Invisible braces; are they any good?

We have been supplying Invisalign in St. John’s Wood, for many years and have had great experiences with seeing our patients through treatment schedules using invisible aligners, let’s talk more about them.

What are invisible aligners?

Invisible aligners are an orthodontic tool; it’s role is to progressively straighten your teeth over time. They are in thin plastic forms which you wear over your teeth; they fit very snuggly to the point of being slightly tight, but this is the sensation of the system pushing on your teeth over time. It is that consistent pressure which will coax your team to adopt a new position;exactly which position this is depends on the shape of the aligner.

This makes the shape of the aligners the most critical element for treatment. Unlike a brace which is worn for the entire patient orthodontic journey, clear aligners are only worn for 2-weeks each, as part of a series of aligners making up the length of the treatment. This could be anywhere between 4 months and 2 years depending on the starting and finishing position as well as how the patient’s teeth respond to treatment.

Are invisible aligners invisible?

Invisible aligners and one of their earliest manufacturers options that we use in the clinic are not strictly invisible but due to being completely translucent and very thin, they are hardly noticeable when being worn.

Invisalign in St.John’s Wood has been particularly popular with adult orthodontic patients; this seems to be due to a higher expectation amount. Our adult cohorts as teenagers and young adults usually use NHS funded braces, and have to wait to see the results of the orthodontic care when they finally have their braces. But this is not true with Invisalign in St.John Wood.

Another aspect that makes clear aligners more appropriate for adult patients is the removability; you must, of course, return them to your mouth and wear them for 22 hours each day for the treatment to work.

Computer-aided dentistry

The most innovative aspects of invisible aligners is the use of computer aided design and the 3D scan of the patient teeth in order to design and iron out the treatment schedule. This gives better predictive results, so we can show our patients a real-time example of how their teeth will look upon completion.

It is this computer aided design that allows aligners to be sent through to 3D printers and manufactured. It can take as little as four weeks for a set of aligners to be produced from a 3D scan and sent to our clinic, allowing you to start your treatment promptly.

Due to how critical the shape of an aligner is to an effective treatment, there are certain do’s and don’ts with your aligner; they can be quite sensitive to heat and easily warped in a washing machine or tumble dryer. This can easily occur by cleaning your aligner in hot water, so take care to not throw your aligner in with your washing or into a tumble dryer!