I am over 65 years old and have NO dental insurance. My dentist is recommending orthodontics (Invisalign) prior to restorative work. The cost for Invisalign alone is about 25% higher than average (?) cost shown ($4640) which obviously is out-of-pocket.
If I agree to straightening, I understand there are alternatives to Invisalign but I know nothing about them. Please advise.
Thanx.
Searching Senior
We have been doing Invisalign almost as long as it has been around. Certain cases are better handled by conventional orthodontics. That being said,the majority of our Invisalign patients are over thirty, and many over 50. It is a great alternative for those that are in the public eye or would feel socailly awkward with braces.
In our practice, we have more patients in the 40, 50 and 60 years old range than younger patients. Most can afford invisalign now or have good credit and can do it through care credit or some kind of 0 interest financing plan. These people have always wanted straight teeth and now they can do something nice for themselves and no one will ever know they have invisalign on! At the age of 65, invisalign can make a healtheir mouth and maybe less resortavtive work. We often think invisalgin is used for cosmetic purposes, but truthfully, the teeth are straighter and there is less chance of perio problems and other dental problems in general. I would say...Go for it!
Often, moving the teeth into a more stable position before restorative work can not only improve the final cosmetic result, but also result in less preparation of your teeth.
You may very well keep your teeth for as long as you are around. That said, many people underestimate the legnth of time that they need their teeth. 80 years ago, the average person thought they may only live to be 65, now we expect to live tll 78, but know that we may make it to 90. $5000 divided by 20 years is only $250/year. If you are having a lot of restorative work done in addition, it may not be cost effective to do invisalign if you could straighten the teeth without it. I haven't seen your mouth so I can't advise you whether I would do Invisalign and restore the teeth or just restore the teeth.
Good luck.
Quite often, simply putting the teeth in a better spot gives a more esthtic result but also a healthier one too. Root canals can be avoided, giving a more predictable long term result.
Web reference: http://www.drtimmerman.com
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