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It's funny that you mention Practice #1. My wife got a letter in the mail today from Practice #4, where the orthodontist couldn't be bothered to see her. This letter was personally signed by the ortho, and of course encouraged her to start treatment at his practice.  So I guess he can be bothered to sign letters to collect money, but not to actually say hello to a prospective patient!

Glad your wife is steering clear (heh!) of the clear brackets. My wife also studied the pros and cons and decided traditional metal braces were the best for her. It doesn't hurt that I prefer them, though!

My wife had a letter from Ortho #1 (the "invisible Ortho") asking if she was wanting to start treatment with them (standard letter, I guess, when they've not heard from the potential patient). She emailed back with her concerns (that she didn't see the ortho) and received a very pleasant email back, saying that yes, maybe they need to explain better to potential patients what to expect during the initial visit. She's still not planning on going there though!

Today she's off to see ortho #4.

Looking online at some other "not as local" orthos, she found one that doesn't advertise metal brackets for the private patients, but offers invisilign, lingual brackets, and "Glam" braces (= clear ceramic).... she got a bit interested in the ceramics, but I pointed out that, whilst the brackets don't stain, the clear ligatures used will stain. So she's back to metal brackets, and probably the Damon brackets.

(It was amusing, when reading about ceramic brackets, the manufacturer etc sites say "less pain, because ceramics move your teeth more slowly", but other sites then highlight that ceramics have to use less force as higher forces can damage the ceramic brackets. Talk about making a feature from a limitation!)

It's also interesting to note that the prices here are well above the "£200 to £2500 typical prices" for private treatment in UK. So I looked in other surrounding areas, to find that there were hardly any private orthos around: clearly, where I live is an "affluent area", which attracts orthos.... the other areas are less affluent = fewer people willing to pay £££ for braces!

Hi just had a throught,you could maybe video the whole process of getting the braces and post it on this site,this may help other husbands who would like to see there wife's in braces,they could show the video to them,it might not seem so strange to them,anyway good luck with the procedure.

My wife's aware of my love for braces but won't go as far as yours in wearing them,you're very fortunate looking forward to your pics.

Thanks! And yes, I'm very excited.

are you going to post any pics when she has them

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Sure. I intend to document everything. I guess I'll need to get an account on a photo hosting site, though.

is she fully aware of your fascination with them

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Very much so. That's by far the main reason she's doing it, and that's what makes her enthusiastic about the whole thing. She's worn fake braces whenever I want for the last five years or so, in public and in private. She'd have never entertained adult braces had it not been for my interest.

Be prepared for her aching, ice cream makes a thoughtful present

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Yes. I'm hoping it won't be too bad. I have a list of soft foods for her. We eat low-carb, though, so some things will either be bending the rules or will have to be avoided. There is low-carb ice cream out there, though, and she's already asked for a low-carb cheesecake!

Yay, great news! You must be very excited! Be prepared for her aching, ice cream makes a thoughtful present

Hi you're very lucky bet you can't wait,are you going to post any pics when she has them.is she fully aware of your fascination with them.

UPDATE!

Well, the date is set. She settled on Practice #7 and made an appointment to get her braces on Friday, March 24th. Boom!

Been a very long road to get here. I still won't completely believe it until she has a mouth full of (real) metal.

UPDATE!

I've apparently lighted a fire. Sister sent a video message yesterday thanking me for gathering the info for her and saying she's going to schedule consults right away. She was ALL excited in the video. She also mentioned that her teenage daughter would be getting braces at the same time, and they were excited to be doing it with my wife. Sister said, "So we'll all be bracefaces together!"

Looks like my wife will be going to Virginia for a week in early May, so I'm hoping they'll all be in braces by then.

Sparky said:

My wife went and saw Ortho #1 last week. She was not very impressed, as she never ACTUALLY got to meet the ortho himself, just his #2 ("Treatment coordinator", I think) who looked at her,

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I was just looking at this Ortho's web site. He majors in Invisilign, and down the bottom of the front page of his web site are 3 logos: one for "Invisilign", one for "Invisilign Teen" and finally one that says "The Invisible Orthodontist"..... ahhhh, right, so THAT'S why my wife didn't get to see him 

Visit #3:again she was seen by the orthodontist himself, and from what I can gather, the practicalities were similar to #2.

