Invisalign

Services . Invisalign

Maple Grove Dentistry

Straighten Your Teeth With Invisalign

We are proud to offer our patients Invisalign as an alternative to traditional braces.

Perhaps your teenager shows signs of overcrowding in her smile. Maybe you wore braces as a teenager yourself, only to find that all these years later, your teeth have fallen out of alignment again.

Or, you may have opted to skip braces when you were younger, in the hopes that something better would come along. Orthodontic treatment used to involve a mouth full of metal brackets, uncomfortable wires, and bands that made eating and speaking difficult. Invisalign has changed all of that.

Want to learn more about Invisalign? Schedule a consultation with Dr. Russell Jensen, call our Boise, ID dental office at (208) 853-2221 today.

What Is Invisalign?

Invisalign is a revolution in orthodontic treatment, that replaces the old metal brackets and wires of traditional braces with clear acrylic aligners that gently move your teeth into place. Invisalign eliminates the need to visit every month and have your wires tightened.

While traditional braces placed restrictions on what foods you could eat, you can remove the aligners used in the Invisalign treatment, which allows you to eat anything you want. Removable aligners also make cleaning your teeth much easier. Invisalign requires no bands and you will not have to worry about wires cutting up the inside of your mouth.

While traditional braces need to stay on for a minimum of two years, the average Invisalign treatment lasts 12 to 18 months. The best part is, the clear aligners are virtually invisible, so nobody has to know you have them in except you and the dentist.

Candidates For Invisalign Treatment

The advent of Invisalign treatment means that orthodontics are no longer just for teenagers. We treat many adults with Invisalign, including many who wore traditional braces as teens. Invisalign aligners work to repair many maladies, such as overbites, underbites, and crooked or rotated teeth.

They work wonders for cases where the patient has wide spaces between her teeth, even if other teeth have shifted and moved into those spaces. Adults who suffer from malocclusion have found that Invisalign works wonders for their smiles.

Malocclusion occurs when the upper and lower teeth don’t fit well together, resulting in speech problems, teeth grinding (bruxism), TMJ disorder, and frequent biting of the cheeks and tongue.

Adults are not the only ones who can use Invisalign, though. In fact, the makers of Invisalign have developed a treatment program specifically for teenagers. Called Invisalign Teen, the program offers all the benefits of the adult plan, with a few unique additions that aim to help keep your child on track with her treatment plan.

The aligners that come with the Invisalign Teen program have blue dots on them that fade as the aligner is worn. If the blue dot remains when they finish with that aligner, they have not stayed compliant with their plan.

The makers of Invisalign Teen realize that teenagers have very busy lives and can easily forget things, so they have included six bonus aligners with the program for free. So if Jimmy accidentally throws his aligner away in the cafeteria at lunch, or Madeline loses hers at a sleepover, you just need to call our office, and we will order a replacement.

If you would like to learn more about Invisalign, or schedule a consultation with Dr. Russell Jensen, call our Boise, ID dental office at (208) 853-2221 today.

The Invisalign Treatment Process

As with any dental procedure, the Invisalign process starts with a consultation with Dr. Jensen. The doctor will take the time to discuss the Invisalign process with you, answer any questions you have about the treatment, and find out what your expectations are for the results. When you both agree that Invisalign offers the best solution for you, the doctor will schedule a second appointment.

At your second appointment, the excitement really begins. Dr. Jensen will take digital images of your mouth, then feed them into the Invisalign software. The software will process the images, using them to create a custom treatment plan tailored to your specific needs.

The treatment plan will outline how many sets of retainers you will need to wear, and how long the total treatment will last. For most patients, the treatment lasts from 12 to 18 months, but treatment time varies from case to case. Dr. Jensen will forward the treatment plan to an offsite Invisalign lab, where the technicians will use it to create your aligners.

When your aligners have arrived in our office, you will return for a third visit. At this visit, the doctor will give you your first few sets of aligners, along with instructions for how to use them and care for them. Over the course of the treatment, you will wear 20 to 30 sets of aligners.

You will wear each set of aligners for two weeks, and they must be kept in your mouth for 20 to 22 hours a day to remain in compliance with your treatment plan. You will only remove the aligners for eating and cleaning your teeth. Following these parameters is the key to your treatment plan working. If you fail to wear the aligners for the required 20 to 22 hours each day, the length of your treatment may have to be extended.

You will receive your first three sets of aligners to start with, and return for another visit in six weeks. At that visit, the doctor will perform a quick checkup and you will receive your next few sets of aligners. You will need to return every six weeks for these checkup visits, and to receive your next sets of aligners.

When you have successfully completed your course of treatment, Dr. Jensen will provide you with a retainer to wear. This retainer will help keep your teeth in their new places, so your beautiful new smile will last.

Schedule Your Invisalign Consultation Today at (208) 853-2221 today.

Pros And Cons Of Invisalign Treatment

As with any dental procedure, Invisalign has pros and cons that patients need to take into consideration when deciding if the treatment makes sense for their lives.

Pros

Invisalign clear aligners provide many benefits over traditional braces. For many patients, the biggest advantage is the appearance. Invisalign clear aligners make it possible to straighten your teeth without compromising your professional adult appearance. Since the aligners are removable, food restrictions are a thing of the past.

Patients can eat whatever they want, whenever they want. Removable aligners also make it much easier to brush and floss your teeth, which helps prevent tooth decay and periodontal disease. Since there are no monthly visits to have wires tightened, Invisalign provides treatment with very little, if any, discomfort to the patient.

Cons

There are only a few drawbacks to Invisalign treatment, the most obvious being the cost. Invisalign is more expensive than traditional braces, and most dental insurance will only cover them to the extent that they would cover bracket and wire braces.

However, financing is available to make the clear aligners affordable for just about anyone. You may experience difficulty speaking with your aligners in for the first few weeks. This is normal, and you will get used to them and return to speaking normally fairly quickly.

The success of the treatment is completely reliant on the compliance of the patient. Some patients would rather wear traditional braces that they don’t have to remember to put in their mouth or change out every two weeks.

Financing As Low As $200 A Month

We understand you have other financial commitments, for that reason we offer financing to allow you to straighten your teeth for as low as $200 a month.

Call Us For A Consultation

Whether you need to restore symmetry to your smile, or your teen needs to have teeth shifted to the correct spot, Invisalign may provide the solution you seek. Call our Boise, ID dental office today, at (208) 853-2221 to schedule an Invisalign consultation with Dr. Jensen.