Invisalign vs braces for 11 year old

[Myira]

I have been reading past threads on this topic, but thought I'd ask what your experiences have been if you chose invisalign for your tween/teen? DD turns 12 in October and the ortho is saying she would be a good candidate for invisalign. Cost difference is only $500, so that's not a factor.

Is there anything else I should note/ask the ortho regarding this?

[squimp]

We finished Invisalign earlier this year, and she wore them was almost 2 years. I posted quite a bit about it, but I think it's great for kids who are really responsible, who are going to wear it every day and night and always brush their teeth before they put them back in. It is a lot to remember, for example after every snack, after lunch at school. It worked for her, she was 14-16 - we don't regret it at all, and her teeth look really good. She has a set she will wear at night now, basically like a retainer.

[AnnieW625]

My DD1 got braces at 11 (she is 14 and still has them) and Invisalign was never mentioned and tbh I never really asked about the differences, but Dd1 had/had plenty of friends who had it and Dd1 thought it seemed like a pain to deal with so while she has gotten annoyed with traditional braces she says that she wouldn’t have wanted to deal with Invisalign.


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[JBaxter]

A friend of my is a orthodontist she has them on her 11 yr old right now. I think its case and child dependent

[jawilli4]

I think it's great for kids who are really responsible, who are going to wear it every day and night and always brush their teeth before they put them back in.

Yes, this! Our very responsible DS did great with them. DD lucked out and didn't need anything, but if she did there is no way we would have allowed her to get Invisalign. That being said, our orthodontist said that kids can get kicked out of the Invisalign process for not wearing their liners or being super bad with hygiene, so at least nothing is set in stone.

[niccig]

DS is nearly done with them, he’s 15.5. Honestly, he did better than I though he would. He didn’t wear as often as they said, but he did change them out without reminders and the dentist was happy with his progress. Our dentist told DS if he wasn’t complying,he would recommend swapping to regular braces, so that may have helped. DS heard from friends who hated their braces, so he was motivated to make Invisalign work.


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[smilequeen]

We are both dentists, and our kids are doing/getting Invisalign. The biggest issue is going to be if you think she'll easily lose them when she takes them out to eat, etc.

[ang79]

My 13 yr. old had them for a short time. Our ortho did a hybrid approach. For her, Phase 1 was expander on top. Then there was a break while adult teeth finished coming in. Phase 2 started with traditional brackets on top and bottom, maybe 6 months of those? Then she got a brand similar to Invisalign (not the name brand) and is finishing up with those. She had 5 trays, but the time was extended due to Covid-19 and canceled appointments. We go back next week to get her final retainer that she needs to wear at night only for at least a year, but suggested forever to keep the work she had done. She is a very responsible kid, so she was able to take them out for school lunch, then rinse her mouth and put them back in for the rest of the day. Our ortho actually said they recommend for kids to just eat soft foods with them in while at school, so as to not lose them, but she didn't like how that felt. 11 yr. old DD2 will be starting Phase 2 next week. I am guessing they will suggest the hybrid approach with her as well (our ortho said it speeds up the process and isn't much of a cost difference), but she is not as responsible so we may just stick with traditional brackets for her, we'll see.

[chlobo]

My DD opted not to get invisalign b/c she likes to snack in class and didn't want to have to take it in and out all the time. But that is just her. She wanted something permanent.

[StantonHyde]

oh gads, there was no way in heck I was doing that for my kids. I did not want one more thing to worry about. And all of their peers had braces. No big deal.

[div_0305]

DS did invisalign--if your child is a candidate, I'd wholeheartedly say go for it. The cost was the same for us. DS really wanted invisalign and the ortho said he was her youngest patient she approved for them--it's a maturity/responsibility thing that he showed early on. He zipped through his trays much faster than anticipated and was done with braces before most of his peers had started theirs.

[squimp]

We finished Invisalign earlier this year, and she wore them was almost 2 years. I posted quite a bit about it, but I think it's great for kids who are really responsible, who are going to wear it every day and night and always brush their teeth before they put them back in. It is a lot to remember, for example after every snack, after lunch at school. It worked for her, she was 14-16 - we don't regret it at all, and her teeth look really good. She has a set she will wear at night now, basically like a retainer.

Oops - I was talking with my daughter, she only wore them for a little over a year. They were done much quicker than expected - they had originally projected 1.5 years. All her friends had metal braces and they seemed much more difficult to us, with the food restrictions, pain, sores inside your mouth, damage to the tooth surface, etc. So we were pretty happy with it. Her issues were fairly minor.

[niccig]

I’ll add that DS did not lose a tray once. He didn’t swap the the next tray 2 times in the entire time. I didn’t remind him, they had him put reminders in his phone. I have to remind him about homework, but his Invisalign he was very responsible with. He did not brush his teeth after every snack, he was told to rinse with water.


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[smilequeen]

I will say, my son managed to break one. He has a bad habit Of chewing on them the same way he chews on his mouth guard for sports. Makes me nuts!