Opara said:
After doing some more research it seems that outside of conventional braces there is Invisalign,Inman and "6 Month Smile" treatments.Has anyone got first hand knowledge of these?
As I said above, I've had Invisalign and I'm really happy with the results (still receiving treatment though!). You might want to speak to a dentist rather than asking online as you might not be suitable for all treatments. I originally wanted the Inman Aligner however it wasn't suitable for correcting my teeth.
Zad said:
Does it all have to be done in 1 sequence, or can you take a break between each fitting (as finance allows)? I doubt I could afford invisalign, but I can put up with conventional metalwork for 6 months - a year no problem. A bank / credit loan isn't really an option as I am self employed and work is very irregular at the moment.
I wouldn't necessarily discount Invisalign. With my dentist, I can pay when I want over the course of the treatment and there was no set amount to pay each time nor was any interest charged. It's been nearly two years (I had quite a complex case - I don't think it normally takes so long!) so theoretically I could have paid it in instalments over this time frame if I'd have wanted to. I went back every 6-8 weeks on average to pick up new retainers, check the fittings and get attachments put on my teeth. This was flexible so as long as you continue to wear the last retainers you are given, you can wait a few weeks longer before getting the next set of retainers, and therefore put off payment if you needed to. Obviously this will depend on the dentist though as I don't know if this sort of loose payment scheme is the norm or not.
It's also worth checking what comes with the package - for me, I've had two lots of 'tweaks' over and above the original set of retainers, a chipped tooth fixed, two hygienist appointments, a year's worth of whitening (would have been for the full term however I was pregnant so couldn't whiten), and night-time end-of-treatment retainers all included in the original price I was quoted. I also know that my dentist was a lot cheaper than others - my friend was looking at having Invisalign done and they wanted 30% more than what I was charged.
