Are 6 month braces any good?

Ritchiii

I've been considering braces since I was 12, I am now 21 and have still yet to get them.

I attempted to get them at 18 but couldnt afford them and have been putting it off until now.
I badly want to fix my 2 front teeth slightly sticking out and straighten any others on my top jaw.

Im considering 6 month braces with ***mod edit read the charter** but I need someone to tell me if this is bad or good compared to normal train tracks.

What are the pro's and con's to 6 month braces compared to the average 2 year train tracks?

If I got 6 month braces would they fix my teeth and will it last? theres so many mixed reviews out there and I know you guys are gonna give me mixed reviews on it again but I just need a solid answer! I dont usually beg but I've been living with this problem for too long....

Thank you

btkm8unsl0w5r4

6 Month braces are just ordinary braces that are taken off after 6 months. THis is great if you have a malocclusion that required only 6 months to fix, if your problems will take longer and you take the braces off after 6 months your are doing your teeth an injustice. A course of 6 months cost the same as a full course for some reason.

Mingetoad

Sabrina Hundreds Self-indulgence wrote: »

6 Month braces are just ordinary braces that are taken off after 6 months. THis is great if you have a malocclusion that required only 6 months to fix, if your problems will take longer and you take the braces off after 6 months your are doing your teeth an injustice. A course of 6 months cost the same as a full course for some reason.

Have to disagree. Different wires, not self ligating, much more ipr usually done to get the faster result.
Different aims of treatment, different modalitiy in most cases.

boboboy

my daughter got the 6 month braces fitted about a year and a half ago and her teeth were pretty bad. it cost me 1200euro and was worth every penny. her teeth are now perfect. she still has to wear a clear plastic retainer which is practically invisible. i also have a friend who got them done and she is in her late 30s and her teeth were very crooked. they are now perfect. they both used the same dentist in limerick. my niece got the train track braces a couple of years ago and they cost her about 3 and a half grand and she is still wearing them and to be honest i dont see the results as being any better than the other two. more expensive is not always better

annoyedgal

I think your going to find it hard to get the solid answer you want as every case is different, people who are in favour of six month braces will tell you one thing and people not in favour of them will tell you something else.
My experience of them is that they were a great success for two people I know who had them. I decided to get them as like you my front teeth were an issue as well as overcrowding on the bottom. So far bottom are perfect, top are almost there too and all going well they will be off soon. The after care with retainers will be ongoing for my lifetime I guess!
The reason I went for them. .. I'm 32. If I were 21 like you truth be told id go the traditional way. That's no negative reflection on my own experience just think them being on longer can only be a good thing. The time goes so fast trust me! What don't you make an appointment with an ortho and go from there. Good luck!

Ritchiii

Cheers @annoyedgal

That was just the answer I needed. Your response was spot on for the boost I needed to go about it cheers man. Your right I think Ill just go with the traditional braces. They seem to have a longer effect and the retainer issue isnt something Ill need to worry about.

boboboy - The fact that your daughter had gotten the 6 month braces and is still wearing them a almost a year later is a bit worrying to the quality of the 6 month brace. While they might do the job in some ways I just don't see them having the same lasting effects for some reason. Most places charge a similiar price to traditional braces but they come off in roughly 6 - 9 months, tbh it just seems like a much faster way to get their money and have 1 less person to worry about in their practise.

annoyedgal

Glad to help, just a word to the wise, no matter what braces you get you will need to wear retainers in some form or your teeth will most likely revert to how they are before.

btkm8unsl0w5r4

Mingetoad wrote: »

Have to disagree. Different wires, not self ligating, much more ipr usually done to get the faster result.
Different aims of treatment, different modalitiy in most cases.

Six month smiles (a trade marked system) does not equal six month braces. In the clinic the OP refers to its not six month smiles, just braces done for six months (wheather they use self ligating brackets or striaght wires is not known). But you are correct the objectives are limited and usually only the front teeth, but the mechanics of tooth movement and the mechanism by which this is achieved are basically the same and any fixed appliance.

From a lay persons point of view they get braces for 6 months, my point is that they are only on for 6 months not because they are somehow faster or more powerful, but because you getting compromised treatment, for the same price as a full course in a lot of cases.

annoyedgal wrote: »

Glad to help, just a word to the wise, no matter what braces you get you will need to wear retainers in some form or your teeth will most likely revert to how they are before.

