How many patients have been treated by Invisalign?
Currently over 1.7 million patients globally have had Invisalign as their orthodontic appliance.
How often do people have to wear these Invisalign aligners?
Just like braces are a full time appliance, so is Invisalign. Braces are glued to your teeth so they are on all the time; you eat with them on, you go to bed with them, you pretty much do everything with your braces on. Invisalign is the same idea; you do everything that you would normally do and one of the biggest advantages is that you can take them out ,brush your teeth and eat your meal without having braces glued to your teeth. So there are some nice advantages that you can remove them, but technically they are worn pretty much full time. Most doctors recommend twenty-two hours a day.
How do they work?
Invisalign is a software company and a manufacturing company. The company is headquartered mainly out of Santa Clara but they have their software team out of Costa Rica. They provide doctors with a very sophisticated software program that allows doctors to move teeth into ideal alignment. They do this under the guidance of their software program in conjunction with a technician that is based out of Costa Rica. A trained doctor will go ahead and take either impressions of the patient’s teeth or create a digital scan of the teeth. Invisalign then creates a digital image that is imported into their proprietary software. This image is then made available to the doctor to begin the process of “ building” a new smile and bite for the patient. The doctor is the professional who is in charge of the whole treatment plan for the patient. Once they have set up the case they approve the final image , Invisalign then manufactures the aligners. The aligners are made to specifications of the doctor. There will be multiple sets of aligners that the patient will change into every 2 weeks and those aligners will be all manufactured at one time by Invisalign.
Can Invisalign fix bite problems?
The answer is absolutely yes, Invisalign is definitely an appliance that can solve most bite problems. Just like fixed appliances or braces, often patients will need what we call auxiliary treatment. They’ll need some elastics or rubber bands and they may need some buttons placed on the teeth for rubber bands to be placed.
Can Invisalign work on adults?
That answer is absolutely yes and it was initially designed for the adult patient. Most adults are not interested in wearing metal braces. They have no desire to have fixed appliances glued to their teeth; especially those adults who are in sales, public speaking, busy moms and dads as well as senior citizens. Having braces on the teeth is just not something that they look at as being acceptable. Quite honestly, it is really the best choice for adult patients because it allows an adult to have their teeth and bite corrected without really anyone noticing that it is happening. It doesn’t interfere with their lifestyles. They are removable and can take them out to eat and brush and floss. They can take them out for meetings. Even in social activities, they are virtually unnoticeable for their clients or for people that they’re conducting business with.
How many aligners will you have during treatment?
This depends on the treatment time and it can vary. If it is a very simple case, it can be ten aligners and if it is much more complicated, it can be up to fifty aligners. A lot of that is determined by the complexity of the treatment and the doctor that is treating you.
Do teens usually wear them
?
Absolutely they do. Teen patients, especially those that have been in high school have no interest in having metal braces on their teeth. They want something cosmetic and aesthetic. Today’s teen is very interested in a cosmetic option and something that is less noticeable that requires less maintenance on their part, is less painful and for those teens that are involved in sports, it actually acts as a mouth guard and protects their teeth. So yes, teens will wear them and teens are extremely motivated to wear them because they definitely want a great smile, they want their bite corrected, they want their crooked teeth straightened out. If they can avoid having the traditional metal braces or even clear braces on their teeth, they are going to wear these and be very grateful that they have the opportunity to wear them. For most teens, it is a lot less painful, and there are a lot less visits. Their friends wouldn’t even know they had them on.
Does treatment take longer?
Not necessarily, in fact in most cases, treatment is shorter. There are fewer appointments and less emergency visits. Treatment is prescribed very specifically using the Invisalign software. That software, called the clincheck, allows the doctor to set up the treatment in advance and it is done kind of in a video format. Each movement is staged and basically the patient can finish treatment anywhere from three to six months quicker because of the unique proprietary software that Invisalign provides the doctors. The fact is that there are less appointments and less emergency visits and really more targeted treatment for the patient.
