Feeling Mislead

[Smileop]

So I recently started treatment with invisalign not to long ago and my girlfriend had made a joke about how I'd end up with straighter teeth than her due to her having 2 or 3 teeth slightly crooked. I made a comment back about how she should get them fixed too and we would be in this together. A few days passed and she approached the topic again which almost shocked me due to her being pretty self conscience and hard on herself and asked what I had thought about the idea. She was terrified about even invisalign saying it's still visible and what not. I said well let's see so we went to the ortho for a consultation to explore the options. He strongly suggested for her to get braces due to the required movement and how it would be a lot quicker and more effective than invisalign. He discussed ceramic braces so it wouldn't be as visible and showed a model with the traditional ceramic braces with a white wire and truly looked pretty hard to see. We got our options and left.

So she was totally turned off by the idea of braces and couldn't remotely imagine herself with braces at all. After a long discussion and the realization that if she did get braces we would be done with treatment around the same time and a few other encouragement words she decided on getting the ceramic braces due to how clear they actually were and hardly visible.

So yesterday was the appointment to get them fitted and I couldn't go due to work but she went in the afternoon and let up after to check out the results. She was absolutely devastated. She stated she walked in conformed the ceramics and sat back and relaxed. When she was all finished the ortho put metal braces on the lowers which he never discussed and the uppers were ceramic self ligating brackets with metal doors and a metal wire. She asked the ortho about the clear ones with the white wire and discussed her concerns over the visibility and he stated that's just a model we don't use those wires or brackets here. Now while I'm sure we could have asked for more questions and details he was fully aware of her concerns of visibility beforehand and had made it sound very convincing that the ones he uses are very discreet and that nobody would know. Has anybody else experienced something similar? I felt they should have at least showed you the product they actually use as opposed to almost a surprise. In the meantime should be an interesting next few days as she attempts to get used to them? Maybe....

[djspeece]

That's really quite misleading, but now that she has them on, I think she will gradually realize that most people don't notice and really don't care. However it takes a while to realize that. Congrats to the both of you, especially your girl friend, for taking this bold move. You guys won't regret it. You seem to be very supportive, so kudos to you for that! Best of luck to both of you.

[tonyk]

Sounds like there was either a serious misunderstanding or deception. That said, just go with the treatment, it's not the end of the world. Most people don't care and adult braces are very common these days.

[Nozzelnut]

That's a bit of bait and switch; but really no one cares about your teeth! Really! No braces or orthodontic treatment is invisible; just less visible.

I should have just got all stainless years ago; I'd probably be done by now.

[samxx]

I've just got ceramic on the top and metal on the bottom too!
visibility was a huge issue for me and invisilign wasn't an option unfortunately so I got the ceramics and just like your girlfriend, they used a metal wire. I was really upset but as others have mentioned, no one except close friends mentioned the braces, and when they did it was "when did you get braces?" even though I've had them just over a month now already.

I just had my first adjustment and they replaced the metal with clear 'elastics' so that may happen for your girlfriend?

In any case, if it really is an issue you should discuss it with your ortho and see if you can figure something out

[jem]

Maybe you should swap from invisalign to fixed braces to keep your girlfriend company? that would be going the extra mile!

Jem

[T1braces]

That's a shame. We get a fixed idea in our mind and it's disappointing when something else is carried out. But I initially wanted Invisalign or ceramic braces. I'm now 11 weeks in with full traditional metal braces (female age 50). Opted for these are quicker and strong brackets. So far none have popped off. Like others have said, people barely notice and she'll get use to them soon. Be positive and I'm sure the final result will al be worth it.

[r1r1r12000]

That's really unfortunate that your girlfriend's braces are more visible than she was counting on. I suspect it was an oversight on the orthodontist's part that the model doesn't exactly match the type of brackets and wires used in the practice, rather than intentional deception. Now that they're on, she's already past the hardest part of treatment in terms of self-consciousness. In a few weeks, she'll probably be used to her appearance in the braces. If she can stick with it, she'll find what all of us adult bracees find; nobody else notices or cares! The only people who've given a second look or made a comment about my full metal braces are other adults in braces. Whether she had full ceramic braces like she planned or the metal on the bottom that she's wearing, the most anybody would think is "Hmm, [Smileop's Girlfriend] has braces." They'd have exactly that though whether she had full ceramic, metal on the bottom, or all metal.

