What are Invisalign braces?
Invisalign is a series of clear, removable aligners that will gradually nudge your teeth into the desired position. There or no wires or “traintracks”, and as each patient has their aligners custom-made they are comfortable to wear.
Why use Invisalign braces?
Invisalign braces are nearly invisible which means you can wear them confidently all day and with the knowledge that they are discretely working to deliver a straighter smile.
The aligners can be taken out making it easier to eat, drink, and to keep your teeth clean and gums healthy. And as they have no wires or brackets attached to the teeth, there is less discomfort from mouth abrasions and ulcers making them more comfortable to wear than traditional braces. This also means less reasons for extra comfort appointments. This makes Invisalign a great option for a busy life.
How do the braces work?
Firstly the treatment is planned together with the Orthodontist and moulds of the top and bottom teeth are taken in a special high definition material. These moulds are sent to Invisalign and scanned into their high-tech treatment planning programme. A few days later your orthodontist reviews the plans and makes any adjustments to get the best outcome for you.
You will then have a visit to go through the plan, where you will see what the treatment outcome will be. This also gives you the opportunity to change anything to make sure you get the result you want. When the plan is approved Invisalign start making the custom-made aligners using their state of the art manufacturing process.
When ready, your first aligners are fitted and you wear them for 2 weeks (for 22 hours a day). You are given the second set to change when the 2 weeks are done.
Regular appointments with the orthodontist are scheduled so that special attachments, that ensure the best result can be reached, are put on the teeth, as well as any re-shaping of the teeth is done. A further supply of aligners are provided at each visit.
Once the treatment is complete and any refinements carried out, retainers are provided to keep the teeth straight.
Who can have Invisalign braces?
Invisalign is available to both adults and adolescents (age 11-18 years), and is suitable for the treatment of crooked teeth, spacing, narrow jaws, or re-treatment of previously straightened teeth which weren’t looked after correctly.
How long does treatment take?
As each treatment is custom-made for each patient the treatment time will vary, but as a rule the smaller the movements needed the quicker the treatment will be.
Each aligner is worn for 2 weeks and the average patient will have between 18-36 sets of aligners plus some refinement aligners (up to 6). This means the average treatment time would be 9-18 months with more difficult treatment taking longer. In fact, in the longer cases it may be faster to have treatment with traditional fixed braces.
How good are the results?
Invisalign spend billions every year on research and development so each improvement makes Invisalign better and better.
Many orthodontists are now recommending Invisalign as their brace of choice for adults because the results are as good in their hands as they can achieve with a fixed brace.
We recommend Invisalign because it is now a genuine alternative to fixed braces.
Paula