly shorter, I went through a 6-month process with invisalign and fixed the gapping and projection that were coming back (although, to be honest, I'm not as satisfied with this outcome as I was with the original).

Overall, it's not bad, especially if you're self-conscious about wearing braces, but if you need extensive ortho work done or if you want the best possible look (invisalign trays don't pull the teeth together nearly as well as plain old wire braces), I'd go with regular braces.

I've been looking for these all my life. (im 21) It was only a couple years ago that I finally realized such a thing actually existed. It would cost me $6000 to get them done. $2000 up front then about $200 a month.
I understand that you take them out to eat, then brush and put them back in.
What I dont know is about drinking. Can I drink juice with them in? How about soda? water? beer?
obviously while just relaxing @ home I could go w/out the juice etc. but what if I went out to the bar for the night?

I had braces, but not Invisalign so I don't know much about them. However, I'd say you'd probably be fine drinking with them in. If they're anything like my retainer, it's built to withstand the environment of your mouth (which is pretty rough) so adding some liquid isn't going to hurt it......

I went the metal route in 4-6 grade. It costs around $3500 but I have pretty teeth now! Oh, and it did hurt, very much so.........

I don't believe anyone who says that wearing something that's mashing on your teeth isn't going to hurt you any.......That just isn't possible.....

Originally Posted by FreakyStyley

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I've been looking for these all my life. (im 21) It was only a couple years ago that I finally realized such a thing actually existed. It would cost me $6000 to get them done. $2000 up front then about $200 a month.
I understand that you take them out to eat, then brush and put them back in.
What I dont know is about drinking. Can I drink juice with them in? How about soda? water? beer?
obviously while just relaxing @ home I could go w/out the juice etc. but what if I went out to the bar for the night?

the reason you don't want to drink anything with invisalign on is because of possible discoloration of the trays.

Originally Posted by keflex

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the reason you don't want to drink anything with invisalign on is because of possible discoloration of the trays.
Hmm, so If i were to go out for the night, I should just take them out and not wear them for those hrs?
Is the discoloration immediate? Would I be able to wear them for the night as long as I remembered to wash them out when I got home later that night?

Originally Posted by FreakyStyley

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Hmm, so If i were to go out for the night, I should just take them out and not wear them for those hrs?
Is the discoloration immediate? Would I be able to wear them for the night as long as I remembered to wash them out when I got home later that night?

should be ok, since trays will probably be replaced every 2-3 weeks.

however, the trays do lose their clarity pretty quickly (probably after the first week or so, in my experience -- especially with brushing to keep them clean), so I would refrain from drinking any staining beverages with them on (coffee, tea, etc).