Invisalign, an Orthodontic Alternative That Fits Your Lifestyle
Want to straighten your teeth without the hassle of braces? Dr. Yina Li at Embrace Orthodontics provides the same high-quality specialist orthodontic treatment with Invisalign aligners.
Change the Way You Think About Straightening Teeth
Unlike the traditional braces where teeth are moved by brackets and wires, the Invisalign system will gently guide your teeth to where they need to go by using a series of clear plastic aligners. The trays are nearly invisible, a desirable feature to many patients who prefer their orthodontic treatment to be discreet. In addition, Invisalign aligners also provide more comfort, easier brushing and flossing, and less frequent office visit during orthodontic treatment; therefore, it has been a very popular and preferred treatment modality among our Ann Arbor area patients ranging from young professionals, teen musicians, to older adults who don’t want to change their routine with braces.
The Invisalign Process
When you visit Embrace Orthodontics, we’ll take photos and X-rays to facilitate Dr. Li to the evaluation of your orthodontic needs. If you are a great candidate for Invisalign, we will then take a digital 3D imaging of your teeth using our iTero digital scanner. The Scan will be used to make your first set of custom-fitted aligners.
You wear the trays for about 22 hours a day but can remove them for brushing your teeth and eating. You’ll wear several sets of trays throughout your orthodontic treatment.
Depending on the complexity of the treatment, you could typically wear Invisalign aligners for 9–18 months.
Dr. Yina Li will tailor treatment based on your specific goals and needs to help you quickly get the wonderful smile you deserve. You’ll start to notice a change in just a few months!
Invisalign Offers Modern Advantages
The plastic aligners used for Invisalign treatment are transparent so most people won’t even know you’re wearing them. This advantage is what makes Invisalign one of the most well-known orthodontic brand name solutions available.
Besides keeping unsightly metal out of your mouth, Invisalign provides several other benefits that traditional braces can’t, including:
- Aligners can be removed so you can eat, drink and clean your teeth easily.
- Very thin, non-attention-grabbing aligners that are significantly more comfortable than brackets and wires, which can bother a mouth inside.
- Fewer orthodontic office visits during treatment as you are wearing through the series of aligners because aligner sets don’t need to be “adjusted” as opposed to brackets and wires.
- Much fewer emergency visits hence providing great convenience.
- Same or even quicker treatment time, especially for patients with excellent compliance.
Why Getting Invisalign from an Orthodontic Specialist?
You’ve probably noticed Invisalign is offered by dentists and orthodontists. While some simple cases can certainly be treated by your general dentist, if your misalignment is more than just some minor crowding or spacing, it is recommended that you get a consultation done by an orthodontist. Orthodontists are dentists who underwent additional specialty training in Orthodontics, hence are much more experienced in treating more complicated orthodontic cases. This is especially true in situations when experience can make a difference to avoid unwanted side effects during complex orthodontic treatments. While Invisalign aligners are not necessarily made in-house at the orthodontic office, the whole design process to make the series of aligners are completely supervised and dictated by the orthodontist, to ensure the delivery of best quality of orthodontic specialist care. At Embrace Orthodontics, Dr. Li often spends hours behind the scene, after patients get their scan done, to revise the design of our patients’ aligners to ensure that best results can be achieved in the least amount of treatment time. To her, Invisalign is in essence not much different from the traditional braces in that it serves as a great tool to allow her to move patients’ teeth in a predictable way.
Invisalign vs. Braces
The biggest difference between Invisalign and braces is how your smile looks during treatment. Thanks to Invisalign’s clear plastic trays, there won’t be any metal to distract from your smile-in-progress.
The metal components of traditional braces can also irritate your mouth, while the smooth plastic aligners will be much more comfortable.
Because they’re removed when you eat, you won’t have to watch what you eat like you would when wearing braces – bring on the popcorn and peanuts.
In fact, the aligners must be removed for eating and for drinking anything other than water. You need to make sure you’re willing to do that before you decide on Invisalign clear braces.
To prevent staining, you’ll need to clean your teeth before putting the aligners back on after each time you eat.
Of course, brushing and flossing are much easier than with traditional braces, since you don’t have to work around any brackets and wires.
Invisalign FAQs
There isn’t an easy answer to this. The length of your treatment will depend on of correction needed and how well you follow Dr. Li’s instructions. Every patient’s mouth will respond to treatment in a unique way, which will affect your treatment time as well.
Once you have your first aligners, you’ll visit our Ann Arbor office for follow up appointments to make sure your smile is on track.
Because they’re removed when you eat, you won’t have to watch what you eat like you would when wearing braces – bring on the popcorn and peanuts.
In fact, the aligners must be removed for eating and for drinking anything other than water. You need to make sure you’re willing to do that before you decide on Invisalign clear braces.
To prevent staining, you’ll need to clean your teeth before putting the aligners back on after each time you eat.
Of course, brushing and flossing are much easier than with traditional braces, since you don’t have to work around any brackets and wires.
Without metal brackets and wires, Invisalign treatment will cause much less irritation in your mouth than other treatments.
It’s not uncommon for patients to experience some pain as your mouth gets used to your new aligners. This usually goes away in a couple of days. Over-the-counter pain relievers such as acetaminophen can lesson this brief annoyance.
During your first visit, Dr. Li determined the cost of your treatment based on your needed corrections and several other factors.
Once those essential features have been determined, one of our team members will estimate the cost based on your personalized treatment plan.
If you plan on using insurance, we can work with you to determine what your out of pocket costs would be, based on your coverage.
Another advantage of Invisalign is how easy it is to care for both your teeth and the aligners themselves. A scrub with your toothbrush under warm water should take care of any essential cleaning your aligners need.
Use only warm water as higher-water temperatures may warp the plastic. If you’re trying to get out the door quickly, some antibacterial soap can also be used, as long as you thoroughly rinse the aligners before resuming putting them on your teeth.
Invisalign Responsibility
It’s important to wear your aligners for at least 22 hours each day, as recommended by Dr. Li, so they can do their job and straighten your teeth. But, with Invisalign, you can remove your aligners for special occasions.
Like with traditional braces, you’ll generally need to wear a retainer after Invisalign treatment to maintain your new alignment—and your confident new smile.
Talk to Us About Invisalign
Dr. Li may not recommend Invisalign for some more complex alignment or bite issues, or for those who have bridgework; Dr. Li can advise you about what options are best.
Schedule your free consultation with Dr. Li at our office to learn if Invisalign is right for you. Be sure to follow our social pages for any Invisalign specials.
