Invisible Braces

Nobody enjoys wearing dental braces, although the end result may be pleasing and well worth it. In past years there was no choice if you wanted straight teeth. It was "metal mouth" or crooked teeth. But as cosmetic dentistry continues to expand and become more known and more popular, new procedures are developed to meet people’s needs.

New devices are also developed, and one very remarkable one is the invisible braces known as Invisalign. It may be hard to imagine invisible braces, considering how very visible traditional braces are. But actually, Invisalign involves a series of trays rather like tooth whitening trays, and there are no wires or pieces of metal at all.

How Does Invisalign Work?

Instead of wearing a metal or ceramic bracket on each tooth, all connected to a wire arch, you wear a translucent tray (or pair of trays) custom-made to fit your teeth. Over your entire treatment period, you wear a series of them, each one picking up the treatment where the previous one left off.

Every two weeks, you would take the current one out and start wearing the next one (or the next pair, upper and lower). Each one applies pressure on certain teeth according to your pre-determined treatment plan. They are appropriately called "invisible braces", as they are not easily visible, unless someone is particularly looking for them. You can take them out at any time, and should take them out to eat, brush, and floss.

To get the maximum benefit from them, you should wear them for at least 22 hours each day, so your teeth are under the correct pressures most of the time.

Your Invisalign Treatment Plan

Since each person’s teeth are unique to them, your re-alignment plan will be also unique. Dr. Coleman will first give you a thorough dental examination to make sure Invisalign is appropriate for you. You may not be a good candidate if your teeth are too severely crowded or misaligned.

Then Dr. Coleman will photograph and measure your teeth. Using the Invisalign software, he’ll determine how many sets of aligners you’ll need to move your teeth into correct positions. He’ll determine which teeth will receive which sort of pressure at which stage in the whole treatment.

He’ll send all the data to the Invisalign laboratory, where your aligners will be custom-made. Every six weeks you will have an appointment with Dr. Coleman for a progress check, and to receive the next few sets of aligners.

Please see our page on Invisalign Questions for more details.

Invisible braces can give you excellent results with a minimum of inconvenience. If you would like to know more about this option, and whether you would be a good candidate for it, please send us an email, or call our Poway, California office. We will be happy to set up a complimentary consultation for you.