One slight difference in the treatment: whilst #2 would have brackets all the way back, as "normal", #3 only wants to place brackets on her front teeth (not quite sure how far back), as her bite is actually very good, and he doesn't want to upset her bite.

When she came back yesterday, I took a look at her teeth: lowers need tidying a little, the main issue on the uppers is that the front two have rotated... so in principle, just need rotating back. There's a small gap between her front two teeth, and a couple of tiny gaps between her 2nd and canines.... so I guess enough to no need to create more space (which makes sense, because if her molars haven't shifted since her original treatment about 30 years ago, the space should still be there)

And #3 is marginally cheaper, and something like £2800.

I don't remember if it was Ortho #2 or #3 who suggested it could take under a year for the treatment.

What has surprised me is (a) you look online, and you hear about "braces between £2000 and £2500" (http://www.thedentalguide.net/braces-cost-uk); (b) her treatment seems to be fairly simple... so why are all her quotes above that magical £2500"?

(and yes, ceramic brackets and invisilign have both also been offered, at a higher price)

UPDATE!

It's official: Practice #7 is the one. She cancelled her other consults and will make an appointment at #7 to get her braces put on right after we return from wine country in mid-March.

Funny thing, she now talks about it very casually. For example, we had artichokes with dinner last night and she just offhandedly commented with a chuckle, "Well, I won't be eating artichokes once I get my braces." Total acceptance.

No word back from the sister on the info I sent her yet.

Yes, when I saw that your wife had the same issue, it was pleasing to see that shee had the same reaction as my wife.

Getting braces, especially as an adult, is quite a personal thing, and the relationship between patient and ortho IS important.... so how can a patient decide if "that person is right for them" if they don't actually meet them.

I'm quite impressed how many visits your wife is making in order to "find that right person".

My wife makes visit #3 tomorrow.

She was not very impressed, as she never ACTUALLY got to meet the ortho himself

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That's interesting. My wife had a similar experience with one of her recent consults. The treatment coordinator took pictures, x-rays and scans and apparently presented them to the orthodontist who was elsewhere in the practice. He then generated a treatment plan without ever seeing my wife in person. This made my wife quite uncomfortable, so she dismissed that practice, despite the fact that it was VERY nice.

My wife went and saw Ortho #1 last week. She was not very impressed, as she never ACTUALLY got to meet the ortho himself, just his #2 ("Treatment coordinator", I think) who looked at her, chatted with her, and took pictures. I must admit, if *I* was going to be potentially spending £3950 on treatment, I'd like to meet the person who would be treating me. So he is not in the running!

She went to see Ortho #2 today, spent 20 minutes with the ortho (a lady) and her assistant. The price was a little lower, at (I think) £3250. After my wife returned from seeing Mr #1, she was quite negative about things, but after Ms #2, she's feeling rather more positive about the idea of having braces.

She's off to see #3 on Wednesday....

(oops, wrong thread)

My wife and I had a long talk over a lot of wine Friday night. She seems like she's pretty well settled on Practice #7. She may cancel her two remaining consults this week.

The plan is for her to get her braces put on right after we return from our vacation in Sonoma in mid-March, so it's getting close.

In another interesting development, she actually discussed getting braces with her older sister via video messages. The sister was considering Invisalign, but now it looks like they're going to take the braces plunge together. My wife thinks doing it "together" - even though the sis is in Virginia and we're in Arizona - will make it a little easier for both of them. She showed me the videos of she and her sister talking about doing braces "together." Very cool!

I volunteered to investigate local orthos for the sister, since she has six kids and little free time, and I just sent off a spreadsheet with five well-reviewed practices. I also added some info on Invisalign versus traditional braces, general dentists versus real orthodontists, and links to some other online resources for adults thinking about braces.

We'll see if the sister decides to take the braces plunge along with my wife!

Hello, I would like to order braces from the bracesshop. The thing is, I'm still wearing fixed braces. I'm about to get them taken off most likely the next month, but might as well be a month later. I would like to order the impression kit in advance due to the shipping time. I wonder if it's a problem If I send the kit back maybe a month later than I should? Does the technician have more of those? I do not wish to cause him any troubles. Did you send it back to him immediatelly? Thank you.

I concur, Embracer. We discussed it over dinner last night, and she also prefers an actual ortho to a general dentist and their somewhat gimmicky braces schemes.

I would recommend that your wife uses a proper orthodontist rather than a general dentist who also does some orthodontic work. And I would be nervous of any dentist who has to resort to Groupon.