True, for some time after the braces are removed retainers are required, however the stability of the final result will be dependant on how it was treated.

Ritchiii

fitzgeme your reply doesn't make a lot of sense. With all do respect to what point are you getting at?

Oral Surgeon

Ritchiii wrote: »

fitzgeme your reply doesn't make a lot of sense. With all do respect to what point are you getting at?

The point is that he does not rate 6 month braces.....

btkm8unsl0w5r4

Ritchiii wrote: »

fitzgeme your reply doesn't make a lot of sense. With all do respect to what point are you getting at?

Six months braces is a generic name dentist give to limited objective orthodontics. Six month smiles is a specific system like hoover is a specific brance of vacuum cleaner.

Mingetoad

Sabrina Hundreds Self-indulgence wrote: »

Six months braces is a generic name dentist give to limited objective orthodontics. Six month smiles is a specific system like hoover is a specific brance of vacuum cleaner.

Nobody in the thread mentioned six month smiles until you! Any orthodontist worth their salt can get a good cosmetic result within six months for most cases. The problem is, they generally need to do more stripping than they would like to and the result wouldn't be as stable as they know is possible with the more traditional methods. It is unfair to rule out a treatment to patients because of the marketing/pricing structure some guys use. I have a visiting orthodontist in my practice, some adult patients are told they are suitable for "six month braces"/limited objective orthodontics. If they decide to go that route for the faster result it is their choice. Always end up with a happy patient. It may be a bitter pill to swallow for some, but patient-led treatments are gaining prominence. It is true that results are compromised, but most rational adults realise this and understand that they are not getting perfection, just a vast improvement in a quicker time.

ovalu

Mingetoad wrote: »

Nobody in the thread mentioned six month smiles until you! Any orthodontist worth their salt can get a good cosmetic result within six months for most cases. The problem is, they generally need to do more stripping than they would like to and the result wouldn't be as stable as they know is possible with the more traditional methods. It is unfair to rule out a treatment to patients because of the marketing/pricing structure some guys use. I have a visiting orthodontist in my practice, some adult patients are told they are suitable for "six month braces"/limited objective orthodontics. If they decide to go that route for the faster result it is their choice. Always end up with a happy patient. It may be a bitter pill to swallow for some, but patient-led treatments are gaining prominence. It is true that results are compromised, but most rational adults realise this and understand that they are not getting perfection, just a vast improvement in a quicker time.

Fitzgme and Oral Surgeon can't cope with general dentists providing treatment other than scaling and polishing whatever is there level of experience, or whatever even the patients want

helimachoptor

ovalu wrote: »

Fitzgme and Oral Surgeon can't cope with general dentists providing treatment other than scaling and polishing whatever is there level of experience, or whatever even the patients want

Thin ice, very thin

Oral Surgeon

ovalu wrote: »

Fitzgme and Oral Surgeon can't cope with general dentists providing treatment other than scaling and polishing whatever is there level of experience, or whatever even the patients want

What did I do???!!

ovalu

ovalu wrote: »

Fitzgme and Oral Surgeon can't cope with general dentists providing treatment other than scaling and polishing whatever is there level of experience, or whatever even the patients want

Dentists are trained to do root canals and crowns etc
They are NOT trained to do comprehensive orthodontics

Big_G

Limited objective orthodontics as is described in OP is not comprehensive orthodontics. It is by definition limited in objective. I attended a lecture recently given by Prof Ross Hobson who said that minor orthodontic corrections and limited objective treatments are within the scope of the general dentist with adequate training. He is an examiner for postgraduate trained orthodontists and designed the curriculum for orthodontics in UCLan and Newcastle.

Ritchiii

Everyone is getting away from the point of the original question....

helimachoptor

Ritchiii wrote: »

Everyone is getting away from the point of the original question....

Go to a specialist orthondontist and they can advise best treatment to get this ->:D

btkm8unsl0w5r4

ovalu wrote: »

Fitzgme and Oral Surgeon can't cope with general dentists providing treatment other than scaling and polishing whatever is there level of experience, or whatever even the patients want

Wow...any time the orthodontics issue comes up, generally the general dentists that do some orthodontics get very touchy. I have also reread this thread and cannot find any reference by me to general dentists or orthodontists, infact I can see that the OP named a clinic where a specialist orthodontist would be doing the treatment. But your ire at me is noted.

