A guide to the Invisalign process

When you are an adult who has misaligned teeth, it’s highly likely that you will be looking for a way to minimise any visual impact while your teeth are being straightened.

And luckily, the dental world is now able to offer patients who have a mild to moderate case of dental misalignment just that. After all, it would not be fair to put a fitted brace on somebody who only has a small gap between their front teeth! In adult orthodontic care today, it is common practice to use fitted braces on only the most complex and extreme cases; this is due in part to the creation and widespread use of invisible aligners.

When you come to visit our team at Spa Dental Ryde, we will always be happy to discuss the possibility of you using one of our most famous aligners, Invisalign Ryde. This aligner is custom fitted to your mouth and is the closest thing you will get to an invisible brace. It is removable, efficient and faster than traditional braces, making it all round more desirable for adult patients.

What goes into creating Invisalign Ryde, and what process can you expect if you are deemed suitable? This article breaks down that question, so read on to learn more.

The consultation

As a first step, you will need to have a consultation with our team. Invisalign Ryde is not appropriate for everybody, and if you have misalignments involving your molar teeth or have a more complex condition, you would probably be more suitable to have a fitted brace.

If we deem you to be eligible for using this aligner, we will take an intraoral scan of your mouth which will be the base of the realignment process.

Making the aligners

The making of the aligners is not done by our team and is instead performed at a dental laboratory. Remember the intraoral scan we mentioned earlier? This is the base line that is entered into a computer, and using digital vector points your teeth will be rearranged. These rearrangements will be broken down into 12 to 14 steps, and each step will represent an aligner. The external shape will then be moulded into a 3D shape and printed using a 3D printer.

Wearing them

Yes, you can remove the aligners, but you should only aim to do so for around 2 hours per day. Anything more than this can cause severe disruption to the process and slow everything down. When you take them out, you should place them into the carry case provided and to keep them clean, you should rinse them under a cold water tap. If you have any concerns about your aligners not fitting correctly, you should contact our team.

Check-ups

As they do not need to be adjusted or tightened, these aligners can be checked digitally. We always advise our patients who are using the invisible aligners to download the associated app to their smartphones, which will enable them to send our team photographs once a week. We can then determine how well the realignment is going, and if we spot any issues, we will call you into the surgery.

Retainers

Once the process is finished, in around 3 to 6 months, you will need to wear retainers. This is to prevent your teeth from moving back to their original position, and physically, they will not look or feel exceedingly different from the aligners that you have stopped using!

So, call our team for more information about aligners today!

DISCLAIMER

All treatment carries risks. Individual consultation is required with one of our practitioners to ensure that the treatment is right for you.