LOST on recessed flange

I am a diy'er, not a pro. I have been reading, reviewing, asking, and obsessing over a problem i was having with a recessed flange in my newly tiled bathroom and I am just as lost as ever. My flange is 1/2 inch below the finished tile floor and I need to re-install my toilet. Here is the problem - I used the Fluidmaster Wax Extender kit with the #10 ring with horn. After installing the toilet, guess what, we decided to change the paint color!!!! Ok, I can live with that, but when I pulled the toilet, I was suprised to find that the #10 ring wasn't as compressed as I figured it would be. This has me a little concerned that it isn't creating a long lasting good seal and thinking back to the installation, the toilet went down too easily without having to put any real pressure on it. So I then looked into other options and here's what I came across - 1. Fluidmaster wax free gasket kit (my concern here is that if the flange is already 1/2 inch low, will there be enough pressure where the toilet bowl meets the gasket? and if so, will this loosen over time?) 2. Oatey wax extender rings with the rubber gaskets - these look like they would work, but a few people suggested they aren't reliable. My thought was to use these with the #10 wax ring with horn. 3. Fernco wax free gasket (this looks neat, but could i really be confident that the adhesive will hold for years) Any suggestions would be appreciated, I am not looking for the cheapest or easiest route, just the most reliable.

PVC 3 inch waste line with a 45 degree turn into the wall. No access to it at all. Good shape, only 5 years old.
Toilet is an American Standard Cadet 3 round.

The big soft o-ring on the Fluidmaster seal fits inside of the pipe and compresses between the horn on the waxless fixture and the insides of the wall of the pipe. Installed correctly, there is enough length on the horn to accommodate that recessed flange. The advantage to that type is you can remove the toilet to say, repaint, then reinstall without having to replace anything. A wax ring is cheaper, but they have their place (I've used several with no problems). You alternative is to use flange extender(s) to raise the flange or stack a couple of wax rings to get the thickness (not the first choice).

thanks for the advice jim. i was just wondering how the fluidmaster remains fixed to the toilet bowl. is there an adhesive on that model or is it the weight of the toilet that keeps pressure on it? i see on other options like the fernco one, they have you glue it to the bottom of the toilet, then install. With fluidmaster, the directions say to put it in the pipe with a cardboard spacer, then lower the toilet onto it. thanks again for the post.

Even a #10 wax ring is not close to thick enough if your flange is 1/2" below the floor. The "waxless" rings from Fluidmaster or Rectorseal are widely used. Another alternative is to stack up about 3 flange extenders ( 1/4" thickness)

thanks jimbo. I think i will go with the fluidmaster waxless. any advice or tricks of the trade on these is appreciated as i've never had any experience with them. kind of crazy that i was in 2 **********s and a hardware store and all 3 places told me that the #10 wax ring is just fine for up to a 3/4 inch low flange! I've been reading these forums on this site for a few years now and I knew better than to try it without seeking advice here. Thanks.

Terry indicates that he finds it better to install the waxless on the toilet, then lower it down onto the flange than follow the instructions on the box. You should be okay either way.

thanks very much for the assistance.