The treatment process for Invisalign St John’s Wood

If you are now ready to straighten your teeth as an adult, 2022 is probably the perfect time to do so. Over the last 10 years in adult orthodontic care, there has been something of an overhaul, and now, adult patients can get the straighter smiles they want without needing to use metal braces. In fact, metal braces are now only used to treat severe or complex cases of dental misalignment.

If you attend a checkup with our team today, you are more likely to be offered a clear or invisible brace, also known as an aligner, but this will depend on the severity of the dental misalignment being corrected.

At Aura Dental, we are always happy to meet with adult patients who want to straighten their teeth, and we are eager to offer the use of Invisalign St John’s Wood. This is a clear aligner that can slot over your teeth, and as it is custom fitted, it has changed the face of adult orthodontic care and is one of the most popular and successful aligners that you can have.

How do we determine whether you’re suitable? In this short guide, you will be introduced to a basic breakdown of what is involved when it comes to using Invisalign St John’s Wood.

Consultation

Firstly, our team needs to assess whether you are suitable, and this will take place at the initial consultation. During this, we will assess the severity of the misalignment of your teeth, check your dental health for signs of cavities and gum disease and then determine whether Invisalign St John’s Wood will be beneficial to correcting your misalignment.

If we deem it to be suitable, then we will take an intraoral scan of your teeth, the results of which will be sent to a dental laboratory.

Aligners arrive!

What’s interesting about invisible aligners is that they can be printed using a specialised 3D printer. So, with the intraoral scan that is sent, a dental team will then upload the scan to digital software and move your digital teeth into the desired positions in a set of stages. Once this has been broken down into about 12 or 14 steps, the aligners will be printed to custom fit your teeth at each stage. The process of printing the aligners can take 6 to 8 weeks, and when they arrive back at our surgery, we will call you for an assessment to ensure that they fit.

Daily wear

Unless otherwise specified, you need to wear your aligners for 22 hours a day. If you do not, the realignment process may slow, or your teeth may revert to their former positions. To keep your aligners clean, simply rinse them under a cold water tap and avoid putting them in hot or warm water as this may cause them to warp.

The app

Invisalign comes with an associated app, which can be downloaded on smartphones. The app will allow you to send weekly photographs to our team so that we can assess whether the aligners are working as predicted. If there is a severe issue with the treatment, we will call you into the surgery, but generally, you will not need to see your team very often.

Retainers

Once the treatment is over (which will take an average of 3 to 6 months), you will need to wear a custom-fitted retainer; this will hold your teeth in their new positions and prevent reversion.