14 Feb How do I get started with Invisalign?
Invisalign is a teeth straightening method that has many advantages over metal braces. A consultation with your dentist is the first step to determine what is needed to enhance your smile and improve your oral health by correcting a malocclusion.
Getting Started with Invisalign
Your dentist may utilize photographs, dental x-rays, impressions, and/or digital imaging to provide the Invisalign laboratory what is needed to fabricate your aligners. From these, the Invisalign lab will fashion a series of aligners that are designed to be replaced every two weeks. With each new aligner, your teeth will be shifted slightly. This process repeats until teeth have been straightened.
Invisalign Advantages
The aligners are clear so having your malocclusion corrected can be done with virtual invisibility.
You will remove your aligners to enjoy your favorite snacks and for meals. Remove, eat, and replace. You will not have to modify what you can eat like you would with metal braces.
Remove them for daily brushing and flossing without any obstruction. And each six month visit to your dentist will allow teeth to be thoroughly cleaned. This will help you to maintain great oral health throughout the Invisalign program.
Since no metal or wires are needed, you will not suffer from abrasions to soft oral tissues.
Although you will need to see your dentist periodically to make sure your teeth straightening program is staying on track, you will be able to update aligners on your own. You do not need a dental visit to have wires adjusted to keep teeth moving to correct your malocclusion.
Wear your aligners 20 to 22 hours every day to achieve the results desired in the recommended time frame.
Once the straightening portion of treatment has concluded, you will be provided with a retainer to wear. This is an important part of the program as your teeth and the bones that hold them in place need time to memorize their new location. That is what wearing your retainer will do … if you do not honor this part of treatment, you risk teeth shifting out of place.
And although you will be seeing your dentist periodically, these visits do not count as oral maintenance visits so make sure you keep appointments to have your teeth cleaned every six months.