Invisalign®: Get Perfectly Aligned Teeth Without a Metal Mouth

Invisalign allows you to straighten your teeth and skip all the metal, so it’s no wonder it’s more popular than ever. In fact, more than 15 million smiles have already been created through Invisalign treatment.

At Tenth Street Family Dental, our knowledgeable dentists, Srinivas Durshanapelli, DDS, and Donald Rogers, DDS, and the entire team have special expertise with Invisalign. We love to help patients in the Indianapolis, Indiana, area get the smile they’ve always wanted, without sacrificing their appearance in the meantime. 

So, today we’re covering the Invisalign essentials you need to know in the blog.

Invisalign vs metal braces

Invisalign and metal braces couldn’t be more different, and it goes beyond appearance.

Metal braces 

Braces consist of metal brackets, which are glued to the front of your teeth with dental cement. Wires run through openings in those brackets, so it’s a lot of metal in your mouth at once. 

With braces, wires can break and poke into your inner cheeks, and brackets can abrade the delicate inner mouth. You also have to be careful about what you eat when you have braces. One half-popped kernel of popcorn could be your undoing, and you can forget about super chewy and hard foods as long as you have braces. 

Many people consider the metal mouth appearance the worst part about metal braces. It can definitely detract from your appearance and may make you feel less-than-confident about your smile. 

Invisalign

Invisalign consists of a pair of removable plastic aligners: trays that snap over your top and bottom rows of teeth. The aligners, which are made from a revolutionary high-grade plastic called SmartTrack®, are custom crafted for your mouth. The SmartTrack plastic shifts your teeth in increments over time. Every two weeks, you start wearing new aligners.  

Aligners are completely transparent, so most people won’t even realize you’re wearing them. You wear Invisalign for 20-22 hours a day. 

You remove them for meals and oral health care. That means you can eat whatever you like, avoid all the discomfort that metal brings with it, and smile with confidence. 

Avoiding metal mouth is a major motivator for many people. In fact, a New York Times article cited that as the major reason that Invisalign is growing increasingly popular among teenagers today. Adults feel the same way. Showing a metal-free smile can make you feel more confident at work and in your social life, and it can help you feel happier with your reflection.

Cases Invisalign can treat

There are many different types of tooth alignment issues, and Invisalign can treat virtually all of them. It may be able to help you if you have: 

• Overbite: upper teeth close over lower ones
• Underbite: lower teeth close outside of upper ones
• Open bite: upper and lower teeth don’t connect with your mouth closed
• Cross bite: top and bottom jaws are misaligned
• Gaps in your teeth: spaces between teeth (often the front teeth)
• Crowded teeth: teeth overlap because of too little room in the jaw

Invisalign may also treat other cases. Our Tenth Street Family Dental team is happy to set up an assessment for you, so we can check your tooth alignment and talk about your treatment goals in detail. Most patients who want teeth straightening are good Invisalign candidates.

How long it takes to get a straight smile with Invisalign

As far as treatment time goes, it really depends on the patient. Some patients may need to wear Invisalign for as little as six months, but average treatment time is around 12-18 months. You’ll start to see improvements in your tooth alignment within a few weeks, though. 

Sometimes braces and Invisalign are often about equal, but the Invisalign site references a study that proved it can straighten even faster than metal braces. 

Perfectly aligned teeth are easier to achieve than you may have thought, thanks to Invisalign. If you want to learn more, call our Tenth Street Family Dental office or reach out online now.