What is Invisalign?
Invisalign is a type of orthodontic treatment aligner that straightens your teeth and is both removable and virtually invisible. It allows you to eat and drink whatever you want, unlike retainers. Daily dental hygiene is also fairly easy to do since there are no metal, wires, or brackets to cause abrasions in the mouth like retainers do.
How Invisalign aligners work:
The cost of Invisalign varies considerably on your requirements. You wear a custom-made set of aligners for about two weeks at a time. Remove the aligner to eat, drink, brush teeth, floss, and clean the aligners. It will gradually shift the teeth into place over a period of time. Treatment time takes approximately between six to 15 months. The average amount of aligners used throughout the process is between about 12 and 30 aligners. You will have to visit the dentist every six to eight weeks to get a checkup and progress to the next set of aligners.
How to determine if Invisalign is right for you?
1.) What it treats:
Are you a candidate for Invisalign? Again, it depends on your personal situation. An Invisalign brace or retainer treats less severe cases of underbites (when the bottom teeth stick out under the top teeth), overbites (when the top teeth extend over the bottom teeth), cross bites (when your bite is twisted, a tooth or teeth that are in a different position from the other tooth or teeth.). Invisalign also treats gapped teeth and crowded teeth. For more information, visit the Invisalign website.
2.) How your age may affect you getting Invisalign:
Invisalign is effective for those who have lost most or all of their baby teeth (milk teeth) and have predominantly grown into their adult teeth. Those who are at least 13 years old and older are most likely able to get Invisalign. If you are a younger teenager or a child, then retainers will most likely be recommended for you, due to the fact that your teeth are still growing.
3.) How severe is your case of crooked teeth?
Invisalign is used to treat common and less severe cases of teeth crookedness. Depending on the severity of your case you may or may not be able to get Invisalign. If your case is of a more severe nature, you will have to get braces or other recommended forms of treatment from your dentist.
4.) Are you willing to dedicate time for treatment?
Unlike braces, you are able to remove the aligners, but you still have to keep the aligners in for at least 22 hours a day, every day, until the end of treatment. This leaves you with only two hours to eat, drink, brush/floss teeth, and clean your aligners. You will also have to remove the aligners every time you eat or drink something. Cleaning the aligners periodically and making sure your teeth and mouth are clean before each reinsertion is also a necessity when wearing the aligners.
5.) Take the Invisalign’s Smile Assessment Test.
Invisalign’s website offers a free Smile Assessment Test. It will ask you to answer some basic questions regarding information about yourself, what it is you want to correct in your teeth, and afterward, the assessment will determine if Invisalign is the best fit for you.
This online assessment does not take the place of a trained dentist’s’s assessment. You should always seek professional advice about all teeth correcting options after a consultation with your dentist.
6.) Other factors to take into account when choosing to use Invisalign as a treatment option:
You will have to wear a retainer every night, although not as long as you did with Invisalign after you finish using the Invisalign treatment to keep your teeth in place.- Invisalign tends to be more expensive than regular braces. Braces can cost between $3,500 – $7,000 depending on if you have an insurance plan that covers dental services. Invisalign’s price range is between $3,500 – $8,000, with average costs being around $5,500. The Invisalign treatment is also covered by many dental plans as well.
- The Invisalign aligners can become a bit gross during each set’s two-week period. Tips to help lessen this problem are: Using a mild denture cleaner, using retainer cleaning tablets about once or twice a week, a diluted bleach rinse, rinsing with water, brushing gently with a clean toothbrush without toothpaste, or using Invisalign crystals.
The highly recommended way to clean the aligner is to brush on the inside and outside of the aligner gently with a clean toothbrush without toothpaste, rinse with water, and then reinsert the aligner back into your mouth. Toothpaste should not be used on the aligners due to the fact that it can cause small places or pits in the aligner where bacteria can grow as well as make the aligner cloudy.
- You will have to brush your teeth after every meal, rinse your mouth and rinse the retainer with a little water before reinserting the aligner back into your mouth.
- It is advised to only drink water when the aligners are in. The aligners may also make your mouth feel dry and irritated so drinking plenty of water is recommended to aid against any discomfort.
There may be some slight pain when using the aligners. Using wax on the rough or sharp edges of the aligner can help or have your dentist file down the rough edges of each aligner.- The aligners may affect your speech by giving you a slight lisp. The slight change will go away the more you speak and adjust to the aligners.
- You are able to whiten teeth while using Invisalign.
- Your dentist may have to file your teeth if you have a case of crowded teeth. This means about a tenth of a millimeter being removed.
- You may need what dentist’s call attachments or buttons on your aligners. This will be determined by your dentist. What this means is you will have little attachments, which are made of a tooth-colored filling material, temporarily bonded to your teeth. This allows the aligner to grip better to individual teeth and apply even pressure thus correcting the teeth to the desired result. These attachments may make removing and reinserting the aligner a little tougher but not impossible.
Schedule an appointment with Drescher & Cohen D.D.S Aesthetic & Implant Dentistry, Orthodontics, one of the best dentistry and orthodontics offices in the Atlanta, Georgia area that gives quality, individualized care. They offer a nice variety of dental services on top of Invisalign and are open Monday through Friday. Email or call their office for to request info and ask any questions you may have regarding their services. In the meantime, you can visit the Invisalign website.
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