You have attended every routine exam and cleaning in your dental plan, and you never skip or skimp on your at-home oral health practices. The result: You have perfectly healthy, white teeth. Now you’re ready to take the next step and straighten out the imperfections in your smile, but you want to avoid traditional braces. Fortunately, at Bourne Dental Associates, our Bourne dentists offer a comfortable and nearly invisible braces option for patients with mild to moderate misalignment: Invisalign.

What is Invisalign?

This teeth-straightening system uses clear aligners that are made out of nearly invisible plastic and, unlike traditional braces, can be inserted and removed for special occasions, eating, and your daily cleaning routines. The aligners are BPA free and so smooth that they don’t irritate your cheeks and gums. Invisalign is an invisible-braces method that begins with a consultation during which you and your Bourne dental provider plan the desired result. A series of custom-made aligners are then used to correct your unique misalignment.

The Invisalign Treatment Process

Your Invisalign treatment begins with a consultation. Your Bourne dentist will analyze your bite and discuss your dental goals with you. Once Invisalign has been determined to be the best tooth-straightening system for you, your dental provider will:

1. 1. Take x-rays and impressions of your teeth to create a digital image
   2. Map the movements of your teeth from their current position to the final desired position
   3. Have custom-made clear aligners created specifically for you, to wear through the day
   4. Monitor your progress and have you change aligners ever two weeks, advancing you to the next stage of your treatment

As you move from one aligner to the next (approximately every two weeks), your teeth will gradually shift until they reach their final, improved position.

FAQ

How Invisalign Works

Invisalign clear aligners work the same way traditional braces do: by applying carefully controlled forces to teeth to move them into a better position. But they are not made of metal; instead, they are made of clear, flexible plastic.

Here’s how it works: Specialized computer software is used to design a plan for moving your teeth from their current positions into the best possible alignment. This movement will be broken down into perhaps several dozen stages. For each stage, the Invisalign company will manufacture two plastic mouth “trays” or “aligners,” one to fit over your top teeth and one for the bottom. You will wear this first set of trays for two weeks, for a minimum of 20 hours per day. You will then move on to the next set of aligners in your series to accomplish the next stage of gradual movement. You will keep doing this until your teeth are correctly aligned.

In the past several years, two features have been added to make Invisalign a more appropriate orthodontic treatment method for teenagers. Special “eruption tabs” hold the appropriate amount of space open for molars that have not fully grown in. Invisalign for teens also comes with “compliance indicators” built into the aligner material, which fade with wear. This allows parents, dentists, and the teens themselves, to make sure the trays are being worn as prescribed. Treatment with Invisalign can only be successful if this is the case.

Caring for Your Teeth During Invisalign Treatment

As mentioned above, one of the main advantages of the Invisalign system is that the trays can be removed for easy cleaning. So please don’t neglect to do this! You’ll need to brush your teeth after every meal or snack so that food and plaque do not get trapped in the aligners, which could promote tooth decay and gum disease. Your aligners, too, will have to be cleaned regularly; you can do this by brushing them and then rinsing them with lukewarm water.

Also, please keep in mind that while wearing clear aligners is very different from wearing braces, the importance of retaining your post-treatment results is exactly the same. You’ll want to be sure to wear your retainer(s) exactly as prescribed after your treatment is completed to protect your investment in a beautiful new smile.

Improve your smile with Invisalign braces in our East Falmouth office. Call (508) 540-2303 to schedule an appointment!