Invisalign or braces for 12 Yr old
Discussion
Hi, my 12 year old was recommended to fit braces to correct overbite. It's cosmetic and no other teeth problems. In general invisalign seams to have good reviews. It was quoted at around £4k. Compare to metal braces, am I right that key difference is visibility and less hassle with cleaning as you can take them off when eating.
Any downsides or other differences to consider? I don't know if invisalign needs more retainers after end of treatment compared to braces..
Any other suggestions /thoughts on the subject welcome...
Any downsides or other differences to consider? I don't know if invisalign needs more retainers after end of treatment compared to braces..
Any other suggestions /thoughts on the subject welcome...
I've just finished my Invisalign about 3 months ago, after what was 9 months with them.
They basically put small bumps on calculated teeth, which are what the aligners combine with to move your teeth.
You don't eat with these, and are recommended to only drink water with them, take them out for anything else. This is tricky as for the best benefit they recommend you keep them in 22 hours a day.
Take them out for breakfast, clean your teeth, take them out for lunch, clean your teeth, etc etc, you get the picture. It feels very tiresome at first but its very quickly the norm, and increases your overall oral hygiene and habits with it for the better.
I never suffered any cutting or discomfort, nor have I heard that, as the posted above mentioned, but they may of had a different experience.
The first 3 weeks were painful, in the sense of extreme headaches, almost to the point I couldnt open my eyes, on a count of being an adult and moving every single tooth in your skull at the same time. I would imagine for a child, this movement is expected and the pain less so.
You really have to keep them clean, a clear glass with some retainer cleaner (a quarter tablet is enough) in warm water for 30 minutes whilst you eat your breakfast covered me fine. Use a soft toddlers toothbrush to give them a clean on the night before putting them in, with a very small amount of toothpaste, and you generally avoid discolouration.
How it works?
They determine how many aligners you need, mine was 15 at first. This usually increases with every client, I've not known of anyone less that 20 weeks so far. They scan you, you get the first fitted, then they give you a box with X amount in, sometimes the whole range, or sometimes half, if you need any work doing in between you see, such as filing etc.
They say keep them in for 7 days, but I elected for 10, just to get the full benefit as suggested by my Invisalign dentist.
The retainers are for life afterwards, and they often provide whitening too, which is handy I suppose!
Speech will be affected with invisalign as it would be with metal braces, excess saliva on the lips that you just have to get used to. I spat at people when talking too many times than I would of liked
10/10 would recommend. Just express to your child how important it is to keep their teeth clean and keep the retainers in!
Editted to add;
Stinky breath in the morning is a problem with invisalign, and you get a little bit of manky tasting spit first thing in the morning. Good swig of water and a thorough brush sorts it out though!
They basically put small bumps on calculated teeth, which are what the aligners combine with to move your teeth.
You don't eat with these, and are recommended to only drink water with them, take them out for anything else. This is tricky as for the best benefit they recommend you keep them in 22 hours a day.
Take them out for breakfast, clean your teeth, take them out for lunch, clean your teeth, etc etc, you get the picture. It feels very tiresome at first but its very quickly the norm, and increases your overall oral hygiene and habits with it for the better.
I never suffered any cutting or discomfort, nor have I heard that, as the posted above mentioned, but they may of had a different experience.
The first 3 weeks were painful, in the sense of extreme headaches, almost to the point I couldnt open my eyes, on a count of being an adult and moving every single tooth in your skull at the same time. I would imagine for a child, this movement is expected and the pain less so.
You really have to keep them clean, a clear glass with some retainer cleaner (a quarter tablet is enough) in warm water for 30 minutes whilst you eat your breakfast covered me fine. Use a soft toddlers toothbrush to give them a clean on the night before putting them in, with a very small amount of toothpaste, and you generally avoid discolouration.
How it works?
They determine how many aligners you need, mine was 15 at first. This usually increases with every client, I've not known of anyone less that 20 weeks so far. They scan you, you get the first fitted, then they give you a box with X amount in, sometimes the whole range, or sometimes half, if you need any work doing in between you see, such as filing etc.
They say keep them in for 7 days, but I elected for 10, just to get the full benefit as suggested by my Invisalign dentist.
The retainers are for life afterwards, and they often provide whitening too, which is handy I suppose!
Speech will be affected with invisalign as it would be with metal braces, excess saliva on the lips that you just have to get used to. I spat at people when talking too many times than I would of liked
10/10 would recommend. Just express to your child how important it is to keep their teeth clean and keep the retainers in!
