Learn How Invisalign® Can Straighten Your Teeth

When you choose Invisalign®, you are choosing one of the most convenient and efficient ways you can straighten your teeth. There are limitations to all systems, however, and one thing we will stress with you is that Invisalign® is not an overnight fix. The process of having your teeth straightened, after they have grown or moved into an unnatural position, can take several months. This is because we want to make sure that once your teeth are in their proper alignment. Afterwards, to ensure that they cannot move back to being misaligned, we will ask you to wear a nightly retainer.The process of straightening teeth.Invisalign® is based on a series of aligners, which move the teeth .25 millimeters at a time. Essentially, the aligners coax the teeth and push them into the right place. When the teeth fit perfectly into the current aligner, a process that typically takes two weeks, you will replace it with a new aligner. On average, it takes around 12 months to completely align your teeth. There are rare cases where it has taken a person considerably longer based on the amount of work needed, and sometimes the movement can be completed in as little as 6 months, but your expectations should be realistically around a year of treatment. We will discuss the proposed treatment time for your particular situation when you visit our office.Invisalign® is a very powerful system that will result in you having perfectly aligned teeth. When we are done with your initial Invisalign® treatment, you will have the option of getting refinements. Refinements are exactly what they sound like, a perfection of the process. While, at the end of the treatment, your teeth will be precisely aligned, there can be minor modifications and changes that you would like to see. The process of getting refinements is much the same as the original Invisalign® process. You will be measured, and we will order a custom set of refinement aligners that will need to be worn like you did the original aligners. There are two things that you should know about refinements. First, they are not designed to correct major defects.  If you wait too long to get the refinements done and allow your teeth to get out of alignment you may need to repeat part of the initial Invisalign® process. Second, they are not time bound, which means as long as your teeth stay in the correct alignment you can take a break in between the treatment and this phase. The important thing is that you continue to wear your retainer, so that your teeth do not shift out of place.After the procedures are completed, we will prescribe a retainer for you to wear. This retainer is designed to put a small amount of pressure on the teeth at night, holding them in place so that there is no shift or movement. Teeth, unfortunately, have a tendency to want to move back towards a misaligned position and to avoid this eventuality you may need to wear your retainer for years.  This is especially true if you have a tongue thrust.  Fortunately, a retainer is easy to wear, and you should only need it while sleeping.

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