Should I bother with invisalign?

[Kseaaa]

I'm 17 years old and about to be a senior in high school, so traditional braces are really not an option for me personally. Everyone in my school has been there and done that and I don't want to be going to college in a year with a set of train tracks on my teeth.
I went to an Invisalign consultation yesterday, and I am a candidate for invisalign. My teeth are straight for the most part, however my real problem is my open bite. My orthodontist said that it's unlikely for him to completely close it, but he can definitely help fix it. I'm not even that worried about my bite, it doesn't bother me much, but for the most part I just would like a straighter smile.
Of course my orthodontist wants to fix my bite as much as I can, but my main worry is the attachments. I don't want to spend $5000 on Invisalign if it's going to be visible. I read a case online where someone had an open bite and they had to have attachments on all of their front teeth. I would feel very, very insecure and uncomfortable with attachments on all my front teeth for the next 18 months. If I were talking to someone, would they be able to notice these attachments? Do the attachments have to stay on for the whole treatment, or can they change? Do you think I'll need a bunch of attachments for an open bite?

[bluegray]

It sounds to me like you have 3 options: 1. Traditional braces, 2. Invisalign with attachments, or 3. do nothing.

There are many, many, many threads on here with similar concerns as yours regarding potential placement and visibility of attachments. Yes, it is entirely possible that you will have attachments on your front teeth. Yes, it is possible that you will consider them noticeable, but in reality, we are far more self-conscious of them than others are. They are small and tooth colored and in my opinion, really not a big deal. Personally, I have 13 attachments - 4 on top (but not on my front two teeth) and 9 on the bottom (in a line directly across my bottom front teeth). Most attachments generally stay on for the length of the treatment though I have heard of people having various attachments added or removed during the course of the treatment depending on what type of movements need to be done and when.

A good orthodontist will typically not straighten teeth without also aligning your bite, as a malaligned bite can lead to a myriad of other problems, so even though it is not a primary issue for you, it will most likely be included in your treatment plan.

Despite whether people notice your attachments or not, people are more than likely going to notice that your teeth are moving, so the topic will eventually come up any way. There is no shame or embarrassment in wanting straight teeth, so there should be no shame or embarrassment in pursuing orthodontics to get them. Most people have had braces at some point in their childhood anyway, so who are they to judge? Is someone really not going to be your friend because you are currently wearing braces? Most likely not, and if so, they aren't really a friend you would want anyway.

It sounds like you really need to do your research regarding Invisalign and what lifestyle adjustments you would have to make, including becoming more comfortable with the possibility of attachments, and decide if this would be worth pursuing for you. Your treatment would be over in a few months versus years and years of straight teeth. Good luck with whatever you decide!

[BlondeAddiction]

Perfectly said above! Invisalign is NOT clear despite the hype. Also, most orthos using invisalign won't be able to fix your bite. You may say now that you don't care about your bite being you're only 17yrs old, but in 10yrs you'll regret it. So many on this site say the same things as you, some even go through the invisalign journey onlu to get traditional ones later to fix other issues. I'm a professional model and I'm wearing clear traditional braces :)...happily!

Don't let shallow appearances sway your perfect smile and ideal bite. Go for the best outcome for your case.

[soosoo22]

I have the attachments all across my front teeth. I minded for a little while, and then I got over it. Invisalign is not invisible for me, and people do notice, but so what? With friends I haven't seen for a while it's more of the "Hey! You got braces! Ohhhh, how exciting!" type of comment (I got that one yesterday). I've also had the "You got braces? I thought your smile was pretty before anyway" comment. People I haven't met before don't say anything. I assume they see them, and don't care. Just like I don't care if I meet someone else who has braces (well, I kind of care, but mostly I think it's awesome that they're fixing their teeth). Or maybe they don't see them - Invisalign are not noticeable from across the room, just if you're talking to someone, but a lot of people don't really pay all that much attention.

High schoolers are the most judgmental people about others' appearances. As you get older, people really don't judge you as much, and in fact most are happy for you that you're doing something good for yourself. Having said that, there's no time like the present. If you don't do it now because you'll be going to college, then you won't want to do it because you're at college, and then because you're starting your professional career, then meeting new people and getting established, then dating and being in weddings. There's always a reason you can come up with why NOT to get braces! And pretty soon you're in your thirties or forties wishing you'd fixed your teeth years ago.

