<p>I’m in need of some advice - quick. My 19-year old DD decided she wanted to fix the gap in her front teeth . Our orthodontist, who “did” our younger son’s teeth, told her she’s a candidate for invisalign - those clear retainer-like braces. DD was thrilled: she wanted something unobtrusive and we agreed to proceed. Today, she went in to get her first ‘set’ – and was horrified to discover the doctor glued on some white, quite visible BUMPS onto her teeth!. They look terrible. Worse than braces because braces at least LOOK normal - these look downright weird. On top of that, the orthodontist was non-committal as to how LONG these bumps would have to remain. You can imagine a college sophomore’s reaction to the idea of walking around with weird, visible things on her teeth! DD is distraught. At no time did the doctor even imply she would get anythign other than the clear, unobtrusive invisaligns. Had he told her about the BUMPS she probably would have chosen either to wait, or to get regular braces. She will call the orthodontist tomorrow. In the meantime I hope someone on CC can advise: do these things have to stay on? And are we being unreasonable thinking that our decision to proceed with this $6,000 investment was on incomplete information? Information that would have made us not proceed? Any recommendations on our options?</p>
<p>Yes, that info should have been clear at the start. Plus quiz them <em>now</em> about any shaving they will have to do - that’s what has derailed some of my friend’s Invisilign process.</p>
<p>I would immediately get a second opinion. My ortho does that for free. $6000??? Neither of my kids’ entire mouths cost that much.</p>
<p>Not an orthodontist, but D is having Invisalign also, due to a misalignment that developed as her wisdom teeth started coming in. We did not know about the “bumps” (aka attachments–small points of dental ceramic) going into it, either. D’s are on her incisors. They are needed to apply the pressure that realigns the teeth. When the Invisaligners are on (which is supposed to be 22 hours/day, in D’ case), we don’t notice the attachments. She is aware of them when eating. But on the whole, I’d have to say it’s going well. Are your daughter’s attachments on the front teeth?</p>
<p>Incidentally, didn’t the orthodontist tell you how many sets of aligners there were, and how long each was supposed to be worn?</p>
<p>Comment on price: The price quoted is within the range our dentist mentioned, before we saw the orthodontist. I have the impression that the OP’s son had seen the orthodontist before, but the daughter had not–making it very unlikely that the orthodontia would be free. If the realignment needed is not too drastic “Invisalign Express,” which has fewer sets of aligners is a possibility, and it is half the quoted cost or less.</p>
<p>No, I meant the second opinion would be free!! No way would orthodontia ever be free! 
Our orthodontist examined my S each year for 3 years before beginning treatment. The exams were always free, with no strings attached. When it was finally time to start treatment, he gave us a great presentation about exactly what would be done. </p>
<p>I suppose prices on procedures vary depending on your location. $6k would be extremely high in these parts.</p>
<p>I say go with regular braces…at least then you can get fun colors and they can look nice (I say always go with the black…that way your teeth don’t clash with whatever you’re wearing).</p>
<p>I had braces for 2 years (got 'em off early), and lemme tell you, I just don’t like Invisalign. It’s definitely not invisible, and I don’t trust it. Braces are there to give you a nicer smile in the long run, not to be attractive. And let me tell you, it WORKS. My smile is by far one of the prettiest of my friends, and I get compliments all the time on how nice my teeth turned out.</p>
<p>My advice, whether with Invisalign or regular braces: DO EXACTLY WHAT THEY TELL YOU, especially while the braces are ON. WEAR THOSE RUBBER BANDS…this is, IMHO, the biggest cause of getting your braces off early. Yes, they hurt like heck, but they do the trick. I got mine off 6 months-1 year early because I wore those rubber bands.</p>
<p>Also, WEAR YOUR RETAINERS. I got a bonded retainer on my bottom teeth…it is just a little metal wire that runs from lower left canine to the right canine. I can’t even tell it’s there unless I run my tongue along the back of my bottom teeth, and no one ever sees it. And it is HEAVEN not to have to worry about putting in/taking out a retainer like I do with my top teeth. Although I do like having it in a fun color. :)</p>
<p>I am not an orthodontist (I am a college freshman with braces) nor do I have much advice, but I want to link you to a message board (if you don’t know of it already) on which members ask/answer questions about braces and share their own braces-related stories. I wish I had discovered that site prior to getting braced, because then I would have asked more questions before signing the contract and getting the brackets put on. Anyway, your daughter’s ortho should be able to give an estimate as to how long she will have to have the braces on. Since he worked on your son’s teeth as well, I am assuming that you are somewhat familiar with dealing with the orthodontist’s “bedside manners” and office staff? I hope that you and your daughter will get your questions answered. Also, generally metal braces are supposed to work better than Invisalign, and they actually do not look too bad either - Invisalign really is not all that invisible up close. And I agree with HisGraceFillsMe… picking a color each month seems to be part of the fun. Although I do not get to participate in that, since I have self-ligating braces (they just look really metallic and gray, and trust me, they are SHINY).</p>
<p>Good luck! Here’s the link:
[Metal</a> Mouth Message Board :: Index](<a href=“Metal Mouth Message Board - Index page”>Metal Mouth Message Board - Index page)</p>
<p>Would veneers work?</p>
<p>I just found out last week that my neighbor has Invalign braces—and I never realized it at all. I suspect the feel bothers your daughter, and she’s probably very self conscious about it. But, the majority of people will never notice, and it will be worth it in the end.</p>
<p>D2 just got her (conventional) braces off a few months ago…after way too many years wearing them. Even with the different color wires, the “look” was never one I was too crazy about, but it wasn’t so bad since all the other kids in middle school/early high school had them. For a 19-year-old, I think invalign is the way to go… Good luck to her!!! And tell her to make a list of questions to ask her orthodontist. She should know what to expect and how things are progressing every step of the way.</p>
<p>^^kelsmom. Oh! Right! (Not sure how to make embarrassed smiley face!)
