Each year, 25% of patients with braces are adults, and the remaining 75% are children and teens. Invisalign aligners are a popular alternative to traditional metal braces for patients of all ages. You may be wondering: Can an orthodontist near me use Invisalign to treat my particular case? Here are some examples of the kinds of teeth problems that can be fixed with Invisalign.
Overbite
If your top front teeth hang over your bottom teeth, you have an overbite. Most patients possess at least a slight overbite. If the overbite is pronounced, your orthodontist may describe your bite as deep. A deep bite may lead to issues such as wearing down of the teeth or jaw discomfort. Orthodontists discuss overbites using percentages. They like to see overbites of between 5% and 25%. Invisalign clear aligners are used to correct overbites, including deep bites.
Underbite
If your bottom front teeth are in front of your top teeth when your mouth is closed, you have an underbite. Often, the underlying issue is that your lower jaw protrudes too much. If you have an underbite, it may interfere with your ability to chew well and talk clearly, and tooth wear may become a problem. Invisalign clear aligners are used to correct underbites in certain cases. A more pronounced underbite may need surgical treatment in addition to Invisalign. If you’re wondering, can an orthodontist near me fix my underbite? you should seek a consultation.
Crossbite
Your orthodontist may tell you you have a crossbite if some of your top teeth rest inside your bottom teeth when you close your mouth; your top teeth should all sit on the outside of your bottom teeth. A crossbite can cause tooth wear or chips in teeth, receding of the gums, or small grooves above the gum line. These issues can result in pain in the gums and bone loss. Invisalign clear aligners can treat some cases of crossbite.
Gap Teeth
Your orthodontist will tell you you have gap teeth when they see extra spaces between teeth. Gap teeth may cause the formation of pockets between your gums and teeth, which is a problem since food particles may accumulate in these pockets. This can lead to painful gums and possibly to gum disease. Invisalign clear aligners can be used to close gaps in teeth. You may be thinking, can an orthodontist near me help my gap teeth? You can find out during an initial consultation.
Open Bite
If you close your mouth and find that your top and bottom teeth don’t meet, this is referred to as an open bite. This problem can cause difficulties with chewing or biting into hard foods such as apples. Invisalign clear aligners are used to treat open bites.
Crowded Teeth
If there isn’t sufficient space in your jaw for all of your teeth to be positioned normally, your teeth may be pushed together or toward the front or back of your mouth, or they may twist and overlap. It’s hard to perform proper hygiene with crowded teeth, since it’s difficult to brush and floss them properly. Tartar, plaque, and bacteria can accumulate and eventually cause cavities and gum disease. Crowded teeth may get worse as the years go by. Invisalign clear aligners are used to correct crowded teeth.
Baby and Permanent Teeth
Baby teeth sometimes need orthodontic intervention, when the child is between six and 10 years old. This is called Phase 1 treatment, and its purpose is to help jaws and arches develop so that baby teeth and new permanent teeth are properly spaced. Phase 1 treatment can:
Keep current bite problems from worsening
Straighten baby teeth
Make a young patient’s smile look better
Address behaviors like thumb sucking
Help make Phase 2 interventions easier and faster
Invisalign First aligners can be used for Phase 1.
Crooked Teeth
Even if you don’t have a pronounced problem, you might simply want to have straighter teeth to increase your confidence about your appearance. Invisalign can straighten your teeth as much as 50% faster than traditional metal braces.
Invisalign clear aligners can fix many types of dental problems. They work faster, look better, and feel more comfortable than traditional braces. They are used for patients of all ages, including young children. If you’re thinking, where can I find an orthodontist near me who uses Invisalign? contact our team today.
Are there foods I can’t eat with braces? When you first get braces, it can feel like you have very limited options in terms of what you can eat. Dr. Demas, a leading orthodontist in Southington, will help you understand the limitations of braces and how you can best care for them by putting thought into the foods you or your child eats.
There are many reasons why Invisalign has risen rapidly in popularity over the last 15 years. The technology of clear aligner treatment allows you to go about your day without worrying about your appearance: no more metal standing between the world and your smile! Invisalign has been popularized by celebrities like Zac Efron, Eva Longoria, and Tom Cruise; no wonder Invisalign is now one of the most popular orthodontic treatments in Southington.
Of course, the Invisalign system requires discipline, good habits, and some minor lifestyle changes. For best results, Invisalign requires that the user keeps the aligners in place between 20-22 hours per day. As such, that leaves between 2-4 hours each day for eating, drinking, and maintaining proper oral hygiene through brushing and flossing.
The most common concern I hear from potential Invisalign patients is this:
FAQ
How can I maintain a healthy diet if I’m only allowed 2-4 hours per day to eat? Am I going to starve?!?
Here’s the good news: You can maintain a healthy diet while using Invisalign. When I encounter patients concerned about whether they will have to dramatically change their eating habits, I encourage them to keep a diet journal for at least a week. You’ll find that the actual time you spend eating, drinking, and cleaning your teeth adds up to around two hours. (Of course, this depends on your snacking habits. But won’t cutting down on lengthy snacking sessions improve your diet?)
Here is the schedule that I recommend for Invisalign patients:
Morning brushing and flossing: 5 minutes
Breakfast: 20 minutes
Snack: 10 minutes
Lunch: 30 minutes
Snack: 10 minutes
Dinner: 50 minutes
Night brushing and flossing: 5 minutes
Add that all up and you’ll come to 130 minutes, or just over two hours. Keep in mind that those times don’t take into account meal preparation, but there’s no need to take out your aligners when you’re putting together your sandwich for lunch, is there? Every patient is different with varying dietary needs, but I recommend giving this schedule a time and seeing if you can comfortably finish your meals within this framework.
