Any adults wearing braces?

[Kel]

Just curious… Any other adults wearing braces?

For about 20 years or so I had a couple of dentists say “you should get braces”. I assumed they meant for cosmetic reasons, but then I realized my somewhat crooked lower teeth were starting to groove into back of my two front upper teeth. I wish one dentist would have said “in order to have healthy teeth later in life you should get braces”. I thought my lower teeth were a little crooked, but I wasn’t bothered by it. And, was happy with my smile and appearance.

But, I would have had braces put on in my 20s, 30s or even 40s if I had known what was in store as my teeth shifted a little more as I got older. So now, here I am in my mid 50s and one year into traditional braces. I tried Invisalign, but I was allergic to the plastic and after two months had to switch to traditional braces. I have less than a year to go and it will be worth it to have a healthy set of teeth. And, I will wear my retainer. 

It’s funny that since I’ve had braces on have met at least at least 6 people who have had braces on in their 40s or 50s. And, they look great. I have an aunt who had braces put on for the second time at age 52. She didn’t wear her retainer as a teenager.

I can’t wait to get these things off and eat something crunchy.

 

[Luanne]

I don't, but a friend of mine had hers put on as an adult. Her smile looks great now.

 

[slip]

My wife is 56 and a little over a year in with Invisalign with about a year to go.
She loves hers and she's happy she is doing it. I can really tell a big difference
At a year in.

 

[vacationhopeful]

My sister had braces as a kid. Now in her 50s ... she started about 2 years ago where the Invisi-line plastic pop-in & out trays. Did that for over a year and went with the METAL old fashion ones. Those seem to be working out ... I sort of find it funny ... her 3 15 yoand OLDER boys do NOT have braces.

 

[Noelle]

Both my husband and I have worn braces as adults.

He grew up with a narrow palate and one of his incisors came in behind his front teeth. At the age of 38 he decided to have the situation corrected and wore metal braces for about 24 months- he is very happy to have a 'normal' upper mouth - easier for hygiene and I love the smile that didn't show nearly as often when he was self-conscious about the overlapped teeth.

I grew up with a mild overbite and mildly crooked teeth. At age 50 I noticed some shifting of teeth with increase in overbite and used Invisalign for about 20 months. Results were cosmetically beautiful, however I have to use a night guard or the teeth can begin to shift ... NOT sexy! A more recent evaluation is that I would have done better if, as a child, I had used metal braces and headgear to correct a jaw misalignment
which is at the source of my overbite. Invisalign was a good temporary cosmetic solution, but my dental issues would have been better resolved with work on the jaw and the teeth.

So be sure in making your choice, to include all longer term outcomes and impacts in order to make the best decision for life the life of your teeth.

 

[Karen G]

Just curious… Any other adults wearing braces? . . .

And, I will wear my retainer. 

I got braces when I was in my early 40's and I was happy with the results. However, after a few years I stopped wearing the retainer and my bottom teeth have shifted and are crowded in the front. Wish I had kept using the retainer!

 

[Marathoner]

I had braces as a teen and recently as an adult because I stopped wearing the retainer a year after my first treatment. The orthodontists now say that you need to wear your retainer for the rest of your life if you want to keep the benefits. Unfortunately, when I was a kid, they did not say this to me when I got my braces removed.

 

[breezez]

invisalign

I have always had a severe underbite, and the few times I looked at having it corrected I was always told it was going require breaking my jaw in to places to correct.

About 2.5 years ago my daughter was suppose to get braces so I had put a bunch of money in my FSA plan at work to help cover the cost. When I took her to the orthodontists to get her started on her braces. He said he wanted to wait one more year Arg.... FSA money you got to use or loose. So I asked him what he could do for me... They did a work up and said they felt they could fix it the the invisalign system. So what the heck I went for it.

Now almost 3 years later my teeth are almost perfect, but I still have about 6 more months to go.

 

[Patri]

I have run in to quite a few adults in their 40s and 50s with braces, so you are in a cool club. I had them in my 20s, even at my wedding. I have worn the retainer to this day (about 35 years!) Now I can go for weeks at a time without it, then put it in for a few nights to get the slight shift back in place. The retainer has been redone a few times to accommodate for crowns :-(

 

[rapmarks]

I wish i had

 

[Sea Six]

I wore Invisalign for about 9 months to correct a bite problem. That was about 5 years ago. I wear the retainer, but not every night.

 

[lll1929]

I am in my mid 40s and will be getting braces in Jan 22016. I am so glad my employer added adult orthodontia to our dental insurance policy!!

