Do your crooked or crowded teeth cause you distress? Could your lack of confidence to smile beholding you back or make you appear to some people as unfriendly?
Poorly aligned teeth can cause many more problems than reduced self esteem. They can lead to an increase in the rate of decay and gum disease. And because your bite’s not balanced, there may be an overloading of your teeth and jaw joints. This can lead to excessive tooth wear, teeth chipping and cracking, and even chronic jaw and neck pain.
The traditional solution to this problem is braces.
And braces are probably still the gold standard for teeth straightening.
But like many people, you might feel that metal braces are just too much of a commitment – they may be too inconvenient or unsuitable for your work or lifestyle. This is where the newer technologies of clear aligner therapy step in!
The most advanced system currently available in this space is Invisalign.
At Melbourne Dentist we offer two main ways to correct a crooked smile – Porcelain veneers and Invisalign.
Porcelain Veneers
Modern ceramic technology allow porcelain veneers and crowns to be made very thin. This allows for incredible conservation of your tooth structure while still being able to improve the shape, position, colour and surface lustre of your teeth
Our digital smile design technique will allow you to see a ‘mock-up’ of your new smile in your mouth. Only once you are completely happy with the proposed changes do we have the laboratory technician utilise the final design for production of your permanent veneers or crowns.
Invisalign
Invisalign is a system that uses clear, nearly invisible aligners which gradually and gently shift your teeth into a better position. They can be removed when you eat, for special occasions, and to allow you to continue your regular daily oral hygiene routine.
The system is designed to more readily fit into a busy work, school or travel schedule. And in many cases it requires fewer visits to the clinic than traditional braces.
Along with improved aesthetic alignment, facial profiles, breathing difficulties and teeth functional positions can also be improved.
Orthodontics can make an incredible contribution to a great smile and a lifetime of dental health.
The advantages of straight teeth.
Confidence and pride in a great smile
Nothing beats a great smile. Some studies suggest that the smile is the first thing noticed by nearly 50% of people when they meet someone. One of the primary contributors to a beautiful smile is straight teeth.
But the self-confidence straight teeth will give you is not necessarily their only benefit.
Easier hygiene
When your teeth are in the right place, it’s much easier for you to floss and brush.
Enhanced function of the teeth
When your teeth meet each other correctly, you can bite things effectively and then chew them up effectively and efficiently. This is the first functional step in a healthy digestive system.
Enhanced health and function of the jaws
All teeth meeting at once with your jaw joints placed in a correctly balanced position offers protection to each tooth as well as your jaw joints. You get an even spread of the biting load over all teeth, so no single tooth takes the whole brunt of your bite force.
The Invisalign Process
Getting to know you
The first time we meet, it’s really important to find out what annoys you – what you really want changed. We find a great way to begin this process is to simply take a close-up accurate image of your smile and put it on a big screen. Most people really appreciate this process and some people even find things they’d like to change that they weren’t previously aware of before taking such a close-up view.
If we feel Invisalign can help you, we take moulds of your mouth and send these to the Invisalign laboratory to be digitised.
3D Modelling and planning
Invisalign’s powerful ClinCheck modelling software platform develops a 3-D image of your teeth and the proposed movements needed to get you to your ideal smile.
Once your virtual treatment plan is developed and refined by us, we can email you a software key so that you can log in to the Invisalign site to view your final plan using the ClinCheck software. You get to see the series of movements that your teeth will undergo and your predicted result from any angle you like, all in the comfort of your own home. At this point we’d appreciate it if you’d run this plan by friends or family to get their input and then note down any and all questions that you have before you next come to see us.
Plan Consultation and finalization
When you return to our practice, we fully outline the treatment proposed using the ClinCheck software. You’ve already seen the proposed result at home via our email, so you’ll have any questions ready to be answered by us. You can also make any modifications to your proposed result if you see the need.
Finally, we completely document treatment duration and costs for you.
First Aligner delivery
After you sign off on your treatment plan blueprint, the Invisalign lab will send us a full set of aligners to complete your smile. Once they arrive, you can come in to pick up your first series of aligners – usually enough to see you through the next 4 to 8 weeks. At this appointment we will go through all that you need to know to successfully align your teeth with tis system.
You MUST commit to wear the aligners for 22 hours per day. You should only remove them to eat, drink and clean your teeth. While this may seem like a long time, it’s worthwhile remembering that if you had braces, they would be attached 24 hours a day. In this light, the 2 hours of respite you get every day is a great advantage.
