What is the Invisalign Treatment?

One of the new technologies used by our practice is Invisalign. This technology enables an adult patient to avoid conventional braces while aligning their teeth and achieving a great smile.

The Invisalign treatment involves wearing a series of clear plastic trays that progressively move the teeth a little at a time with each tray. The trays are very similar in appearance to a bleaching tray, but are constructed by a computer aided manufacturing process. Using special molds of the teeth, records and a treatment plan from the orthodontist, a three dimensional image is created by scanning the molds. The images are manipulated to simulate tooth straightening in small increments. A series of images is created for each step of a tooth aligning process. Accurately fitting trays are fabricated per increment, and each tray is worn full-time (24 hours per day except for brushing and eating) for two weeks. A patient may wear a series of 20-30 trays during the course of treatment.

Just like any other treatment modality, there are positives and negatives associated with it. Some of the good points are as follows :

-Because this is a very aesthetic appliance, it is difficult to detect that a person is undergoing treatment.
-Discomfort is minimal during the course of treatment
-The appliances are removable, and oral hygiene is easily maintained.

Some of the negative points of the Invisalign system are:

-This is a tooth aligning process only. Bite discrepancies are not addressed.
-The treatment has its limits. It is mostly for correction of mild to moderate crowding or space of the front teeth.
-Treatment is more expensive than conventional orthodontics due to the technology and proprietary process involved.

You can visit Invisalign's web site at www.invisalign.com.

For more information or to schedule a free consult with Dr. Gluck, call us at (770) 664-6003.

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