Invisalign is a lower profile option for straightening teeth for patients who prefer to avoid metal braces. Read on to find out how long the Invisalign process will take.
Invisalign is a series of clear plastic aligners that straighten your teeth in small increments over a predetermined period of time.
The average course of Invisalign for adults is about a year, and a bit longer for teens. However, each patient is different, and there are a variety of factors that may impact the duration of your particular treatment.
The Severity of Your Misalignment
If your teeth are severely misaligned, it will obviously take longer to straighten them. This is the case with braces too, but with Invisalign, the severity of your misalignment will determine...
The Number of Aligners in your Series
Invisalign is a series of aligners, and each set of aligners in the series is switched out to the next one every other week. If you already know how many aligners are in your series, then you can just do the math:
Let’s say you have 16 sets of aligners.
You have to switch them out every two weeks, so that’s two sets of aligners each month.
16 divided by 2 is 8, so that means your treatment will last you 8 months.
Your Compliance to Treatment
You play a more important role in the duration of your treatment than you think! At the outset of the Invisalign process, you dentist will give you an estimate of how long treatment will take. You can help make sure treatment goes as planned by always wearing you aligners as prescribed throughout.
During treatment with Invisalign, you must wear your aligners full time, every day, to make sure things stay on track. That means 22 hours a day of aligner wear each and every day for the duration of your treatment.
The more compliant you are with treatment, the quicker it will go, so only take your aligners out to eat, brush and floss… and don’t forget to put them back in!
Are you Using AccleDent?
Acceledent is a supplementary orthodontic device that uses soft pulse technology and cyclic forces to accelerate the movement of teeth by up to 50% during orthodontic treatment.
As your dentist about whether this device is right for you.
How long before I start noticing results?
Most patient begin to see noticeable results around the 4 - 6 week mark. You may find it helpful to to take a picture of your smile each week, so that you can see how your teeth change over time.