Time between appointments
You’ll need to come back to see us for a series of follow-up visits to review your progress and to pick up your next set of aligners. Depending on what we’re trying to correct, each aligner will be worn for one to two weeks, after which you switch to the next numbered aligner in the series. Typically, we’ll give you 4 sets of aligners every visit, meaning you’ll need to visit us every 4 to 8 weeks for your reviews.
Tips for a great result
Your compliance with wearing the aligners for 22 hours a day is mandatory to get a result!
This fact has already been mentioned a number of times in the text of this page, but we just can’t stress this fact too much…
Each aligner should have a “passive” fit before you move on to the next aligner in the series. This means that the aligner very readily fits comfortably and loosely onto your teeth, with no gaps between the aligner and your teeth.
Clench into your aligners regularly to ensure they are fully seated and exerting their full pressure on the appropriate teeth. This is particularly important in the first few days of wearing a new aligner, and after you replace the aligner following eating, drinking or cleaning of your teeth.
If you can see an air space between your aligner and the biting edges of your teeth, then your aligner may not be fully seated into place. If this occurs, try clenching on your aligners more regularly. If these gaps persist to the end of your normal 2-week usage period, please contact us. We will probably want you to wear this aligner set for a little longer, or we may even wish to directly review what’s going on.
How Long should it take?
Treatment time lasts from 3 to 18 months, depending on the complexity of movement that’s required and your compliance.
Align Technology (The company that produces Invisalign) suggests that the average treatment time is around 12 months. Some people interpret this as Clear Aligners being quicker than braces, as braces are generally quoted as taking 18 months. However, we believe that this is not the case, but instead this is just a reflection that most cases completed with Invisalign are relatively less involved orthodontic cases.
As a result, treatment costs vary, primarily based on treatment time.
Keeping your teeth straight…this part is IMPORTANT!
Regardless of whether you use aligners or braces to straighten your teeth, the chances that your teeth will drift back in the direction they came form is very high. Therefore, if you commit to straightening your teeth, you must also commit to wearing retainers long after everything is completed. Initially these will be worn very regularly, but over time they may be worn a little more irregularly, and only while you sleep.
Before you begin
Getting to know you
The first time we meet, it’s really important to find out what annoys you – what you really want changed. We find a great way to begin this process is to simply take a close-up accurate image of your smile and put it on a big screen. Most people really appreciate this process and some people even find things they’d like to change that they weren’t previously aware of before taking such a close-up view.
If we feel Invisalign can help you, we take moulds of your mouth and send these to the Invisalign laboratory to be digitised.
3D Modelling and planning
Invisalign’s powerful ClinCheck modelling software platform develops a 3-D image of your teeth and the proposed movements needed to get you to your ideal smile.
Once your virtual treatment plan is developed and refined by us, we can email you a software key so that you can log in to the Invisalign site to view your final plan using the ClinCheck software. You get to see the series of movements that your teeth will undergo and your predicted result from any angle you like, all in the comfort of your own home. At this point we’d appreciate it if you’d run this plan by friends or family to get their input and then note down any and all questions that you have before you next come to see us.
Plan Consultation and finalization
When you return to our practice, we fully outline the treatment proposed using the ClinCheck software. You’ve already seen the proposed result at home via our email, so you’ll have any questions ready to be answered by us. You can also make any modifications to your proposed result if you see the need.
Finally, we completely document treatment duration and costs for you.
Using Invisalign Aligners
First Aligner delivery
After you sign off on your treatment plan blueprint, the Invisalign lab will send us a full set of aligners to complete your smile. Once they arrive, you can come in to pick up your first series of aligners – usually enough to see you through the next 4 to 8 weeks. At this appointment we will go through all that you need to know to successfully align your teeth with tis system.
You MUST commit to wear the aligners for 22 hours per day. You should only remove them to eat, drink and clean your teeth. While this may seem like a long time, it’s worthwhile remembering that if you had braces, they would be attached 24 hours a day. In this light, the 2 hours of respite you get every day is a great advantage.
Time between appointments
You’ll need to come back to see us for a series of follow-up visits to review your progress and to pick up your next set of aligners. Depending on what we’re trying to correct, each aligner will be worn for one to two weeks, after which you switch to the next numbered aligner in the series. Typically, we’ll give you 4 sets of aligners every visit, meaning you’ll need to visit us every 4 to 8 weeks for your reviews.
Tips for a great result
Your compliance with wearing the aligners for 22 hours a day is mandatory to get a result!
This fact has already been mentioned a number of times in the text of this page, but we just can’t stress this fact too much…
Each aligner should have a “passive” fit before you move on to the next aligner in the series. This means that the aligner very readily fits comfortably and loosely onto your teeth, with no gaps between the aligner and your teeth.
