What is Invisalign?
If you want straight teeth without having to wear railway-track braces or metal wire recliners, this is the way to go. This is a method of teeth straightening using a series of almost ‘barely-there’ and nearly invisible, aligners or braces, that are removable and custom-made specifically to fit onto your teeth, as opposed to a one-size-fits-all device.
The idea behind this technique is to replace your aligner once every two weeks because your teeth will move every couple millimetre week by week until they have finally reached the final intended position. This method has been used by almost 3 million people worldwide and counting.
How Do I Get Them?
To opt for this, you initially need to make an appointment with your dentist or Invisalign consultant, who will go through the details with you and check to see if you need it, for how long and how much it will cost.
Consultations are usually free at dental practices. So before going straight to book an appointment to get the Invisalign braces, you should check first if you are a candidate for them, as not everyone will require a pair.
Is It a Cheap or Expensive Treatment?
A lot of people ask about the Invisalign cost on average and only get a proper answer once they have been to their consultant. The reason for this is that there is no set price for getting these braces until you have seen your provider because they need to do an analysis of your mouth to see how much time it will take to get your teeth straightened. So, if the complexity of the straightening process is high and will take a few months, for instance, to get it fixed, you will pay more for it.
A ball-park figure that compares adult braces to Invisalign is typically around $2,500 to $5,500. They cost relatively similar to other braces. And if you cannot afford them straight away, some dentists offer payment plans to accommodate your budget needs.
What Are the Benefits?
Of course, if you are looking to straighten your teeth, due to any reason whatsoever. Getting any kind of braces or recliners, would be the first thing to invest in. in the same way as that, getting Invisalign aligners for your teeth would do the same thing, but in a shorter amount of time.
Secondly, they are almost 90% less visible than any other aligners on the market, because they are made from a plastic almost invisible material called SmartTrack®. What is nice about these is that they are FDA-approved and the material is gluten-free, BPA-free, and latex and BPS-free. You can find out more about this online.
Another benefit of choosing these over traditional wired braces is that they are removable, so you can eat or drink whatever you want, brush your teeth after (or at least rinse your mouth), and put them back in. Also, because they do not contain any ‘tracks’, wires or rubber bands like other options, it means you can spend less time at the dentist’s practice. The only time you do need to visit them is after the 2 weeks, and sometimes not even, depending on the schedule prepared by your provider.
Another great thing about it being removable is that you can still keep your daily hygiene routine, like brushing and flossing without interfering or breaking anything while trying to brush in between your braces, and we all know how uncomfortable that can be, especially when food particles get stuck in and around your devices.
You can even clean your aligners using either the specific cleaning crystals made for this purpose, or you can get cleaning tablets. Some say just rinsing it with warm water is good enough, but it is important to keep them clean. It is recommended to wear them for at least 22 hours in a day but of course not during eating, brushing or flossing your teeth.
Most of us already have an idea in our head about how we would like our teeth to look once the treatment is over. With this option, you can see your treatment plan, as well as your virtual results before the treatment, has even begun, using the 3-D system that your orthodontist will show you during the consultation, so you have something to look forward to. Often, seeing the end result motivates a lot of us to stick with the plan.
Who Makes the Best Ones?
The original manufacturer is a multi-national medical device company, that goes by the name Align Technology, but admirers followed suit and started to make their signature versions of these clear aligners, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clear_aligners and the process itself from concept to completion, took several years and a lot of funding from venture capitalists.
Even though there were a lot of sceptics in the initial stages when the idea first came out, the technology became a big hit and patients that started using them back in the year 2002, grew to a staggering 180,000 in the just 2 years, in 2004. The medical-grade plastic used to manufacture the trays is both strong and flexible enough to mould around your teeth without doing any harm of being too uncomfortable. It is now being offered in almost 45 countries.
The biggest advantage is that you can wear both during the day as well as during the night, which doubles the speed of aligning your teeth in comparison to others that can only be worn at night while you sleep. The more you wear them the faster your teeth start to make a difference, which is why orthodontists call their patients in for a consultation every two to six weeks, because it starts to work that quickly.
Investing in yourself i.e. your teeth is possibly the best thing you can do for your life. It has been known to increase a lot of patient’s confidence in a matter of weeks. If in doubt always speak to your dentist or oral practitioner on the best way to get started.
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