How much does it cost? The procedures? -Invisalign

Japanese ver.(日本語版)⬇︎

It took me so long, but finally, my Invisalign will be here!

So I would like to introduce how much I paid and how the procedures went in this article.

If you want to know what to expect before starting Invisalign, check it out here.

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Procedures
Cost
Thank you!

Procedures

All Sec. were done in different dates.

① Check up

You can’t have any cavities before the process. The dentist will check if your teeth condition is good or not.

We want to make sure that our dental hygienes are always nice.

The process of the check up was same as usual; cavity check, gum condition, dental scaling, etc.

② Check the size of your teeth and tooth row

My dental hygienist took around 10 pictures of my face and inside of my mouth.
She used a large mirror to take pictures of my upper teeth, which was kind of painful, but hey! New experiences are always welcome.

I wish I knew that she will take pictures of my face… I could have cared a bit more about my appearance…

Also she made a mold, too.

This part cost me ¥10,800 ( $98 ).

③ Roughly check the movement of your tooth row

The dentist will measure the size of my teeth and jaw. (Of course using the pictures they took before.) Then, he will explain how we should move the teeth to line up neatly.

We also checked how my jaw line will change using the photo of my face.

In my case, my teeth is bigger and the jaw line is smaller than the average, so there were two options.
・File off about 0.5mm between some or all of the teeth.
・Make the arch bigger but no filing off.

Well, I had (have) confidence in my teeth condition (not the line), so I chose the latter.

But, the dentist can’t tell what Invisalign company would say, so he told me that he will try to proceed the process without filing off as much as possible.

④ Mold making

This time the mold was thoroughly made.

I did the horse shoe shaped apparatus thingy 6 times. 3 times each on upper and lower teeth.

The dentist clay thingy hardened so stiff that when my dental hygienist tried to take the mold off, it felt like she was ripping my teeth out.

These mold will be the base to program Invisalign.

⑤ Check the definitive movement

Until the program completes, the dentist and the Invisalign people will exchange their opinions back and forth to meet the patients’ wish.

When the dentist agrees to the program, he/she will check the process with the patient using PC.

Since I don’t like my teeth line, looking at them on a digital device was quite uncomfortable.

There were two options again.
・file out between the teeth
・don’t file out between the teeth

And again, I love the condition of my teeth, I chose the latter.

Actually, the course I chose is able to change the final plan how many times I want, so better than filing out and hating it, I thought it was wiser to not to file out and see.

By the way, the attachment, I had to get them around 10 just on the upper teeth. Lol
Also on the front teeth. Great.

⑥ Finally the journey begins!

… the Invisalign itself isn’t here yet.

I will be able to start them in March, so I’ll keep you updated.

Cost

How much does Invisalign cost?

I know the cost will depend on which dentist you go, so this was my experience.

I heard that there are some places that Invisalign is more expensive than the wire…
In my case, wire and Invisalign cost the same.

・just the upper row- ¥300,000 ($2,755)
・just the lower row- ¥300,000 ($2,755)

・both upper and lower row- ¥600,000 ($5,510)

+every check up- ¥3,300 ($30)

Easy setting, right?

BUT!

If you chose just the upper or just the lower set,
you can’t get more than 10 sets, no amendments are possible.

If you chose both, no limit to the sets,
and, you can redo the final plan as many times you want.

Additionally, my teeth have been like this for long time, upper and lower teeth are occluded well. The dentist advised me that if I do just the upper row, lower row will be loose.

It is expensive!! But I decided on doing both row.

Why didn’t you pick wire?

I didn’t choose Invisalign for the looks. Actually, I kind of wished to get the wire because… it feels and looks like I have braces on. ( You know what I mean.)

Except that if I chose wire,
I had to check up more often than I chose Invisalign.