 

[Kel]

It's nice to see other adults with braces. You're never too old to have straight and healthy teeth. Well almost… My orthodontist told me he turned away an 80 year old man. His oldest patient was a 70 year old woman with Invisalign and she had great results. Thanks everyone – big smiles!

 

[JudyH]

I had braces twice as a teen and wore a retainer until the day I married. Due to crowded lower teeth they went crooked again. Then
I got Invisaligns at age 50 and had a front lower tooth pulled. I have worn my retainers nightly ever since.

 

[Kel]

Bringing my thread back. At age 58 and after almost two years I got my braces off. My teeth look great. You are "almost" never to old to have healthy straight teeth. And, I got two retainers. If we are traveling and I lose or break a retainer I wanted to make sure I have a backup.

 

[Karen G]

Bringing my thread back. At age 58 and after almost two years I got my braces off. My teeth look great. You are "almost" never to old to have healthy straight teeth. And, I got two retainers. If we are traveling and I lose or break a retainer I wanted to make sure I have a backup.

Good for you! Just be sure to ALWAYS wear your retainer (at night at least). I didn't and now my teeth have moved around a lot.

 

[elaine]

Congrats. DH (57) got invisalign last month, same time as DD (15). He had braces as a teen, but about 10 years ago, his teeth started shifting to overlap, esp. the bottom ones.

 

[LilyPond]

I finished with invisalign last year, also had traditional metal braces as a young teen. I gave this decision to straighten my teeth as an adult a lot of thought and am very glad I did it because in addition to getting straight teeth it relieved a great amount of jaw pain I was having. I went with invisalign for appearance reasons to avoid the 'metal mouth' look.

A couple of quick tips if you are thinking about invisalign:
- Go to the invisalign website and view the providers in your area. Many DENTISTS are doing invisalign these days and do a fantastic job for a much lower price than Orthodontists. Your situation may require an Orthodontist, you will have to decide. Because I had no major alignment issues I had the option of using a dentist and I paid much less.
- Also check out Groupon - seriously!

For anyone considering this process at any age you should know that invisalign is a huge commitment because you can always just take out the trays and never put them back in. It is very easy to be 'non-compliant' and not wear the trays, and to be effective they really need to be worn 23 hours a day. You have to make that commitment every day for invisalign to work. They don't work by sitting in your pocket. With traditional metal braces, they are on your teeth working 24-hours a day so no option to be a slacker.

With invisalign, you might be waiting 30 to 60 days for your first set of trays to arrive, and potentially that long for a new set to be made and delivered once the first round of trays is completed. You might get a 'treatment plan' from your dentist or orthodontist, but invisalign has a backlog with their tray production that can extend the total time you are straightening your teeth. With traditional metal braces, they are mounted and working in a much shorter time frame and continue to work until removed.

With Traditional braces, your provider can tweek and adjust your treatment plan every time you go in for an adjustment, all based on how your teeth are moving. This is fabulous! With invisalign, you pre-purchase a set of trays and are on that path until the last tray where THEN you are re-evaluated for how best to go forward from that point. If you are familiar with software development cycles, it's like Agile vs Waterfall.

With invisalign, anytime you want to eat or drink anything but water the trays have to come out. You cannot enjoy your coffee or soda or tea or wine or beer or food or anything but water while wearing the trays. When you remove the trays they need to be out as short a time as possible because your teeth are like rubber bands that want desperately to go back to their old positions. I would prepare my meal, serve it up on a plate, THEN remove my trays, eat, brush my teeth, brush the trays, floss, and put those trays back in all in about 20 minutes. Do that 3 times a day and there's your 1 hour of allowed time in not wearing the trays, and 23 hours of having them in. That can be tougher than people realize because when your teeth are moving, THEY HURT! And you cannot take ibuprofen because inflammation is required in order for your teeth to move. Tylenol is ok.

Regardless of which avenue you choose, you might also look into 'Propel' to cut down the overall time of moving your teeth by up to 50%. I did Propel and took what would have been a 2-year process down to a year, including the wait time for invisalign tray production and delivery.

Do lots and lots of research before deciding! Check out YouTube! Check out Orthodontists vs Dentists! Many will give a free evaluation so go see a few providers before deciding! If you are considering invisalign then go to the invisalign website and review the providers listed and their experience levels. You want someone who knows what they are doing, and that doesn't mean it HAS to be an Orthodontist, it really depends on your situation.

Good luck!!