Invisalign – Copperas Cove, TX
A Metal-Free Solution for Crooked Teeth
When you’re no longer a kid, it can seem like achieving a straight smile isn’t possible anymore. Traditional metal braces are common in middle school, but spending years with a “metal mouth” is often too big a hurdle for adults. Thankfully, our team offers a simple and easy alternative for older patients – Invisalign clear braces! You can learn more about them by reading below or (better yet) call us to set up a consultation.
Why Choose Benchmark Family Dental and Orthodontics for Invisalign?
- iTero Scanners for Comfortable, Precise Digital Impressions
- Experienced Dentists & Team Who Excel at Customer Service
- Dental Insurance Maximized & In-House Membership Plan Available
How Invisalign Works
Unlike metal braces, Invisalign is a series of clear, plastic trays for your smile. Wearing these “aligners” slowly shifts your teeth to the right positions with micro-movements. Once the trays have done that job, your grin should be (and look) aligned and balanced.
Patients have to follow set guidelines for an Invisalign procedure. For starters, you must wear the aligners for 7-14 days before moving to the next ones. The trays should also stay on your teeth for at least 22 hours daily; you’ll have treatment delays otherwise. Still, sticking to these and similar rules ensures a straight smile in only 12-18 months.
Who Invisalign Can Help
As great as Invisalign sounds, maybe you aren’t sure it’d help your smile specifically. People can have a wide range of orthodontic issues, after all; perhaps aligners can’t fix your own. That said, we at Benchmark Dental & Orthodontics can (and will) gladly address such uncertainties for you. Our team has listed several conditions below that Invisalign can help, as well as how treatment solves them. Please keep reading to learn about them, or call us to hear more exact details.
Crowded Teeth
Crooked and crowded teeth are quite awful, all things considered. They make your mouth harder to clean as they create hard-to-reach spaces in your smile. In doing so, they typically increase your risk of harsh oral health issues – things like tooth decay, gum disease, and so on. Such problems add insult to the injury of a misaligned grin’s unpleasant look.
Thankfully enough, Invisalign can treat most cases of crowded teeth. All its aligners would have to do is shift each tooth to lie flush beside the adjacent ones.
Gaps Between Teeth
When you develop gaps between teeth, your problems are both cosmetic and health-related. Even as wide spaces in a smile appear ugly, they also serve as breeding grounds for harmful bacteria. The latter microbes use your grin’s gaps to multiply, thus making cavities and gum disease more likely.
The good news is that Invisalign treats toothy gaps. As it puts pressure on your teeth, treatment fills your smile’s empty spaces and deprives bacteria of breeding areas.
Overbite
An overbite refers to top teeth that “jut out” too much from your lower arch. Therefore, it’s a type of misalignment that causes worn enamel, jaw pain, difficulty opening one’s mouth, etc. This bite problem also exposes the top teeth enough that it elevates the risk of severe injury.
Of course, we can still say yes to the question “Does Invisalign fix an overbite?” Clear trays can move your top teeth so that they don’t jut out from your mouth.
Underbite
Honestly, an underbite is no less awful than an overbite. It causes many problems by making your bottom teeth go past your top ones. Indeed, the condition can trigger sleep apnea, mouth breathing, and difficulties with speaking and chewing.
Invisalign is a fine treater of underbites, though. Its aligners exert pressure on the bottom teeth, ensuring your lower arch doesn’t reach past the upper one.
Crossbite
A crossbite occurs when your upper jaw sits inside the lower one, resulting in top teeth that fit just behind the bottom arch. The condition typically leads to gum disease, tooth decay, jaw pain, and headaches.
Crossbites aren’t a match for Invisalign, as luck would have it. You’ll simply need to note whether your own stems from bad jaw development first; that point determines whether you also need elastics.
Open Bite
If your top and bottom teeth don’t overlap (or touch) when you close your mouth, you have an open bite. This condition often results in pronunciation trouble, enamel loss, and more.
You can rely on Invisalign to treat your open bite, though. Clear trays would bring your top and bottom teeth together to correct your bite pattern.
The Benefits of Invisalign
Compared to metal braces, Invisalign offers many more benefits. The most notable ones include:
- Shorter Treatment Time – While metal braces often take two years to work, Invisalign only needs 12-18 months.
- More Discretion– Because Invisalign trays are nearly invisible, they don’t draw unwanted attention to your smile. Treatment is generally subtle and discreet.
- Hassle-Free Use – Invisalign aligners are removable, so they don’t interfere with meals or teeth cleaning. They’ll let you eat as usual and won’t make brushing or flossing hard.
- Fewer Follow-Ups – Metal braces need twenty to forty follow-up visits, while Invisalign only needs six to twelve.
How Much Does Invisalign Cost?
Invisalign is tailored for each patient, so its price tends to vary a lot. You’ll want to consult Dr. Celebi for an exact estimate before you commit to anything. As you visit with him, he’ll assess the factors that impact your treatment cost and find ways to make Invisalign more affordable. He and our office will even guide you through the role of dental insurance and other payment options. That way, your care will line up with your budget.
Invisalign FAQs
What Do Invisalign Trays Look Like When Worn?
Invisalign trays use clear plastic, which is fairly visible outside the mouth. However, they’re pretty hard to see or detect once worn.
In fact, the aligners can stay clean, clear, and discreet with proper care. Since they don’t have brackets or wires like “regular” braces, they straighten your teeth without affecting your looks. Friends, family, and peers likely won’t notice you wearing them. That all means you don’t have to worry about glaring cases of “metal mouth.”
Granted, some patients may need attachments, buttons, or elastics during treatment. These items don’t use clear plastic and can be more visible than aligners.
Can You Eat with Invisalign Trays In?
You can’t eat while wearing your Invisalign trays, as doing so will damage the aligners. That said, this treatment restriction shouldn’t interfere with your meals.
A big perk of Invisalign is that its trays are completely removable. When you need to eat or clean your teeth, you can take the aligners out before you start. That fact allows you to eat your favorite foods during the Invisalign process.
On the other hand, room-temperature water isn’t a threat to Invisalign. You can drink it while keeping your trays in your mouth. Still, make sure to remove the aligners for other beverages.
What Should I Do If My Invisalign Tray Broke?
While Invisalign aligners use durable plastic, they can still break and crack over time. The best response to this damage will depend on its severity.
For example, say one of your trays develops a hairline crack. You can still use it if you act carefully during removal and re-insertion. Really, all you’d need to do is apply even pressure when placing the aligner and reduce bending when taking it out.
More severe harm will warrant a trip to our office. DIY repairs can cause side effects, and moving to the next aligner set prematurely isn’t wise. Instead, Dr. Celebi will assess your situation and suggest suitable actions.
Will I Need to Wear a Retainer After Invisalign Treatment?
To be honest, yes – you’ll need to wear a retainer (or a similar device) after the Invisalign process. Not doing so would delay or even reverse your treatment results.
Even after finishing Invisalign, your teeth will be fairly mobile. They could easily move back to their earlier, crooked positions if you don’t act. Therefore, you must wear a retainer to preserve their newly-aligned looks in the long-term.
All that said, how long you’ll need to wear the retainer can vary. Different patients require different wear times depending on their circumstances. To get a precise estimate, please consult Dr. Celebi.