I also, like Jem's idea!

[SinkFullOfDinner]

Hi Smileop - I'm sorry about the bait 'n switch, and can imagine your gf's reaction. Here are a couple things that might make her feel better (if she isn't already). Regarding the white wire that she saw on the model, I asked my ortho about those, and he said that they no longer use them because the white coating rubs or peels off between appointments, especially between some of the longer initial intervals. He said the inconsistent surface adds friction and impacts "sliding mechanics," which slows down the treatment, and when the white comes off, he said the metal wire shows through and patients complained about that look more than just a consistent metal wire. I guess it just looks a little weird when it's splotchy, but I never got a chance to see for myself.

Also, it sounds like her top brackets might be In-Ovation ceramics, which are what I got last month. I can tell you that they're smaller (less bulky and definitely narrower) than the regular ceramic brackets that are on my bottom teeth, which you'd expect to be the opposite. Oh, and she won't have o-ring ligatures to turn yellow - like she would on regular ceramics - at least for as long as she can avoid powerchains. So, there are definitely some real benefits to the bracket and wire setup that she has. It's just that every product has +/-'s. Good luck to her - and you!

[Smileop]

Thanks for all the replies! After 3 days of refusing to leave she finally made it out of the house. Convinced her it was about her attitude towards them and took her out to grab drinks and get her mind away. Get to a place and she gets ID'ed for the first time in over 5 years. I thought it was hysterical, her not so much

I totally understand and completely agree that you are you own worst enemy about how you think they look or come off to other people. I get that nobody probably cares but her big thing is that she meets with a lot of people for work and she's in a position that she is particularly young for and she's always making sure to come off responsible and adult looking sort to say. She feels this is really not helping her cause in that regards

Our big issue isn't the braces themselves I guess. She just would have liked to know from the start what was going to happen and make a decision on that and not necessarily a surprise.

She has the clear self-ligating with the metal doors so between those with the metal wire, it was just a lot more visible than she was hoping.

Not sure why and maybe someone can help me out but her upper molar bands have 2 tubes attached to them. One is a small hole where the archwire goes and another tupe much bigger that is way farther out from the tooth not being used. Any idea what this might be for?? Thanks for the replies

[jem]

I can't speak from personal experience, but from seeing pictures on this site I believe that the two tubes are just a standard thing on molar bands. The second tube is theoretically for headgear which is seldom, if ever, used with adults.

Jem

[SinkFullOfDinner]

Yeah, jem is right, but you might not want to spring that explanation on your gf at this particular moment if the recent accomplishment is getting her to agree to leave the house and face the public! Maybe turn off the router at home and cancel her data plan for the rest of the month, too. No good will come from her googling "what is that second tube on my molar bands for?" Sounds like you're doing a great job of providing light-hearted support. No need to use up all your psych ninja skills in the first week.

[Smileop]

So the girlfriend went to her first adjustment last week and asked about the tubes on her molars and about her brackets and everything else that was bothering her.

The ortho had said the molar tubes are there in case they need them later in treatment. When we asked to elaborate on that he said we'll have to see how treatment progresses and the need for appliances later on possibly and that they have the tubes there if they need them later on which is better than not putting them on from the beggining and having to add them later on.

She asked about the bracket type and thought they'd be clear and he simply was like they are clear you can barely see them. (Which is not the case) He says those are the best clear brackets they use.

She asked how her teeth were looking and he says they seem to be moving at slower rate and to be patient.

All in all wasn't exactly the best of spirits walking out of the ortho's but hey. What are you gonna do at this point and hopefully she doesn't get filled up with too much hardware in her mouth because i think she'll lose it! Will keep you guys posted if interested

[jem]

So if you are going to go the extra mile and do fixed braces with your gf, you might have to do headgear too?

[godutch]

All in all wasn't exactly the best of spirits walking out of the ortho's but hey. What are you gonna do at this point and hopefully she doesn't get filled up with too much hardware in her mouth because i think she'll lose it! Will keep you guys posted if interested

I can't judge if your ortho misled your GF or not but I think going full metal and being daring gives you much more confidence than having ceramics and trying to hide them which isn't possible. People will see your (buccal/traditional) braces anyway