[senshiminako]

I'm 17 years old and about to be a senior in high school, so traditional braces are really not an option for me personally. Everyone in my school has been there and done that and I don't want to be going to college in a year with a set of train tracks on my teeth.
I went to an Invisalign consultation yesterday, and I am a candidate for invisalign. My teeth are straight for the most part, however my real problem is my open bite. My orthodontist said that it's unlikely for him to completely close it, but he can definitely help fix it. I'm not even that worried about my bite, it doesn't bother me much, but for the most part I just would like a straighter smile.
Of course my orthodontist wants to fix my bite as much as I can, but my main worry is the attachments. I don't want to spend $5000 on Invisalign if it's going to be visible. I read a case online where someone had an open bite and they had to have attachments on all of their front teeth. I would feel very, very insecure and uncomfortable with attachments on all my front teeth for the next 18 months. If I were talking to someone, would they be able to notice these attachments? Do the attachments have to stay on for the whole treatment, or can they change? Do you think I'll need a bunch of attachments for an open bite?

Attachments are not that noticeable but I would imagine if they are on the front teeth when you move the light may catch on the plastic making them more visible. Personally if I was in high school now I would get traditional braces since there are soo many more choices now than just lingual or cermaic when I was in high school, if you dont want the braces to be very noticeable. My friend who is 25 got braces around the same time as me she has the radiance ones, they are smaller and very clear. I didnt know she was wearing braces for at least a month! That is how clear they are.

Im recommending clear traditional braces for you because when your in high school I dont feel like you have much time to be running to the bathroom to brush after eating with your busy schedule. If you feel like time and commitment wont be an issue go for invisalign.

Someone who has attachments on their front teeth is itsjudytime on youtube so you can see what they look like in real life.

[Fragile]

I'll tell you this - I've had pictures taken with my invisalign and I have attachments on the top 4 of my teeth and you cannot see them at all. Yes, the pictures are a few feet away but you can not even tell. When I face someone who's a few inches away from me and talk, they will probably notice. Ironically, I've had a few people with invisalign notice them, they asked "You're wearing invisalign too eh?" and thats all. For the most part, my friends who are unfamiliar with invisalign didn't notice. One did, saying why my teeth seem so shiny and I showed them my invisalign - they had no idea they were braces.

To be honest, I think we make too much of a big deal over braces and invisalign. When I notice other people with braces I rarely ever judge them to be "ugly" because of that. Hell, after noticing the braces I don't even tend to remember them as "That person with the braces." It's probably better that people wear braces since really crooked teeth look far worse than either type of brace.

There is pros and cons to braces. I obviously choose invisalign due to them not showing up as much as braces. I'm 20, in Uni so I didn't want to walk around with metal in my mouth. I'm happy with my decision. I think it's kinda neat that I'm having a "different" type of braces adventure than most people.

[soosoo22]

I decided to upload a photo showing all my attachments in case it helps. Remember, this is super close up! If it was a photo at a normal distance, you probably wouldn't see them

invisaligntray3.jpg

[Kipper]

How do you keep those attachments so white, soosoo22?

[soosoo22]

Kipper - well, I haven't had them very long! That photo was from the last day of aligner 3, so it'd only been 8 weeks. I do occasionally swish whitening mouthwash with my trays in, and I've used one Crest whitestrip since getting them (I had this grand plan of using 1 whitestrip per week, but that's not really panned out!). I also sporadically use a whitening toothpaste, so my current toothpaste is a whitening one, but it isn't always. I'm not sure anything I've done would have affected the color of the actual attachments, though.

[BlondeAddiction]

Clear ceramics with metal wire, clear invisalign with buttons, nothing is truly invisible. Well, except lingual braces I guess. LOL.

I don't feel mine are very noticeable- and my wire is silver. The only thing that shows up in photos is the elastics I wear. But heck, they even have traditional ones these days with tooth-colored wires! :D

smiley22.jpg