Editted to add;
Stinky breath in the morning is a problem with invisalign, and you get a little bit of manky tasting spit first thing in the morning. Good swig of water and a thorough brush sorts it out though!
Edited by axel1990chp on Wednesday 13th November 07:43
I had an Invisalign type service (but the company I used is no longer trading).
Moved my teeth over 5 months and would recommend. I used to have a large gap in my front teeth which is now gone.
I only really had pain the first night, although some sets were uncomfortable at first (mine stayed in 2 weeks at a time).
Big plus point is no-one noticed I ever had them in.
You do need retainers for ever afterwards and this isn't really mentioned before hand, but I think it is the same for braces?
As you are asking for child I would go with your dentists/orthodontists advice as the teeth and facial features are still developing.
Moved my teeth over 5 months and would recommend. I used to have a large gap in my front teeth which is now gone.
I only really had pain the first night, although some sets were uncomfortable at first (mine stayed in 2 weeks at a time).
Big plus point is no-one noticed I ever had them in.
You do need retainers for ever afterwards and this isn't really mentioned before hand, but I think it is the same for braces?
As you are asking for child I would go with your dentists/orthodontists advice as the teeth and facial features are still developing.
As someone who had braces at that age, no way would I recommend Invisalign. With braces they are there and you can’t forget to put them on etc. I barely remembered to put retainers in after having braces and after a while they put more pressure on my teeth leading to me eventually not bothering. Fortunately there wasn’t much movement after braces.
Obviously it’s down to your child but I can’t imagine many children being as thorough with Invisalign as an adult who paid thousands of pounds for it.
Obviously it’s down to your child but I can’t imagine many children being as thorough with Invisalign as an adult who paid thousands of pounds for it.
Invisalign are great, but I wouldn't trust a child to be diligent enough to be honest. As mentioned above, they need to be kept in all the time you're not eating, and anytime you eat or drink anything that's not water, you need to clean your teeth properly before putting them back in. If your kid decides to have the odd can of Coke without removing them, they'll end up with cavities in no time.
Invisalign worked well for us. NHS dentist wanted to remove teeth even though adult teeth could not be found during an X-ray. We went for a second opinion and paid just over £4K a few years ago. It included consultations over the phone, random drop ins for checks/pain relief and no teeth removed. My daughter looked like a shark after a punch in the mouth with 3 rows of teeth coming out at right angles. Money well spent to see her confidence now with these results.
The photo below wasn’t the finished product either, all straight now.
The photo below wasn’t the finished product either, all straight now.
My 8 year old daughter has them, needed cos some of her teeth were coming in out of position and pushing existing teeth out. We thankfully caught it before it dislodged any adult teeth.
She took to them pretty well, worn without any complaint after day 1. But we are constantly on at her to keep her on track with putting them in and cleaning her teeth after meals (particularly an issue at school).
She occasionally comes home with the braces in a case with traces of food on them, so we clean them with kids toothpaste and drag her upstairs for a scrub too.
The dentist is really pleased with how they've moved her teeth to the right places, it's closed a massive gap in her front teeth too (which I'm happy about as I had one throughout childhood until my wisdom teeth came in and closed it up - man I hated my teeth) so has been worth it.
For what it's worth she's on the spectrum and is sensitive to texture, tastes etc and we were far from sure she'd take to them. But it was no problem in the event. Having to nag her about them is a lot more to do with her being in a fantasy world or not wanting to be different to the kids at school dinners by having to clean her teeth, than being particularly anti the braces themselves.
She took to them pretty well, worn without any complaint after day 1. But we are constantly on at her to keep her on track with putting them in and cleaning her teeth after meals (particularly an issue at school).
She occasionally comes home with the braces in a case with traces of food on them, so we clean them with kids toothpaste and drag her upstairs for a scrub too.
The dentist is really pleased with how they've moved her teeth to the right places, it's closed a massive gap in her front teeth too (which I'm happy about as I had one throughout childhood until my wisdom teeth came in and closed it up - man I hated my teeth) so has been worth it.
For what it's worth she's on the spectrum and is sensitive to texture, tastes etc and we were far from sure she'd take to them. But it was no problem in the event. Having to nag her about them is a lot more to do with her being in a fantasy world or not wanting to be different to the kids at school dinners by having to clean her teeth, than being particularly anti the braces themselves.
