Teeth Straightening? Braces?

[NelleBelle]

I've always been a little less than confident with my smile - I have a few not-so-straight teeth - nothing too bad, but enough to bother me. Mum and Dad couldn't afford for me to get these fixed when I was a kid, so I was thinking that the time that I'm being a SAHM might be the best time to get them done. (if I'm going to be wearing braces, and if they are anything like they used to be, I'd rather do this while I'm out of the paid workforce! )

However, I'm not sure what's invovled, and as we're on a reduced income, cost will come into it to some degree.

Does anyone have any recent experience with teeth straightening/braces?

1. What is the typical cost of getting braces? I do have top extras cover, but obviously I'll still need to pay some portion of the cost, which I can work out if I have some idea of total cost.

2. I'm assuming this will involve braces??? Are they still the train track looking things, or has dentistry evolved since I was at school with others getting their teeth straightened so that it is not an unattractive process? (I hope so! Oops, gee I sound vain - I'm not really, just could be a little self conscious having braces as a 30 year old!)

3. Do you just go to the local dentist and go from there? (I haven't been to a dentist in about 5 years! )

Any other advice or suggestions would also be hugely appreciated!

Thanks in advance.

[Nurse Dan]

I had braces when I was in the last years of high school so we are talking about 11 years ago but looking at my smile now made it all worth it. I completely understand your fears about how they look but honestly you get used to them so quickly and unfortunately they haven't changed much. But you can make them look a bit funky with the colour bands you get around each brace. Makes it a more interesting.
My braces cost approx $3500 plus 6 monthly visits to the dentist and all the drives to the orthodontist (1 hour away). I think it was roughly about $2500 paid by mum and dads health insurance extras. I got a referral to the orthodontist from my local dentist so I would assume that would be your first stop.
If you do go ahead and get them don't listen to all the "stories" they tell you about what you can't eat and drink. They fib to you big time.
And the answer to the big question no they don't get in the way when you kiss and do other things

[Dee]

NelleBelle, i'm watching the answers here cause I am in the exact same situation (except im not a SAHM)
My teeth arent bad either, but enough to bother me and same again, mum couldn't afford them.
Anyways, great questions, i'm interested too

[Muppity]

Hi Nelle

I have a friend who has done this done and there are a few things that she didn't realise going into it. These included that the teeth don't move as fast in adults so you can have them on for longer than a kid would. Health funds pay a portion but it wasn't as much as she expected it to be - she was caught with the annual limits in the first year. I think overall hers cost about $4K and she got about 1/2 back from her health fund. Also, she got "clear" braces which are apparently harder to see - instead of a metal bit glued to each tooth they use clear ones but they discolour a bit and she said that she found people were staring at her obviously thinking "what is in her mouth" and this actually stopped once she had it replaced with the more traditional metal ones.

But having said all that my friend is really happy with the final result.

I would suggest making a dentist appointment and discussing it with them as you need a referal to an orthodontist who will then discuss the options with you.

Hope that this helps

[Sarah_H]

My 26 year old BIL is currently having his teeth straightened but isn't using traditional braces. He has a clear plastic mouth guard that he wears all the time except for when eating. Every month or so he goes back to the orthodontist to get a new mouth guard that has a slightly different shape to move his teeth. You can't tell he has it in unless you're close up near his face. I think it's roughly $4-5000 which covers all the mouth guards and appointments.

[Minky]

I'm in the process of this atm, I was actually going in for cosmetic surgery for a gap correction but was told that braces would be a better result.
1. I went to my dentist for a check up and clean, she then wrote a referal to an orthodontist and the receptionist made an appointment for me.
2. Went to the orthodontist for a consultation and he ran throu what I needed and time span of how long they are likely to be on and whether they could fix my problem.Also had xrays done
3. I had to have some gum removed ( still havent got around to that cause it sounds painful)
4. I then have to wait 2 weeks and then they can place the braces on.

Mine are $2500 and that includes retainer at the end and all the appointments but then I only need top braces. I think they said to me the most it could cost may be $4500 and that was top and bottom.
you can get invisilgn which goes on the inside of your teeth but have heard that alot of patients that have this done end up with front ones to straighten at the end. I have chosen just the silver the clear look erkk to me as the wire is still silver but then again my mouth is not all braces
Good luck but start off at your dentist.
Bec

[NelleBelle]

Thanks everyone for such quick and helpful replies!

Seems the best plan is to make an appointment with a dentist, then go see an orthodontist to evaluate the various options. Then I'll contact my private health insurance to see what they will contribute. Looks like it'll be several grand, with hopefully a few grand back from the insurance. Hopefully, I can find someone with hicaps (so I don't have to pay the whole lot up front) and who'll let me space my gap the payments out!

The invisalign looks very interesting. I did some googling on this and also stumbled across ClearSmile which I think is pretty much the same thing. I'll be interested to find out how much more expensive this approach is and whether it would work for me.

Oh, and Bec... Good luck with getting some of your gum removed. That sounds very scary!!! I hope I don't have to face anything like that.

Thanks again everyone!!

[Sarah_H]

I just googled them & it's something along the lines of Invisalign or Clearsmile that my BIL has, not sure which though.

[NelleBelle]

Thanks Sarah. I thought it must have been. It sounds like a much nicer alternative to traditional braces. I also like that you can take them out to clean and floss properly, and that there are no wires. When I was at school I had an expander thing (wire frame thingy on the inner side of my teeth pushing outward). I got so many ulcers from getting my tongue stuck in the wires and having to pull it free - ouch!!.

[mitzy81]

Did anyone end up getting braces?

[Kitt3n]

wow, a thread from long ago revisited!

Just wanted to add, for anyone looking into this, when I had my braces i decided "screw it, if i have to have them i might aswell have fun with them" So i used to get all different coloured bands, metal bits, etc etc. Once I een had a full spectrum through my mouth!

And you know what -- once I had them off I got so many comments am=bout how - different I looked - I told people that I had my braces taken off - and they often said they never even realised I had braces!

What I am saying is just go with it, have fun, no need to fork out extra $$ to get the clear ones - they change the shape of your mouth so dramatically anyway

[mitzy81]

Yeah I was looking through and notuced this one from way way back!

I am 27, and at the age of about 21 I decided I wanted braces but after much thought, I decided I will be happy with what I have got. So 6 yrs later, I got braces and I have had them on for nearly 4months. I have clear on top, metal on bottom, I am not self conscious at all with braces where as with wonky teeth I would avoid smiling etc. Massive difference and improvement with the top teeth and only been on for less than 4 months. My mouth aches, it is hard to eat food, I can't bite into food with my front teeth, but I am so pleased I am seeing a difference, and so glad I have finally got braces.

I would be interested to see if there are other people on here who got braces at an older age and how they went.