Invisalign Questions?

Question

I am 20 years old and never had braces as a child. I have very minor crowding of my upper teeth, and I have an overbite. I talked to my dentist about how to straighten my teeth, and he recommended Invisalign. He referred me to an orthodontist, and I went and had a consultation. He said I had a choice between traditional braces and Invisalign. He said both would correct my bite problem and straighten my teeth, but that traditional braces would probably give better results. At my age, I would much rather have Invisalign. My parents have agreed to pay for this, but they are worried about getting optimal results. The orthodontist said I would have significant improvements with Invisalign, but they are worried about it. I have tried explaining to them that my dentist and orthodontist both wouldn't recommend something if it wouldn't work. What are your thoughts and opinions? Any experiences with Invisalign?

Answer 1

If the situation can be treated with either braces or invisalign, I would prefer the invisalign.

I like invisalign because it's easier to maintain your oral hygiene. Braces have brackets and wires that ties your teeth together, making it very difficult to brush and floss. With invisalign, you take off your aligners, eat your meal, brush and floss your teeth clean, then put them back on. You are less likely to end up with tooth decay, staining or gingival overgrowth with invisalign than with braces.

Invisalign does require a high degree of compliance on your part however. You MUST make the effort to maintain good oral hygiene (putting aligners onto dirty teeth will cause cavities), and you MUST wear the aligners and change them every two weeks in the proper sequence for it to work right. If you are not disciplined enough to do that, then go with braces.

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

Invisalign works very well for minor cases such as yours.