Has anyone had problems with iBraces?

[KaraMarie]

Hi everyone,

I have had iBraces for almost 2 years now. My orthodontist had treated a few cases at his other office before me. He has had difficulty with the tiny ties, and has not been tying certain teeth due to difficutly with the little room for ties on these brackets.

He claims he has lost control of a few of my teeth, due to the tiny ties....and He now wants me to ditch these braces and put on full front braces for the rest of my treatment.

I've put a major money investment into the ibraces, and had specifically picked someone who would do this treatment.

The assistant at the office I go to refuses to work on me, as she is constantly putting these down. She is experienced with lingual, but not the ibraces (my dr had used them at a different office unattached to the one I go to).

My question is-----are problems with ties a common problem with the iBraces brand?

I'm wondering if this is an issue that other orthodontists deal with, or if this is more lack of experience on my orthodontist's end, which I'm suspecting.

Any insight/experience/advise would be greatly appreciated!

thanks!

Kara

[Zoso]

For what it's worth, this is the first time I've heard this, and I suspect it may be a lack of experience with these brackets on the part of the staff at this office.

[mikeg]

also a first for me.. I'm with zoso, and expect that this ortho shouldn't have offered you ibraces in the first place. I would expect a major financial incentive for him to switch you to regular braces or find another ibraces provider in your area that has more experience.

[Zoso]

Great point, Mike. Yeah, if you do agree to switch to regular braces, there should be some significant refund offered, since I am sure you paid a significant premium to get iBraces in the first place. Not to mention the fact that this has probably delayed completing your treatment.

[KaraMarie]

thanks so much for your feedback/replies!

Actually, the office was going to CHARGE me $300 to get the braces on the front of my teeth! (I paid $9500 for the ibraces, and almost have it paid off).

I was pretty floored. I expected a rebate of some sort - not to be charged more money.

I ended up emailing a representative at the iBraces company, that I got from the iBraces website.

My orthodontist called me today, and said that the iBraces company called him, and that they gave him tips and overnighted some new manual to him to look through. They also are willing to send more customized wires and replace my brackets that are having difficulty being tied, if need be.

It seems they want to help my orthodontist with my case. I just emailed them yesterday, so this was a very quick response.

My dr. no longer wants to go the front braces route after talking to them ----I'm just pretty frustrated that he did not take the initiative to call them himself.

I guess I continue with this dr ---not sure what it costs usually to switch after most of my amount owed is paid off (which included retainers if I am correct-will have to look again at the paperwork from 2 years ago)?

I'm curious to know if anyone with iBraces have had trouble wearing rubberbands on the back brackets? He has me in buttons on the front, and after the clear ones popped off a couple times, I have 1 metal button
and 1 clear one on my front teeth. I'm not auditioning for film now until these are off - but it does not interfere with theater that much.

I am so happy to have found this site! It is tough to not be able to talk to anyone who has this kind of braces!

Kara

[mikeg]

I happy for you that your ortho is willing to work with you and get this done right... Good for you on keeping your doctor in check and that is why I like this site so much.... Going in blind rarely is a good thing anymore.

Lets see some pictures, and maybe get your blog going to track the progress further.

[Zoso]

Good for you! That was some good thinking to contact iBraces directly!

I wonder also if the company has reps who can come onsite and provide some more person to person guidance for your doc and for his staff.

[gau06]

Hi Kara,

I have had iBraces for almost two years now. I am happy to say that I have had the results that I expected. From what I read, your problem with ibraces comes from your orthodontist not being able to secure the ties. Please be aware that this is NOT a common problem. Since day one, my ties have been able to go on with absolutely no problem. After a while, my orthodontists assistant started securing them on me since it became such a routine and time consuming task for the doctor. I hope ibraces helps resolve the problem that your orthodontist has.

[mikeg]

Thanks for shedding some positive light Gua06. This topic is best answered by an ortho and current ibraces users...

[jawells]

I have had Ibraces for 3 months on the top arch only. I went with standard (labial) clear braces on the bottom to save a little money. Now, my teeth look far worse than when I started (even my orthodontist agrees). He blames it on the "glue" that expired too quickly and dried leaving move adhesive behind the brackets than expected and not allowing the teeth to properly line up. He is trying to contact Ibraces to get options.
So far, he has suggested either starting all over again with a new impression and reapplying the Ibraces in another month. This is a good option except for the month of very ugly teeth. Or putting me into standard braces for the remainder of the treatment. Neither of these seem like great options. Any advice? I have to make a decision in the next few days.
Thank You...

[pierre]

I've had Ibraces for 6 months now and have not experienced any problems. It did notice however, that it takes my ortho a great deal of effort to get the ties on. She always needs assistance from a second person. I always worry that they will not make it, since they usually have to try multiple times, but so far it has always worked out... Fingers crossed.

Glueing the brackets on was not straight forward, and two of them came of within a week, but I have not had problems since then (she levelled them better with the other teeth).

In general, 6 months into treatment, I'm happy with what I've seen sofar. A lot of progress! My top front looks pretty good in fact, and these were my greatest concern. I guess for most people.

Good luck!

Pierre

[pierre]

And I'm happy to hear that Ibraces is backing up your ortho so well.

[Bob]

I ordered I-Braces and had them taken off 3 days later. Not only are they excrusiatingly painful, but they are not really lingual. I got them put on and then when I went to look in the mirror I was shocked to see that I had an extremely visible silver metal over all of my molars extending to the front of my teeth. I spent a huge amount of money on ibraces and they weren't even hidden braces. The metal was not only visible but it didn't allow me to chew solid food. My teeth wouldn't close and my molars could no longer grind food. I wouldn't recommend them to anyone!!!!

[Sunny]

Bob I realise you didn't like what you had put on your teeth, but after only three days, there's no way you can make a judgement on the quality of these brackets and how they would have worked with your teeth. It sounds like your molars had bands on them, and that's the fault of your ortho for not explaining this to you ... not a reflection on the ibraces or any lingual type of brackets.

There is a period of adjustment no matter what type of brackets a person has ... and for most it's well past the three day period.

[Foxgloveartgirl]

You should read my entry! It's too long to go into but I am having similar problems and am about to go into litigation against my orthodontist. Look under "I Braces", "Incognito Braces" I feel your pain only too well!!!