And continuing along those lines, my D’s attachments are on her cuspids, not incisors . . . definitely not an orthodontist, and it’s been a looong time since fourth-grade health. The price doesn’t seem out of line for our region, though. Regular braces might be less expensive.</p>
<p>Just out of curiosity, how does a college student manage orthodontist appointments?</p>
<p>I would think that living in two communities (college and home) during different parts of the year would be an insurmountable barrier, given that most orthodontic treatment requires monthly appointments.</p>
<p>What do you do? Do you travel to the college community once a month during the summer to see the orthodontist?</p>
<p>Marian, My D is a college sophomore, and has now had 3 orthodontists. Her “home” doctor, who initially put them on and tends to her when she’s here, her second during her freshman year in college, and we hope her third and final where she lives now. She’s had great care, and after being under “clear” braces for almost 3 years is now making plans to have them removed (she hopes) by summer’s end. She’ll have a clear retainer she’ll have to use for a good amount of time afterwards. The toughest part is keeping the “home” doctor and the current treating doctor in the loop.</p>
<p>Thank you for your input. DD will talk to the orthodontist today. She has the '“bumps” on all her front teeth. Contrary to the name, they are VERY visibile. Complicating matters is that she’s in Boston at school, ortho is at home in Denver. Depending on what the doctor tells her, I may have her go get a second opinion at an orthodonist in Boston. But at this point, I just don’t know what our options are other than ‘live with it.’ Either way, we feel we’ve been misinformed – or underinformed – by our current orthodontist…</p>
<p>^^Marian, I was concerned in advance about how orthodontia would be managed with D in college, about 750 miles away. However, it’s worked out so far. </p>
<p>The primary orthodontist is the one at home. D had appointments at home just before departure, at Thanksgiving, two weeks after Christmas, and the next one scheduled for spring break. In the meantime, we obtained a referral to an orthodontist in the college town from our home orthodontist, and D has had one appointment there (attachment came off).</p>
<p>I’d guess the workability of such an arrangement depends on the specifics of the treatment.</p>
<p>katliamom: With regard to the white “bumps”, S had those also, and we didn’t know they were coming either. But he only had two on top and two on bottom. If I recall, they were on his “canine” teeth only. They are there to grab the molds and keep them from slipping on and off. I would talk to your orthodontist and see if he can eliminate some of the bumps so they are not so obtrusive.</p>
<p>My son, now 20, just finished with his inisalign treatment. We picked this option over conventional braces for several reasons, even though it was almost twice the cost:</p>
<p>-Much shorter treatment time. He was done in eight months. It went much faster than predicted.</p>
<p>-He already had conventional braces for three years, but due to my fault of not following up with his retainer check appointments, his teeth shifted quite dramatically over time and we were not really happy with the results from the day he got the braces off. I wore braces after I graduated college and it is tough!</p>
<p>-Ease of long distance orthodontia. With the invisalign, chek-ups are much more infrequent as the patient just switches to a new set every two or three weeks and if an appointment has to be postponed, all it involves is just wearing the current set until the appointment can be done (sort of like a retainer - teeth are kept in place but don’t move further)</p>
<p>-He was able to have braces with almost no one knowing he had them. They truly are almost invisible!</p>