I think I should have gone with Lingual braces instead of Invisalign, can I change treatments?

Q.
 I am a 25 yr. old male with spacing of my upper front teeth as well as an open bite developed from a tongue thrust condition. This also causes my chin to appear recessed somewhat. I have been in Invisalign treatment for about 6 months. I already had mild lip and chin strain due to the open bite. Upon wearing the aligners I felt a lot more discomfort and strain with the added thickness of the aligners over my teeth. I explained this to my orthodontist who suggested I could just wear one aligner at a time, 12hrs. a day. I have been doing this but I feel like the compensation the muscles around my mouth had to make for the aligners changed the shape and appearance of my chin and lower lip muscles causing some “rippling.” I now wish I had gone with Lingual braces which go behind the teeth, but they are not provided by this orthodontist. Is it possible to seek another orthodontist providing lingual braces and just get them done on the top teeth and continue invisalign on the bottom? I have also been looking into having a chin advancement (genioplasty) done to correct the recessed chin and hopefully relieve some of the lip strain. But could you give me any information on types of surgery that can be done to correct the open bite itself? As I have been told braces alone cannot correct the open bite. Thanks so much for your help.
A.
Hi
Yes it’s very possible, in most cases , to have each arch treated in a different orthodontic appliance. It would be best for you to seek out a specialist orthodontist who has expert experience in lingual braces such as Darsh who works with me:

http://www.umbrellasmiles.com/london-orthodontist.html

Alternatively look local to you. The company that supply lingual braces has a doctor locator on it’s website:

http://www.hiddenbraces.co.uk/Home.aspx

Dr Mark Hughes Harley Street Dental Studio 52 Harley Street, London W1G 9PY Web: www.harleystreetdentalstudio.com Tel: 020 7636 5981 View My Profile Dr Hughes
July 20th, 2011 at 08:47 PM
Angela beveridge Says :

After basically pestering my dentist from the age of 13 for braces, I was reffered to an orthodontists to examine my teeth last year, I was not granted them as I didnt fall into the ‘worst case’ senario. I am now 19 which I understand mean I cannot get them done on the NHS, I have been looking at various treatments available, but prices are nowhere to be seen. I am a full time student aswell as working part-time. Although my teeth are not terrible, they are far from perfect and do embarass me especially since 9 out of 10 of my friends have all had them and now have ‘perfect’ teeth. I have two years left of my degree and wold ideally like to have my braces in-and-out before completing my degree and entering the professional world.

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