Has anyone had or know anyone who has had invisalign?

MaX_PoWah · 25 Aug 2010 at 17:03

Just after some advice or opinions / experience from some neutral people?

Overwhelmed with information when it comes to prices / types of invisalign

Decided i am fed up of bad teeth been part of my life / relationships and want to do something about it now i have an income.

http://www.invisalign.co.uk/en/Pages/Home.aspx

http://www.invisalign.co.uk/en/Find-Invisalign-Doctor/Pages/Search.aspx type sheffield in there and it comes up with some of the ones in sheffield, a few of which i have booked appointments with.

Some of them want up to £100 for an appointment, but most of them are orthodontics and not dentists, for that £100 they give you an assessment / treatment plan.

A lot of them offer 0% finance of some description, so if that is been factored into the price i dont know

I went to see one in Sheffield called Orthoscene a couple of years ago, and there price seems to be high (£4200), but i can get 0% over 3 years, and they gave me a lot of confidence that they knew what they were doing.

Cheers guys, i think it will be a long path ahead

KNiVES · 25 Aug 2010 at 17:22

I think medical threads aren't allowed here unfortunately.

Cosmic182 · 25 Aug 2010 at 17:25

hardly medical tho, no different to talking about laser eye surgery threads.....Be interesting to hear the replies.

MaX_PoWah · 25 Aug 2010 at 17:53

it isnt medical, there are several threads on this area already if you search

but the threads are quite general, there seems to be a growing number of people getting invisalign so it will be intresting to see what people have experienced

Destination · 25 Aug 2010 at 18:55

Depends how bad your malocculsion is.
It isn't suitable in every case.
Is it purely the overlapping in your teeth that is getting you down? Or are they a dbad colour? Filled? need filled? Crowned?

When getting any orthodontic treatment, which invasiline is, I'd advice you get an orthodontist to do it. £4200 does seem dear, but the pound took a smashing under the reign of GordyB, and all invasiline moulds are made in the US, as the lab there hold the patent. So that may be part of the reason for rising costs.

Invasiline is good if there isn't much to move, and it can be easily done so, with bad malocclusion your best best is proper orthodontics.

MaX_PoWah · 25 Aug 2010 at 19:01

well i saw someone at orthoscene a couple of years ago, they said invisalign would work for me, i would need to get an appointment to find out if that is still true.

Yea a general consensus is a lot of "dentists" are having a go at it and there not orthodontists.

A lot of other prices are around the £3500 mark, £700 more for the privilege of using a orthodontist? its not like the cheaper guys don't have any patients either, they all seemed to be busy with it.

Mark A · 25 Aug 2010 at 20:06

I so wish my mum would have forced me to have a brace when I was at school, would have straight teeth now and it would have been free.

Mine aren't too bad really, Just need straightening slightly. £4k is too much for me to justify it.

Destination · 25 Aug 2010 at 20:58

MaX_PoWah said:
well i saw someone at orthoscene a couple of years ago, they said invisalign would work for me, i would need to get an appointment to find out if that is still true.

Yea a general consensus is a lot of "dentists" are having a go at it and there not orthodontists.

A lot of other prices are around the £3500 mark, £700 more for the privilege of using a orthodontist? its not like the cheaper guys don't have any patients either, they all seemed to be busy with it.

Well its preuly for the diagnosis, which will come with experience, but if it is suitable, for the dentist no real training is involved.
They take a bite, and some nice impressions, post them off to the US to be scanned, and then pay massive labbills, the thin plastic shields are sent back and you wear them swapping every couple of weeks to a new set.
Its a very simple form of treatment as a computer plans athe stage and CADCAM construction for the plastic inserts themselves.

Fees are high due to labbills and as a premium service there's always a bit slapped on the top.
If you are suitable, good luck with it, tends to work out nicely for those who are suitable.

Minxy · 25 Aug 2010 at 21:09

I had mine done back in 2004. It worked really well and they are quite comfortable once you get used to them. It was great being able to smile at people without feeling self conscious.

The treatment cost me £1000 so over £4k seems a hell of a lot.

MaX_PoWah · 26 Aug 2010 at 09:25

Yea it does seem a lot compared to £1000! I know thats 6 years ago, but where were you treated ? how many of the things did you have ?

