Traditional braces involved metal wires, headgear, rubber bands and visits to the orthodontist that left your mouth sore afterward. Adults who need braces often choose crooked teeth over a mouth full of metal. However, technological advancements have replaced the metal wires with clear, removable braces. Dr. Kevin F. Postol and his team set you up with clear braces that gradually adjust your teeth, offering minimal pain and discomfort.
While they might work gradually, clear braces are more efficient than traditional braces. Typically, they straighten your teeth within six months or less. No one will notice that you’re wearing braces–and when you need to floss or brush your teeth, they detach in seconds. Schedule an appointment to talk about starting an Invisalign regimen.
What is Invisalign?
Invisalign braces are clear aligners that fit directly over your teeth. Each aligner is custom made to fit your teeth while applying a slight pressure. As you wear the aligners, the pressure gradually straightens your teeth. You’ll use multiple aligners over the course of the treatment. Invisalign braces are removable, non-invasive and virtually invisible, allowing you to correct your teeth in adulthood without feeling self-conscious.
What Are the Benefits of Invisalign?
Here’s why patients prefer Invisalign over metal braces:
- Invisalign is invisible–no metal bands or wires that everyone notices immediately. You can go to work, attend school and smile in photographs, and no one will notice the difference.
- Invisalign is safer and more comfortable than traditional braces. When an orthodontist installs metal braces on your teeth, you have to return periodically to get your braces tightened, making your mouth sore again. Plus, loose wires and brackets can injure the inside of your mouth.
- Invisalign is removable so you can take out the aligners to brush and floss your teeth. You won’t have to brush around metal brackets and hope you don’t get cavities.
- Invisalign fits directly over your teeth. Since you don’t have complicated metal brackets and wires, food particles won’t get trapped in your teeth and cause tooth decay.
Do You Qualify for Invisalign?
Many patients choose Invisalign simply because they want a better smile. If you have crooked or uneven teeth, Invisalign straightens your teeth and improves their appearance. However, your dentist might recommend Invisalign if you suffer from certain conditions like overbites, underbites, teeth crowding, jaw pain, bone loss and sleep disorders. You’ll improve your health and enjoy a straighter smile at the same time.
While Invisalign is popular with adults, children and teenagers also choose Invisalign as an alternative to metal braces. Traditional braces are painful and unattractive, which makes children feel self-conscious. Invisalign is virtually invisible–in fact, no one will know that your child’s undergoing treatment. They’ll feel increasingly confident as they watch their teeth become straight and even.
Is Invisalign as Effective as Traditional Braces?
Invisalign is actually more effective than traditional braces. While metal braces take up to four years to straighten your teeth, Invisalign corrects your teeth in two years or less. In fact, some patients end their treatment after six months. You’ll enjoy the benefits of traditional braces with none of the metal brackets, wires, rubber bands or cement.
How Does Invisalign Work?
Here’s what happens when you undergo Invisalign treatments:
- You’ll set up an appointment with our team. When you arrive, we’ll take impressions of your teeth that we’ll use to craft the aligners.
- We’ll create a set of dental trays and give them to you at your next appointment. You’ll use these trays one at a time until you’ve completed your treatment.
- To start, you’ll wear the first set of aligners. The aligners apply pressure to your teeth that gradually makes them shift.
- After a certain time frame, you’ll swap out the trays for the next set of aligners. These aligners continue to apply pressure to your teeth, straightening them even further.
- You’ll continue the process until you’ve used all the trays. Periodically, you’ll return to our office to see how your treatment is going.
- At the end, you’ll have straight teeth, better health and less discomfort.
We’ll discuss the process in more detail when you arrive for your consultation.
How Do You Get the Most Out of Invisalign?
While Invisalign is faster and more comfortable than other treatments, you’ll still need to stay on track to make it work. Wear your Invisalign trays for at least twenty hours day, and remove them only for brief periods, like when you brush your teeth. Swap out the trays according to schedule to keep straightening your teeth. If you stop wearing the aligners too early or take them out too often, your teeth will remain crooked.
Does Invisalign Come with Any Risks?
Invisalign is a non-invasive procedure that comes with few risks. At most, you might notice a slight lisp when you first start wearing your aligners. In rare cases, you could damage the aligners if you clench your teeth hard enough. Let us know if you have a polyurethane allergy that makes you ineligible for Invisalign. Otherwise, slight discomfort is the most you’ll experience during your treatment.
How Do You Get Started?
When you’re ready to straighten your teeth, contact us to set up an appointment. We’ll discuss your options and decide if Invisalign is the best treatment for you. If you qualify, we’ll move onto the next steps and start treatment as soon as possible. With Invisalign, you may enjoy a brighter, straighter smile in two years or less.
Other services at our clinic include X-rays, screenings, preventive cleanings, cavity fillings, crowns, bridges, sealants and cosmetic dentistry. We serve patients at every age–children, teenagers, adults and the elderly. If you have anxiety about visiting the dentist, we’ll employ relaxation dentistry techniques that keep you calm during your visit.
Call our office, or request an appointment online to get started. We’re accepting new and returning patients. If we ask you to fill out forms before your visit, print them directly from our website and bring the forms when you arrive.