Keeping Your Teeth Clean with Invisalign
As always, it’s very important to maintain good oral hygiene when using Invisalign. In a perfect world, patients would brush and floss thoroughly each time after eating. I recognize that my patients often have busy schedules or don’t have access to running water at school or work. At the bare minimum, you should brush and floss thoroughly twice each day: once in the morning and once before bed. However, to keep up your oral hygiene throughout the day and prevent trapped food particles, I recommend rinsing with warm water or mouthwash after eating and before putting in your aligners.
Invisalign is a significant investment in your orthodontic health, physical appearance, and general well-being. If you’re going through the work of keeping your aligners in for over 20 hours each day, why risk the possibility of other issues with poor oral hygiene?
Tried-and-True Patient Advice for a Healthy Invisalign Diet
This is a collection of advice from my patients who have used Invisalign and experienced the lifestyle changes demanded by clear aligner treatment. These four tips should be a great help to anyone considering Invisalign:
Don’t Panic: You can do it! Keep in mind that many, before you, have gone through the Invisalign process and survived the dietary and lifestyle changes. There may be days where you have your aligners out for over 20 hours, and while it’s not ideal, it’s not the end of the world. Don’t beat yourself up about bad days, and stay positive. Rely on your friends and family for encouragement and you’ll see how easy it is after a few days to stick to your new diet requirements.
Set a Schedule: Before Invisalign, many patients snacked throughout the day and ate less during meals. Unfortunately, this isn’t a possibility with Invisalign. We are creatures of habit, and it can be difficult to break our eating patterns when changing to a new diet. Many of my successful patients recommend sticking to a daily schedule for meals and snacks. After a few days, your body will get used to this schedule and start to expect breakfast at 8:30, lunch at noon, and a snack at 3:00. Settling into a routine will help reduce cravings and hunger pangs throughout the day.
Plan Your Meals: Since you’ll be fitting a day’s worth of calories and nutritional needs into three meals and two snacks, you’ll need to strategize to cover your bases. Go into each day knowing when you’ll get your protein, where you’ll find your Vitamin C, and how many calories you’re taking in with each meal. Budgeting calories and nutrients are the best way to prevent hunger and malnourishment.
Don’t Overcompensate: A typical reaction to the Invisalign 20-hour requirement is to shovel in as much food as possible during your allotted eating time. As tempting as it may be, this habit will only leave you feeling sick. Here is where your discipline comes into play: once you’ve planned out your daily meals and snacks, stick to the plan! If you’ve planned out your calories, you know that you’re eating enough throughout the day to feel full and healthy. Resist the temptation to overeat and your body will thank you!
Think You Can Handle It?
If you think you can master the “Invisalign Diet” and maintain healthy eating and cleaning habits while using clear aligners, contact us today. Team Demas Orthodontics is the top team for Southington Invisalign, and we recommend clear aligner treatment for its comfort, flexibility, and effectiveness. Contact us by phone or through our online location form; we’ll be happy to answer any patient question!
In a perfect world, everyone would have a perfect smile. Everyone would have perfect oral hygiene habits, so they wouldn’t have any cavities. Their teeth would already be straight, so there would be no need for orthodontic intervention. Unfortunately, this is not the current state of reality. Most people don’t have perfect smiles. Most people don’t have shiny, white teeth. Many people do end up needing some sort of orthodontic intervention.
Luckily, trained professionals are ready and willing to provide whatever services the public needs. Nevertheless, a lot of people are under the impression that their dental problems are so unique that they can’t receive care from an orthodontist. This is simply not true. One of the most common assumptions is that braces and fillings don’t mix. Take a look at questions people have and what the experts say.
Braces aren’t just for teenagers anymore since millions of teens and adults have braces on their teeth every single day. Braces and orthodontic work can help align your teeth and make your smile more appealing. The specific amount of time a person needs to wear braces is obviously going to differ from one individual to the next. Some people are able to wear braces for only six months while others are in them for two or even three years. Knowing why you’re wearing braces and why they may still be on will help you put the effort and energy into your orthodontic treatment to get the most out of it.
FAQ
What are the Benefits of Braces?
Whether you’ve been fitted for traditional metal braces or are wearing Invisalign, having braces is a wonderful option for people who want to improve the look of their smile. Your smile is normally going to be the first thing a person notices about you, so it’s pretty obvious that you’ll want to put a bit of time and attention into your teeth if you feel they could use it.
If you are wondering if traditional braces are cheaper than Invisalign, the answer is generally yes. Of course the actual cost of whatever option you choose will vary based on factors such as how long you will be wearing them, but traditional braces will generally run you less money than invisible aligners. The reason for this is that Invisalign is more high maintenance. With traditional braces, you will generally need to go in for adjustments about once every month. The orthodontist will adjust the wiring, which is fairly cheap itself, and that will be it. Because it is an older technology, it was designed so that keeping the braces fitted to your teeth entails a lot less work on the part of the orthodontist.
In contrast, with Invisalign, you will need to go in about once every two weeks to get a new mold for your teeth. These molds will have to be changed each time you go in (since the aligners that you are wearing are shifting your teeth and they will not be in the same positions that they were in even two weeks ago). Once the impressions from your teeth are acquired, they will be sent to a lab that will make the actual molds that you will be wearing. The constantly changing molds will make it so that your teeth are constantly shifting closer to the positions in which you want them, but it also means more work for your orthodontist, and more resources consumed for everyone involved. As such, it will naturally be more expensive than traditional braces.
