Treatment Diagnosis
By calling a certified orthodontic office you make an appointment for a first visit. In order to speed up the medical opinion, on the phone you will be askedto keep with you a recent panoramic x-ray of your teeth and a lateral cephalometric x-ray.
During the first appointment, you and your doctor will discuss about your orthodontic problem, what possibilities you have to correct it with Invisalign, which Invisalign treatment is most suitable (e.g. full or lite treatment) for you, and approximately how long your treatment will last. The experienced orthodontist, observing your teeth and x-rays, is able from the very first appointment to make an accurate diagnosis of your problem, determine the most suitable Invisalign treatment for you, its schedule, as well as the alternatives that exist, for to decide.
On your first visit, the doctor’s associate will inform you about the cost of the proposed Invisalign treatment, the financial arrangement and the payment options you have. Most Orthodontists today offer flexible and affordable monthly payment methods, which will allow you to start an Invisalign treatment by “investing” in the health of your mouth, your smile and the quality of your life.
In deciding whether or not to begin Invisalign treatment, you will take into account many factors, such as the type and duration of treatment, the frequency of visits to the medical office, your desire to cooperate throughout the treatment and of course the cost of it. If the answers you give are positive, then call for the next appointment, which marks the beginning of your treatment.
Immediately after receiving all your necessary diagnostic information (x-rays, photos and scanning your teeth with the i-Tero scanner) your doctor prepares a detailed treatment plan that solves your orthodontic problem in the simplest, shortest and best way.
Treatment Proposal
After a few days you will see on the computer the course and final result of your treatment in a virtual 3D video (the well-known ClinCheck), as well as the number of aligners you will need to wear.
Invisalign through Clin Check (the film of your treatment), gives you the opportunity – even virtually – to see your teeth and smile as you have never seen them before, before your treatment even begins.
Looking at the video of your treatment on the computer, you’ll notice that you don’t have to wait until the end of your treatment to see your smile improve. The gradual but visible improvement of your teeth occurs from the very first braces, so that you can see the positive changes of Invisalign in your smile and psychology from the very beginning of the treatment. And because your “elevated” mood is very important for the successful outcome of your treatment, the experienced orthodontist makes sure to prepare your treatment plan in such a way that, from the beginning, the positive results can be seen in your mouth.
The Invisalign treatment and the forces applied to the teeth to bring them to their final, straight positions are designed on a computer with the help of a special program in California, USA by the company Align Technology. The special program used is adapted to the biology of the teeth and jaws and calculates with absolute precision the forces needed to move each tooth individually. So the forces exerted through the aligners on your teeth are of low intensity and are known from the beginning of the treatment. To give you an idea of the small magnitude of the forces that braces exert on your teeth, we tell you that the segments of your lower denture require no more than 30 grams each to move into the desired, straight positions.
This fact allows us to say that Invisalign is a predictable treatment throughout its duration. This is because the orthodontist can move either all your teeth at the same time, if you have strong gums to finish your treatment faster, or, if not, each time only those teeth that can be moved (and not all together).
This means that patients who have sensitive gums, gingivitis or periodontal disease especially benefit from Invisalign treatment since the braces exert light forces only on specific ones and do not burden all teeth in general.
With Invisalign you know the end of your treatment before it even begins.
Preparation of Aligners – Beginning of Treatment
The ALIGN Technology company in California, USA. processes your initial diagnostic data (photographs of your face and teeth, panoramic and lateral cephalometric x-rays, and the scan of your teeth). Then based on the treatment plan the orthodontist has suggested for you, the company prepares a virtual treatment model (virtual animation) in video format, the so-called ClinCheck, which it sends by e-mail after a few weeks to your doctor’s computer. This treatment model is designed for you, it illustrates all the stages of your treatment, the number of aligners that will be needed and contains all the details for the successful completion of your treatment.
After viewing your video and your consent, the doctor notifies the company to proceed with the manufacture of the aligners based on the specific (virtual) treatment model. After a few days the aligners arrive by courier from the company and you are informed to come to the clinic to receive the first of them.
A wonderful new smile is revealed, YOUR NEW SMILE, which with a little patience and a lot of enthusiasm on your part will soon become your reality!