Clench into your aligners regularly to ensure they are fully seated and exerting their full pressure on the appropriate teeth. This is particularly important in the first few days of wearing a new aligner, and after you replace the aligner following eating, drinking or cleaning of your teeth.
If you can see an air space between your aligner and the biting edges of your teeth, then your aligner may not be fully seated into place. If this occurs, try clenching on your aligners more regularly. If these gaps persist to the end of your normal 2-week usage period, please contact us. We will probably want you to wear this aligner set for a little longer, or we may even wish to directly review what’s going on.
Finishing Treatment
How Long should it take?
Treatment time lasts from 3 to 18 months, depending on the complexity of movement that’s required and your compliance.
Align Technology (The company that produces Invisalign) suggests that the average treatment time is around 12 months. Some people interpret this as Clear Aligners being quicker than braces, as braces are generally quoted as taking 18 months. However, we believe that this is not the case, but instead this is just a reflection that most cases completed with Invisalign are relatively less involved orthodontic cases.
As a result, treatment costs vary, primarily based on treatment time.
Keeping your teeth straight…this part is IMPORTANT!
Regardless of whether you use aligners or braces to straighten your teeth, the chances that your teeth will drift back in the direction they came form is very high. Therefore, if you commit to straightening your teeth, you must also commit to wearing retainers long after everything is completed. Initially these will be worn very regularly, but over time they may be worn a little more irregularly, and only while you sleep.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Invisalign
Advantages
- They are virtually invisible from a normal conversational distance – particularly when compared to metal braces. This makes Invisalign a very attractive alternative for adults who don’t want everyone to know they’re going through orthodontic treatment.
- You can remove them to eat – metal braces can make eating some foods so difficult that you avoid eating them completely. Invisalign aligners don’t interfere with your regular diet.
- You can remove them to clean your teeth – this allows for easier and better oral hygiene throughout your course of treatment. People with braces who fail at this task, put their teeth under considerable risk for decay and gum disease.
- You can remove your aligners for special events like public speaking, or an important social or business event.
- Aligners are generally less irritating to your lips and cheeks when compared to metal braces. When your aligners are correcting more complex issues, you may require “buttons” and “anchors” that can be felt by your lips. While these may be an annoyance, it’s usually not to the degree as when braces are in place.
- We can use them as bleach trays and lighten your teeth right at the beginning of treatment.
- You commonly need less visits to the clinic throughout your treatment when compared to braces.
- You can make a smile make-over or complete bite rebuild considerably easier and more conservative if teeth are closer to their ideal positions.
- They can act as bite guards for those who need protection against grinding their teeth.
- Your teeth are digitized by the advanced Invisalign software and we can then email you an on-screen, animated visual representation of your planned result. This really aids us in treatment planning, but it allows you to get a detailed idea of your expected outcome, before you commit to treatment.
Disadvantages
- One of Invisalign’s real strengths is that it is removable by you. But this is also one of its biggest weaknesses. Braces are a passive form of treatment as they’re fixed firmly in place, so you don’t need to do anything with them. Invisalign appliances are removable. They require strict compliance in wearing the devices – if you don’t wear them correctly, they just won’t work. Worse still, not wearing them may allow your previous progress to relapse, or completely veer off track. So, if you’re the type of person who can’t promise themselves to wear the device, 22 hours per day, day-in-day-out for the duration, then it may be better for you to consider braces or porcelain veneers.
- Invisalign may not be able to correct all issues that braces can fix. This is particularly the case if your teeth are small or overly rounded. If you consider Invisalign in such cases, compromises in your result will be clearly spelled out. You will have to consider the trade-offs involved that give you an acceptable result rather than an ideal one. So, this technique is probably best suited to treating mild to moderately complex issues.
- Aligners may affect your speech. However, this is usually quickly and easily overcome.
The Cost of Invisalign
The cost of Invisalign ranges from $1600 to $7800. The cost depends on the complexity of tooth movement that’s required, and therefore the time and number of aligners that will be required.
Included in the cost is:
- Diagnostic records and work-up leading to a smile design
- Preview of your proposed result using the ClinCheck software.
- Teeth whitening (Take Home kit)
- The series of aligners required to achieve the proposed result. We dispense aligners at 4 to 8-week intervals
- One set of clear retainers (you may upgrade to Vivera retainers for an additional fee)
Would you like to spread this cost over the period of your treatment rather than paying the whole fee up front? Ask us about the payment plans we offer.
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