Ever wondered how celebrities who used to have crooked teeth now have such perfect smiles, and you never once saw them wearing braces? Well, brace yourself— most of the time, it’s all thanks to Invisalign. It worked for them, so surely it can work for you, right? While Invisalign is a wonderful treatment that can help many get straighter smiles, you’ll need to learn more about it to see if it would work for you.
What is Invisalign?
Invisalign is a brand of clear aligners used as a dental solution to realign your teeth or other dental issues. They are made with a material called SmartTrack, which is a thermoplastic. The idea of Invisalign aligners is to offer an alternative treatment to braces, which are bold, inconvenient and often can be an eye-sore for people.
Invisalign is made of very transparent material, making them almost invisible and difficult to notice while wearing. It offers patients a more subtle means of aligning their teeth without the downsides of braces.
What dental issues can Invisalign help with?
Invisalign can assist you with several different issues. While we typically use the term “alignment” to describe Invisalign’s purpose, there are multiple issues that fall under that term, like:
- Crossbite
- Underbite
- Overbite
- Gaps in your teeth
- Crowded teeth
In many cases, clear aligners are also used to align arches; however, they might not be as successful in solving other severe jaw misalignment issues.
What is involved in Invisalign treatment?
Before you’re sent for an Invisalign treatment, your dentist will inspect your jaw to decide whether Invisalign is the best treatment plan for your needs. If so, they’ll take a 3D image of your jaw and mouth to create a strategy to guide your teeth into alignment as they should be.
Your dentist will create a few aligners from this plan out of SmartTrack. Each aligner will be customised to guide your teeth in the right direction. As you wear them, each aligner will apply a gentle amount of pressure that gradually pushes your teeth into alignment. As your teeth move, you would need to change to a different aligner to continue the process. This is generally every week or two.
For the best results, your dentist will tell you that you need to wear your aligner for between 20 to 22 hours a day. Thankfully, you can take your aligners out in order to eat or drink, unlike with braces.
Is Invisalign effective?
There are a lot of people who’ve been satisfied with the results Invisalign has given them. For the most part, Invisalign has had some promising results. However, it was only created in 1997 and still needs more research to offer some conclusive results. One thing is for certain, in comparison to other clear aligners, Invisalign has the best track record.
Are there any factors that influence the results?
One of the main downsides of Invisalign is that its effectiveness is directly tied to your ability to keep it in your mouth. For some people, the Invisalign might be uncomfortable, and the temptation to remove it may be too great.
Thus, they take them out. Unfortunately, as we said earlier, for Invisalign to successfully align your teeth, they need to be used for 20 to 22 hours a day. The only times you should remove your Invisaligns would be to brush or floss your teeth, clean the aligners, or for eating and drinking.
Another issue with Invisalign is that it can get damaged if exposed to heat. It might warp if left in the sun too long or handled roughly while hot. If this happens, it won’t exert the right amount of pressure on your teeth to get them to align.
The Pros and Cons of Invisalign
Before you decide to have Invisalign treatment, weigh up the pros and cons:
Pros:
- Invisalign is the clear choice when it comes to aesthetics. Because of it’s almost invisible appearance, they are a lot less noticeable than the wires and brackets on braces
- You can still eat and drink foods that you would often need to steer clear of with braces
- Invisalign offers fewer problems, like elastic snapping or bracket breaking. This also translates into fewer dentist visits
- They are also easier to keep clean
Cons:
- When it comes to complicated alignment problems, Invisalign isn’t as successful
- To get the best results, you have to be self-disciplined and keep them in 20 to 22 hours a day
- For some people, having to remove their aligners to eat, drink, and brush their teeth might be an inconvenience
Where can you get Invisalign?
Invisalign has been around for almost 30 years and is only growing in popularity. So, the good news is that there are many dentists out there who can help you get Invisalign. However, it won’t be able to work for everyone, so you need a good dentist who will confirm if you are a good candidate and can perform the treatment effectively.
Gorgeous Smiles is one of the best cosmetic dentists in Melbourne, and we recommend going to them for a consultation to learn more about Invisalign and give you the best treatment and payment plan.
Final Thoughts
One of the best parts of getting Invisalign is that it offers you the benefits that come with wearing braces but does it discreetly. You will need to check with a dentist to see if Invisalign will be effective for treating your particular condition. For those who are viable candidates, and want a more discreet and comfortable solution to get a gorgeous smile, Invisalign will be worth it for you.
