I’m 16 years old in high school right now( or at least I was before corona came). My front teeth have come out a little too much in the front. So I decided to ask my parents to start my braces treatment.
We went to our favorite dentist and for the last 5 months, I’ve been on braces. My tongue got cut, braces took an hour to clean and they only thing that I got was discomfort.
Fast forward to the present, lockdown is implemented. My parents are paranoid that everyone is trying to infect us. My braces treatment has gone off track. Now I’m deciding to start a SDC smile plan.
They are more comfortable and simple too. So my question is, should I switch from braces to retainers? If anyone has an experience like this, then please guide me.
In terms of age and your situation with your teeth coming out a little (probably a bit of crowding), you sound eligible but you’d need to fill out a few more details with one of the providers.
If you are eligible, then home aligners can certainly be a lot easier to manage - ie. no dentist visits, no hard metal in your mouth etc. You still have to persevere and keep your oral hygiene tip top, but most people prefer them. They’re also clear, which means you can barely notice them.
Oh and in terms of price, you’ll (or your folks) almost certainly pay a lot less for at home clear aligners.
Hope that helps! Let us know how you get on and what you end up choosing!
I had braces starting at age 12 or 13 and switched to an aligner after that. It was my dentist/orthodontist/periodontist who decided on my treatment plan. I preferred wearing the aligner over braces!
You can definitely get aligners after your braces. You’ll need to have to fill out more information with the provider that you chose. Having aligners would be more comfortable than your braces at the moment. You should consider having it.
I had braces when I was a teenager. At first I didn’t really love the idea of having my cheeks and lips getting cut and sore but the results I was seeing made me forget about the pain of having braces. Now that I am older I am seeing new technology on how to straighten teeth and it makes me wish I heard about aligners at an earlier age so I could have aligners instead.
Hi Woody. Before coming up with a decision, you might want to ask your dentist first if it’s okay to switch to aligners. You should also think about the cost. You might have a contract with your dentist that you need to pay first for your braces.
Wearing aligners could also be uncomfortable. Every set of aligners will cause discomfort for a few days. If you have trouble cleaning your braces, I would highly recommend aligners for you.