My opinion on this for the record (again) is that a general dentist can do any treatment they are happy to do. If a patient asks on the forum for a recommendation I will point them to the OSI as that is the safest recommendation from the forums point of view, and not a reflection on treatment carried our by non OSI members.

Posters and lurkers need to stop thinking that everything on the forum are specifically about them, commenting about them or getting at them. The forum is anonymous, I dont know who you are.

I have dealt with enough medio-legal, and unhappy patients post orthodontics to be happy to inform patients that limited objective orthodontics have suboptimal results at the bonus of shortened treatment times. Most lay people think that the results are the same as a full course, and that these are somehow special fast braces. Suboptimal may be good enough for the individual patient, you just cannot tell on a forum so all you can do is give the facts.

Mingetoad

Sabrina Hundreds Self-indulgence wrote: »

Wow...any time the orthodontics issue comes up, generally the general dentists that do some orthodontics get very touchy. I have also reread this thread and cannot find any reference by me to general dentists or orthodontists, infact I can see that the OP named a clinic where a specialist orthodontist would be doing the treatment. But your ire at me is noted.

My opinion on this for the record (again) is that a general dentist can do any treatment they are happy to do. If a patient asks on the forum for a recommendation I will point them to the OSI as that is the safest recommendation from the forums point of view, and not a reflection on treatment carried our by non OSI members.

Posters and lurkers need to stop thinking that everything on the forum are specifically about them, commenting about them or getting at them. The forum is anonymous, I dont know who you are.

I have dealt with enough medio-legal, and unhappy patients post orthodontics to be happy to inform patients that limited objective orthodontics have suboptimal results at the bonus of shortened treatment times. Most lay people think that the results are the same as a full course, and that these are somehow special fast braces. Suboptimal may be good enough for the individual patient, you just cannot tell on a forum so all you can do is give the facts.

I'd like to echo pretty much everything said here by Sabrina Hundreds Self-indulgence. I would like to think that any general dentist providing limited objective orthodontics is explaining all the factors in a candid and professional way. However, I am sure there are plenty out there who aren't (they guys with the big PR bills to pay??). However, I do think that on this forum there is a bit too much of a jump to "go to a specialist" to any question. If one looks through most threads looking for any specific recommendations for a treatment, in most cases they are advised to see a prosthodontist, oral surgeon, orthodontist, endodontist etc. I think that it should be pointed out that the correct procedure for a patient seeing a specialist in most medical and allied fields is to see a generalist who will decide if the treatment is within the scope of a specialist or generalist. This does require an ethical and professional general dentist, but I am sure 95% in this country are just that.
Unfortunately in a recession we will have patients wanting to pay as little as possible in most cases. We have specialists who operate to the gold standard and understand that cutting corners is false economy. In the middle are the generalists who see a market for patients who would like certain treatments but cannot afford the specialist fees. This doesn't mean they will be provided with substandard treatment in most cases, but also not the best money can buy. Not everyone needs to drive a Ferrari, not everyone needs to see a specialist for a relatively straightforward treatment, be it a crown, an extraction, straightforward orthodontics, a root canal.
Sorry for the long post and to veer slightly off topic, but this is a dental issues forum and I feel that it is a valid topic for discussion.

marrkarnell

wearing braces actually takes up 1 and a half to 2 years. Short term braces is only suitable to those whose teeth needed to be fixed only covers a very small part of the whole set of teeth.

bureau2009

Mingetoad wrote: »

I'd like to echo pretty much everything said here by fitzgeme. I would like to think that any general dentist providing limited objective orthodontics is explaining all the factors in a candid and professional way. However, I am sure there are plenty out there who aren't (they guys with the big PR bills to pay??). However, I do think that on this forum there is a bit too much of a jump to "go to a specialist" to any question. If one looks through most threads looking for any specific recommendations for a treatment, in most cases they are advised to see a prosthodontist, oral surgeon, orthodontist, endodontist etc. I think that it should be pointed out that the correct procedure for a patient seeing a specialist in most medical and allied fields is to see a generalist who will decide if the treatment is within the scope of a specialist or generalist. This does require an ethical and professional general dentist, but I am sure 95% in this country are just that.
Unfortunately in a recession we will have patients wanting to pay as little as possible in most cases. We have specialists who operate to the gold standard and understand that cutting corners is false economy. In the middle are the generalists who see a market for patients who would like certain treatments but cannot afford the specialist fees. This doesn't mean they will be provided with substandard treatment in most cases, but also not the best money can buy. Not everyone needs to drive a Ferrari, not everyone needs to see a specialist for a relatively straightforward treatment, be it a crown, an extraction, straightforward orthodontics, a root canal.
Sorry for the long post and to veer slightly off topic, but this is a dental issues forum and I feel that it is a valid topic for discussion.