Is Invisalign treatment painful?
Compared to braces, it is virtually pain free. Each aligner is programmed to move the teeth a quarter of a millimeter; that is .25 millimeters. It is a very small amount. Typically patients are changing them every two weeks so the movements are very small but are done very consistently every two weeks. If you have Invisalign, you are changing your aligners every two weeks versus braces where you are having tightenings or activations anywhere from every four to eight weeks. Most patients will experience tremendous amount of discomfort with fixed or glued-on braces and minimal to zero discomfort with the Invisalign removable braces. The thing with Invisalign that is very important that everyone needs to understand is that there is nothing glued on the teeth that is rubbing. The metal braces have sharp edges, there are wires that poke and those certainly cause some discomfort, besides the actual tightening of the braces that occurs every four to eight weeks.
What are the benefits of Invisalign for the patient?
The benefits are tremendous and we have highlighted a few of them; less pain, virtually invisible, less appointments, a quicker treatment time, you can take them out to eat whenever you want and brush and floss just like you normally would, no restrictions on diet, less likelihood of stain on the teeth. Obviously if you are an adult, it is not noticeable so there is no stigma to having orthodontics as an adult. For teenagers, there are definitely advantages for sports; it protects your teeth from injury.
How often do I see my doctor onc
e I have my aligners?
This depends on your doctor; some doctors may require that you be seen every four to six weeks and others are eight to ten and some are ten to twelve. It depends on each individual doctor. You will find that there are definitely less visits required when you have Invisalign than when you have fixed braces in place.
Will wearing the trays affect my speech?
Initially, maybe the first day, you may notice some changes in your speech patterns, but typically after about twenty-four hours, your tongue and mouth will adapt and absolutely, positively, no one will even know you have them on. Patients have been known to wear them on TV, many famous movie starts and TV personalities have worn Invisalign Catherine Heigel from Gray’s Anatomy is a perfect example; she had Invisalign on the whole time during one season of Gray’s Anatomy. Singer, Justin Bieber has been an Invisalign patient along with the former Mrs. Tiger Woods.
Will wearing Invisalign affect my eating habits?
Absolutely not; they are removable and you can eat whatever you want. That is the beauty of Invisalign and what patients love the most is that they don’t have to give up what they have been eating. When you have fixed appliances on, you will have to give up some of your favorite foods. The reason for that is because they are hard and crunchy and they can knock your braces off, which causes an emergency visit and an extra time in the orthodontic office getting it repaired. These visits are often performed during school or work hours. With Invisalign, you just take out the aligners, eat whatever you want, put them back in when you’re done and go about your day.
What happens when I have comple
ted my treatment?
Once you have completed your treatment, you would move into retention. All patients, whether they have Invisalign or braces, will have to wear retainers. Most orthodontists today recommend lifetime retention, generally at night. For the first few months, you may have to wear your retainer full time. It is always up to your orthodontist to decide on your retention protocol. What is really cool about Invisalign is that you have been wearing something removable for a while so you have gotten used to taking something in and taking something out and having the responsibility and commitment of something removable for your teeth. When you move into the retainer phase, moving from full time to part time is very doable because you don’t have to worry about full time wear anymore. Many patients find that they enjoy having them in their mouth all the time and will actually continue to wear them a little during the day as well as at night. They want to make sure their gorgeous smile and bite stays in place for their lifetime. Unfortunately teeth do move throughout our lifetime no matter what age you are. Just because you are sixteen and have gorgeous teeth right now, it doesn’t mean they will stay that way without retainers. If you are sixty-five years old and your teeth are absolutely straight and your bite is totally corrected, you do have to be committed to lifetime retainer wear at night in order to keep that investment in your gorgeous smile in place. We look at retainers as an insurance policy.
This article was first published here: https://pearlsmaynooth.wordpress.com/invisalign/invisalign-frequently-asked-questions/
Dental Oasis Of Orange County 