Do the NHS not deal with this anymore for Kids that age? My Eldest has just had her conventional braces removed today after 2.5 years with excellent results. All done under the NHS at the same Orthodontist that does Invisalign etc.
Confused why anyone would be looking to pay £4K for it…
Confused why anyone would be looking to pay £4K for it…
Leptons said:
Do the NHS not deal with this anymore for Kids that age? My Eldest has just had her conventional braces removed today after 2.5 years with excellent results. All done under the NHS at the same Orthodontist that does Invisalign etc.
Confused why anyone would be looking to pay £4K for it…
My 13 year old is having his invisalign fitted tomorrow… My reason being with normal braces he would need adult teeth removing and have to wait 18 months to have them fitted. Also I have been told that certain foods can’t be eaten and if perfect hygiene isn’t maintained they will be removed.. I can’t under why anyone would put their child through that suffering when there is a better option.Confused why anyone would be looking to pay £4K for it…
Correction that the invisalign will be performing:
Leptons said:
Do the NHS not deal with this anymore for Kids that age?
Not for all kids they don't, only for some. Since 2006 orthodontics in the NHS has been restricted to kids who exhibit a degree of dental wonkiness ('malocclusion' in the trade) whereby if it is not treated it can harm their dental health. Since that year NHS orthodontics hasn't been available to 'mild' cosmetic cases, as in the OP's example.
All potential patients undergo a strict screening process by the clinician to evaluate if they reach the threshold to qualify for treatment. An orthodontist can't decide on a whim who qualifies for NHS treatment nowadays - unlike before 2006.
Leptons junior would have undergone this process prior to starting treatment 2.5 years ago
Generally speaking, Invisalign is more suited to those milder cases anyway, irrespective of NHS rules and regs.
Further explanation and photos of wonky teeth and gums at
https://www.eden-ortho.com/application/files/8316/...
Edited by Four Seasons Total Landscaping on Thursday 14th November 05:14
Four Seasons Total Landscaping said:
Not for all kids they don't, only for some.
Since 2006 orthodontics in the NHS has been restricted to kids who exhibit a degree of dental wonkiness ('malocclusion' in the trade) whereby if it is not treated it can harm their dental health. Since that year NHS orthodontics hasn't been available to 'mild' cosmetic cases, as in the OP's example.
All potential patients undergo a strict screening process by the clinician to evaluate if they reach the threshold to qualify for treatment. An orthodontist can't decide on a whim who qualifies for NHS treatment nowadays - unlike before 2006.
Leptons junior would have undergone this process prior to starting treatment 2.5 years ago
Generally speaking, Invisalign is more suited to those milder cases anyway, irrespective of NHS rules and regs.
Further explanation and photos of wonky teeth and gums at
https://www.eden-ortho.com/application/files/8316/...
I see, every day’s a school day! Since 2006 orthodontics in the NHS has been restricted to kids who exhibit a degree of dental wonkiness ('malocclusion' in the trade) whereby if it is not treated it can harm their dental health. Since that year NHS orthodontics hasn't been available to 'mild' cosmetic cases, as in the OP's example.
All potential patients undergo a strict screening process by the clinician to evaluate if they reach the threshold to qualify for treatment. An orthodontist can't decide on a whim who qualifies for NHS treatment nowadays - unlike before 2006.
Leptons junior would have undergone this process prior to starting treatment 2.5 years ago
Generally speaking, Invisalign is more suited to those milder cases anyway, irrespective of NHS rules and regs.
Further explanation and photos of wonky teeth and gums at
https://www.eden-ortho.com/application/files/8316/...
Edited by Four Seasons Total Landscaping on Thursday 14th November 05:14
lemonslap said:
My 13 year old is having his invisalign fitted tomorrow… My reason being with normal braces he would need adult teeth removing and have to wait 18 months to have them fitted. Also I have been told that certain foods can’t be eaten and if perfect hygiene isn’t maintained they will be removed.. I can’t under why anyone would put their child through that suffering when there is a better option.
Correction that the invisalign will be performing:
Yes those hundreds of thousands of poor kids who’ve had their teeth made better on the NHS.Correction that the invisalign will be performing:
I’d hardly call keeping your teeth clean and not eating toffees or Pork crackling for a couple of years suffering. I managed it back in the day and Daughter managed it with Zero breakages. More like a life lesson in following simple instructions.
Metal braces were actually “in” a few years back because they get to chop and change the coloured bands now and again.
Anyhow, each to their own. Best of luck with it.
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