Treatment Monitoring
Once you agree to the treatment plan recommended by your orthodontist, he orders your braces from ALIGN. After some time they arrive at the Clinic and you receive the first ones, which you wear for two weeks for 21-22 hours daily. Then wear the next pair of splints again for two weeks and so on. until the last ones in line.
The number of braces varies from patient to patient depending on the case and the severity of the orthodontic problem. Usually, however, a full treatment starts with 14 braces (lasts about 7-9 months) for the upper and lower denture, in cases of small anomalies, and reaches 60-70 braces (in about 24 months) for more complex cases.
You wear each pair of braces day and night for approximately 21-22 hours, except when eating or brushing your teeth. This is done for the entire series of braces, from the first to the last, which guides your teeth into their final, straight positions and gives you your new great smile!
Every 4-6 weeks you visit your orthodontist to monitor the progress of your treatment and give you the next series of braces. Throughout the treatment, you will notice small gradual movements of your teeth, until their final straightening and the acquisition of your new, bright smile.
Treatment Completion
With the daily application of aligners (or in cases with braces) the treatment is completed when the teeth reach their final, straight positions and the closing of the jaws is harmonious and balanced.
At the last appointments, the doctor checks the alignment of all the teeth and the correct contact between the upper and lower teeth. In order for patients to be ready to complete their treatment with Invisalign aligners or braces, their mouths must have:
When the orthodontist finds that all the above conditions are met in the mouths of his patients, he informs them that the treatment is nearing its end. Final x-rays (panoramic and lateral cephalometric) are ordered, final photographs are taken to compare with the initial situation and of course the orthodontic appliances are removed. Our new smile is now a fact and compensates for our and the doctor’s efforts.
An orthodontic treatment usually lasts 8 – 12 months. In ordinary cases it reaches 22 – 24 months, while it is good not to exceed 36 months in children or in more serious situations.
After the completion of the treatment, there is the maintenance phase of the result, which should be applied for several years. This is the only way we maintain the beautiful result that we have achieved with great effort and ensure OUR BEAUTIFUL SMILE … FOREVER.
Result maintenance
This phase, also called the passive phase of Orthodontics, is necessary to maintain the beautiful smile we achieved with the help of treatment for a lifetime. This is because the teeth after the removal of the orthodontic devices (braces or Invisalign aligners) have a tendency to return to their original crooked positions, because they simply have not yet stabilized in their new straight positions. Stabilization of the teeth generally takes a long time and therefore maintenance must be imperative especially in the first year after the end of the treatment. After the first year she is allowed to be more relaxed, and it is done mainly during evening hours and sleep.
The tendency to move the teeth to their original positions is something that can last a long time after the end of the treatment (either with braces or with Invisalign braces) and it is also different from person to person. No doctor can predict the speed and extent of relapse of teeth into their original crooked positions. In general, the greater the orthodontic problem and the movements of the teeth to correct it, the greater the chance of recurrence.
Maintenance of the result is usually achieved by using mobile orthodontic devices (clear aligners) that the patient wears at night (at least 10 hours daily). Also, by welding a special orthodontic wire from the inner surface of the front teeth, we strengthen their immobilization, as a result of which we ensure the beautiful result of the treatment even when we do not wear the transparent maintenance aligners.
However, we make sure to brush the maintenance aligners daily with our toothbrush and toothpaste. When we are not wearing them, we keep them in the special case that the orthodontist gives us because otherwise there is a risk of them being lost or broken. It is good to keep our aligners in good condition because they keep our teeth in their correct positions.
During the maintenance phase, which lasts as long as we wish to have a beautiful smile, our visit to the clinic for a check-up and re-examination by the orthodontist is repeated 3 times a year.
Can our wisdom teeth cause our teeth to misalign again after orthodontic treatment is over?
Because the wisdom teeth are the last teeth that emerge in our mouths at the age of 16 – 18 years, it is very likely that when they emerge they do not find sufficient space to take their places in the jaws. They then push against the other teeth in front of them, which can lead to tooth crowding especially in the lower incisors.
That is why it is very important that the retainers are worn according to our instructions to prevent pressure from the wisdom teeth and keep the rest of the teeth in their ideal positions.