MaX_PoWah · 27 Aug 2010 at 09:45

Got some free appointments in the next couple of weeks, will report back! still intrested to hear from anybody else

ttaM · 27 Aug 2010 at 11:10

I've just finished my invisalign treatment! Overall it cost me £3000 and I had 18 sets for my top teeth and 14 along the bottom, which took about 7/8 months in total. Nobody ever noticed that I had the aligners in unless I told them so and even then they had to look very closely to see what I was banging on about, so for me that factor was worth the price.

I done it through my dentist rather than an orthodontist and am very pleased with the results.

If you've got any specific questions I'll do my best to answer.

Energize · 27 Aug 2010 at 11:55

Aren't these just normal retainers that you have during the course of a normal brace treatment anyway?

MaX_PoWah · 27 Aug 2010 at 12:13

From what i have read they have been used alongside traditional braces, but they are often used on there own as well

MaX_PoWah · 27 Aug 2010 at 12:16

ttaM said:
I've just finished my invisalign treatment! Overall it cost me £3000 and I had 18 sets for my top teeth and 14 along the bottom, which took about 7/8 months in total. Nobody ever noticed that I had the aligners in unless I told them so and even then they had to look very closely to see what I was banging on about, so for me that factor was worth the price.

I done it through my dentist rather than an orthodontist and am very pleased with the results.

If you've got any specific questions I'll do my best to answer.

Well the dentists doing it seem to be a lot cheaper, getting the treatement from orthodontists seems to be a lot more expensive.

Yes once you get your head round the whole eating thing i should imagine its not that bad ?

How many hours a day were you wearing them ? what sort of routine did you get into regarding eating / going out drinking etc ? some people seem to just do what they want and wear the sets a day or so longer to make up for it.

998cc · 27 Aug 2010 at 12:34

ttaM said:
I've just finished my invisalign treatment! Overall it cost me £3000 and I had 18 sets for my top teeth and 14 along the bottom, which took about 7/8 months in total. Nobody ever noticed that I had the aligners in unless I told them so and even then they had to look very closely to see what I was banging on about, so for me that factor was worth the price.

I done it through my dentist rather than an orthodontist and am very pleased with the results.

If you've got any specific questions I'll do my best to answer.

Got any before and after pics?

dustofnations · 27 Aug 2010 at 12:53

ttaM said:
I've just finished my invisalign treatment! Overall it cost me £3000 and I had 18 sets for my top teeth and 14 along the bottom, which took about 7/8 months in total. Nobody ever noticed that I had the aligners in unless I told them so and even then they had to look very closely to see what I was banging on about, so for me that factor was worth the price.

I done it through my dentist rather than an orthodontist and am very pleased with the results.

If you've got any specific questions I'll do my best to answer.

I gather you have to sleep with a retainer indefinitely, even after the treatment is complete. Is this true? If you had gone for a "standard" metal brace would this still be the case?

MaX_PoWah · 27 Aug 2010 at 13:01

dustofnations said:
I gather you have to sleep with a retainer indefinitely, even after the treatment is complete. Is this true? If you had gone for a "standard" metal brace would this still be the case?

I too wonder to what extent this is true, surely after so long they must want to stay where they are? i read some people wear the end retainer every other night and thats enough apparently to stop them moving again.

There is also a new type of invisalign about to come out, but the company who make it are been rather coy about telling anyone any details for fear of people delaying treatment till its released.

dustofnations · 27 Aug 2010 at 13:03

MaX_PoWah said:
I too wonder to what extent this is true, surely after so long they must want to stay where they are? i read some people wear the end retainer every other night and thats enough apparently to stop them moving again.

There is also a new type of invisalign about to come out, but the company who make it are been rather coy about telling anyone any details for fear of people delaying treatment till its released.

I dunno, for me it has been in my late teens early twenties that they've really started moving about - so I guess it would probably ring true for me.

Interesting note on the new treatment, be intriguing to see what it is exactly.

MaX_PoWah · 27 Aug 2010 at 13:07

dustofnations said:
I dunno, for me it has been in my late teens early twenties that they've really started moving about - so I guess it would probably ring true for me.

Interesting note on the new treatment, be intriguing to see what it is exactly.

Apparently its quite normal for people who had some sort of treatment in there teens to have teeth moving about again in there twenties, it just depends where they end up i guess.