Invisaligner Crossing Over

[MCCali]

Hello all.

I've been a long time lurker and finally decided to join in the conversation after my ortho appointment this afternoon.

A little background info -- I had traditional braces for 4 years from the 4th grade till 9th grade, and like most teenagers, was very irresponsible and almost immediately stopped wearing my retainers. Slowly but surely, my teeth began to shift. And about 5 years ago (I'm now in my mid-20's), I became increasingly self-conscious about my crowded teeth -- especially the lower ones. I had resigned myself to a lifetime of hiding my lower teeth until I, as many of you can probably relate, came across Invisalign. I decided that this would be the savior to my crooked teeth, and last February, I finally got up the nerve and made an appointment. I was thrilled to learn that I was a candidate for Invisalign and began my treatment in May. Things have been going well, however, my lower teeth haven't been moving exactly as planned and I am getting a little impatient. I'm graduating from law school in May and am moving 6 hours away with a great job, and because my ortho told me I'd have to have revisions to my original treatment, I will not be finished in time. My ortho has always told me that I'd have the option of lower metal brackets, but being self conscious, I've adamanetly refused for many months. With the help of all your experiences, I finally decided today to get traditional lower braces -- and will get them in a little over two weeks!

OK, now to my questions -- my ortho seems to think that I will only need to be in lower brackets (he called them "time brackets") for 3 months, which seems like a very short time. I trust and adore my ortho, but doesn't that seem like not much time at all? Also, does anyone else have experience making the switch from Invisalign to braces? I will be continuing the Invisalign treatment on my top teeth, but I've gotten used to no one knowing that I'm straightening my teeth. I know that I'm not the only one to make the change, so I'd love to have your experiences in my arsenal.

Thanks again to everyone who's ever shared their experiences on this board. I'm sure I speak for the many lurkers in thanking you all for getting the courage to finally do something about my teeth.

[Dawna]

I am in pretty much exactly the same position as you except I went to traditional braces top and bottom. I hate how visible they are, but find they are much more powerful..

http://dawnasbracefaceplace.blogspot.com/

newer pics are in my post here on the board from yesterday.

[HeyTeach]

I have invisalign uppers and brackets lower. I only have two trays to go so we'll see how the end result is, but I'm willing to do some bracketed finishing if warranted, but I don't want more trays as they are very restrictive to be effective.