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*Treatment results may vary
Pros: Invisable and removable trays; easy to clean...
Pros: Invisable and removable trays; easy to clean teeth/floss.
Cons: Did not work too well for straightening teeth.
I am 38 yrs old and a professional. I did not particularly want to have visible braces on my teeth in my line of work. The Orthodontist explained that he did have faith in the Invisalign product, but that the product (in his opinion) still could not quite fine-tune the teeth the same way braces could. He definitely explained that not everybody is a candidate for them. I explained that I would prefer Invisalign if possible. After an evaluation, he explained that he believed I was a proper candidate.
My teeth were only mildy crooked (my upper and lower canines were the primary teeth needing straightening---they appeared a little bit "fang-like"). I received 21 trays in my first set--this seemed reasonable.
I did NOT know anything about the "buttons" they place on your teeth mid-way through treatment. These were a bit of a nuisance and took some getting used to. (They often caused me to bite my cheeks when eating).
At the end of the treatment, the uppers were fairly straightened out. That is, they look pretty straight by looking at them. To me (my tongue) however, they still feel crooked (i.e., I can feel the imperfectness when I run the tongue on them). However, because I was not expecting perfection, it was no big deal---everybody says they look great, so I was satisfied with the uppers.
However, the lowers did not get straightened out with the treatment. So, they prepared a new set. They sent an additional 17 trays. I was shocked. I have since learned that it is normal to have 4 to 8 additional trays made if some refinements are needed---but 17 was very unusual. I was bummed because it was like having to go through it all over again. But, oh well. I went through those and they still did not straighten out the teeth.
At then end of that, the orthodontist recommended either more Invisalign or braces on the lowers to get them straight. I chose the metal braces. It has now been an additional 4 months with my metal braces and I probably have about another 2 months in the metal braces (which are actually working to straighten out my canines which the invisalign did not seem to do).
I have since talked with a few orthodontists about the situation and neither one do Invisalign. One of them said he stopped doing them because at the end he was always ending up putting braces on his patients because they did not work. (Just like my situation). The other refuses to do them because he is not convinced that they can fine-tune as well as braces (which no one seems to disagree with). Invisalign are based on algorithms, so, if one gets slightly off or a tooth does not rotate exactly as expected, the remainder may be off as well.
I also failed to mention, that my wife got Invisalign at the same time I did. Her experience was almost identical to mine. She had to get an additional 17 trays after her first set of 20 trays. She is also now getting braces because hers did not quite straighten out either. Her "buttons" were right smack in the middle of her front upper teeth---very visible and unsightly---they look like pieces of rice clued to the front of your teeth.
Also, during the treatment, a few of the trays became brittle and broke. They eventually would stop fitting too well and it seemed to be a waste of time after a while even though we wore them as directed (i.e., about 22 hours a day). Yes, sometimes it would only be 20 hours a day---but, for the most part, we were pretty good about keeping them in.
I am not totally against Invisalign (as I said, they did work fairly well on my uppers). However, overall, if I were to do it over, I would NOT do Invisalign---I would go straight to the braces and let the orthodontist have better (complete) control over the movements of the teeth.
Cons: Did not work too well for straightening teeth.
I am 38 yrs old and a professional. I did not particularly want to have visible braces on my teeth in my line of work. The Orthodontist explained that he did have faith in the Invisalign product, but that the product (in his opinion) still could not quite fine-tune the teeth the same way braces could. He definitely explained that not everybody is a candidate for them. I explained that I would prefer Invisalign if possible. After an evaluation, he explained that he believed I was a proper candidate.
My teeth were only mildy crooked (my upper and lower canines were the primary teeth needing straightening---they appeared a little bit "fang-like"). I received 21 trays in my first set--this seemed reasonable.
I did NOT know anything about the "buttons" they place on your teeth mid-way through treatment. These were a bit of a nuisance and took some getting used to. (They often caused me to bite my cheeks when eating).
At the end of the treatment, the uppers were fairly straightened out. That is, they look pretty straight by looking at them. To me (my tongue) however, they still feel crooked (i.e., I can feel the imperfectness when I run the tongue on them). However, because I was not expecting perfection, it was no big deal---everybody says they look great, so I was satisfied with the uppers.
However, the lowers did not get straightened out with the treatment. So, they prepared a new set. They sent an additional 17 trays. I was shocked. I have since learned that it is normal to have 4 to 8 additional trays made if some refinements are needed---but 17 was very unusual. I was bummed because it was like having to go through it all over again. But, oh well. I went through those and they still did not straighten out the teeth.
At then end of that, the orthodontist recommended either more Invisalign or braces on the lowers to get them straight. I chose the metal braces. It has now been an additional 4 months with my metal braces and I probably have about another 2 months in the metal braces (which are actually working to straighten out my canines which the invisalign did not seem to do).
I have since talked with a few orthodontists about the situation and neither one do Invisalign. One of them said he stopped doing them because at the end he was always ending up putting braces on his patients because they did not work. (Just like my situation). The other refuses to do them because he is not convinced that they can fine-tune as well as braces (which no one seems to disagree with). Invisalign are based on algorithms, so, if one gets slightly off or a tooth does not rotate exactly as expected, the remainder may be off as well.
I also failed to mention, that my wife got Invisalign at the same time I did. Her experience was almost identical to mine. She had to get an additional 17 trays after her first set of 20 trays. She is also now getting braces because hers did not quite straighten out either. Her "buttons" were right smack in the middle of her front upper teeth---very visible and unsightly---they look like pieces of rice clued to the front of your teeth.
Also, during the treatment, a few of the trays became brittle and broke. They eventually would stop fitting too well and it seemed to be a waste of time after a while even though we wore them as directed (i.e., about 22 hours a day). Yes, sometimes it would only be 20 hours a day---but, for the most part, we were pretty good about keeping them in.
I am not totally against Invisalign (as I said, they did work fairly well on my uppers). However, overall, if I were to do it over, I would NOT do Invisalign---I would go straight to the braces and let the orthodontist have better (complete) control over the movements of the teeth.
Provider Review
Name not provided
I would still recommend the provider. He is very knowledgeable and was very fair and sincere in his efforts to straighten out my teeth---he did whatever it took to get them straight. He did not charge me after the invisalign treatment to then put on the braces to make the final corrections.