Invisalign comes as a series of clear removable aligners that straighten your teeth, little by little, and unlike fixed braces, there are no wires or brackets. This means there are no fixed braces and they are nearly invisible when you wear them. Invisalign aligners can be removed at any time during treatment, you can eat whatever you want, maintain good oral hygiene, and choose to remove them briefly for special occasions such as weddings or big meetings. Your lifestyle remains intact. Invisalign aligners allow you to maintain your dental hygiene more effectively compared to fixed braces.
How does Invisalign work?
Invisalign ® treats a range of straightening issues, ranging from minor tooth movements to more complex cases. The final results are comparable to fixed appliance results. You always end up with a new and better smile that you will want everyone to see.
Clincheck or Virtual 3D plan can show you how your teeth will look like during and after your Orthodontic treatment even before you start it. The ClinCheck shows the series of movements your teeth are projected to go through over the course of the treatment with each aligner. This enables you to see what your teeth are expected to look like when the treatment is finished and monitor changes as you go through the Invisalign experience.
Invisalign process
1) Intraoral 3 d Scan
After you have chosen to undergo Invisalign treatment, first step is to take 3D itero scan of your teeth which is like making a precise digital mould of your teeth which is sent to INVISALIGN company for processing Orthodontic treatment simulations as per prescribed treatment plan given by the orthodontist.
2) Clincheck Review
As per the digital itero scan and treatment plan prescribed by the orthodontist, INVISALIGN prepares a treatment simulation or Clincheck plan which precisely simulated the teeth movement, aligner by aligner, from beginning to the end of treatment. So, even before the aligners are fabricated, you will know the expected outcome of the treatment as well as the number of aligners and duration of Invisalign treatment
Once you and your orthodontist is happy with the clincheck plan, your case is approved and the Invisalign company starts making the aligners. After the case is approved, turn around time for the aligners to reach the clinic is 2-3 weeks.
3) Placement Of Attachments And Aligner Delivery
Once the Invisalign aligners reach our office, your appointment is scheduled with us for placement of “Optimized Attachments“ ( small tooth colour attachment glued to the teeth which serve as handles to grip the teeth with aligner to effect desired tooth movement).
Once the attachments are put, you are ready to wear your first aligner.
4) Wearing Aligners
For effective teeth movement, the aligners should be worn for 18 to 20 hrs a day. These should be removed only while eating food and brushing teeth. Generally, the aligners are changed to the next set every 10 days to continue with further teeth movement.
The orthodontist needs to see you few times during the treatment to make sure that the treatment is going on smoothly and identify any tracking issues if any.
5) Trouble Shooting
With well designed treatment plan, the teeth will move predictably enough through the entire course of treatment and you will reach the final goal of precisely straight teeth in specified time. But if you don’t wear your aligners for recommended time or miss out on wearing them totally, or if you don’t handle your aligners properly, the teeth will not move as determined by the clincheck plan. In such situation new scan has to be done and completely new set of aligners have to be ordered. This increases the treatment duration and sometimes the cost as well.
6) Retainers
Once you have finished wearing your last aligner, the orthodontist will make sure that the desired results have been achieved and give retainers to maintain the correction. If there are any shortcomings, then refinement aligners are ordered to reach the final goal. In most cases refinement aligners will require a new scan.