I think this is very fair comment.

However, some very commercially oriented GENERAL PRACTICE dentists DO seem to offer the sun, moon and stars ie WE CAN DESIGN YOUR SMILE, WE CAN GIVE YOU PERFECT TEETH, WE CAN GIVE YOU N E W TEETH!!!!!

In the absence of specialist dental qualifications personally I will be running hundreds of miles from that type of dental practice.

And I think there is too much attention paid to having "perfect" looking teeth. Nature didn't exactly design us to have perfect looking teeth and if teeth are clean, healthy and cared for that counts for so much.

Mingetoad

bureau2009 wrote: »

I think this is very fair comment.

However, some very commercially oriented GENERAL PRACTICE dentists DO seem to offer the sun, moon and stars ie WE CAN DESIGN YOUR SMILE, WE CAN GIVE YOU PERFECT TEETH, WE CAN GIVE YOU N E W TEETH!!!!!

In the absence of specialist dental qualifications personally I will be running hundreds of miles from that type of dental practice.

And I think there is too much attention paid to having "perfect" looking teeth. Nature didn't exactly design us to have perfect looking teeth and if teeth are clean, healthy and cared for that counts for so much.

Hence one of the main reasons why advertising by dental practice was always (and still officially is) not allowed by the dental council.
Any dentist will tell you about the amount of "new" marketing companies contacting them about advertising. I usually tell my friends/family if you see and ad for a dentist on the radio or on tv then beware. The best dentists either get business through word of mouth or referral in the case of specialists. I genuinely feel sorry for the public in these scenarios. Advertisements can be very persuasive. Paid for slots on Expose/Image magazine etc also.

btkm8unsl0w5r4

Advertising is here to say, but the patients need to become more savey. The best advice you will get about who to go through to get braces is from your general dentist. If you cutting out that step your going to be subject to possible manipulative marketing, that often tells you what you want to hear. The Irish are usually so cynical about stuff, but maybe because healthcare advertising is relatively new, people haven't built up resistance yet.

richardsiggers

six month braces I generally used just to straighten the front six teeth which require cosmetic realignment. If you have more complex needs or your back teeth need to be strengthened as well and it could be the six month braces on the right you.

Many dentists disliked this type of orthodontic treatment because they don't fully understand the remit of this limited outcome orthodontics. Limited outcome orthodontics, such as six month braces, is exactly that… There is a limited cosmetic outcome and anything complex should be undertaken with more traditional braces by specialist orthodontist.

So long as you fit the requirements of six month braces then you should be fine.

Hope that helps

12C0995

boboboy wrote: »

my daughter got the 6 month braces fitted about a year and a half ago and her teeth were pretty bad. it cost me 1200euro and was worth every penny. her teeth are now perfect. she still has to wear a clear plastic retainer which is practically invisible. i also have a friend who got them done and she is in her late 30s and her teeth were very crooked. they are now perfect. they both used the same dentist in limerick. my niece got the train track braces a couple of years ago and they cost her about 3 and a half grand and she is still wearing them and to be honest i dont see the results as being any better than the other two. more expensive is not always better

Hi boboboy I am just wondering what is the name of the orthodontist that charged you €1200 for the 6 month braces? Does anyone know is that the going rate for 6 months braces? Does anyone know if there are any orthodontists in the Dublin area that offers the braces for that price range? I was also considering incognito braces (braces fitted on the inside of the teeth) and I am wondering is there much difference in price between 6 month braces and incognito? I only need minor work done on my teeth as I had braces when I was young but my teeth have subsequently moved again and I want to get them fixed.
Thanks.

inbrodericko

Bumping an old thread, but my understanding is that 6 month braces are for people with small problems? Or even if you have only a small problem, are 18 month braces better overall?