Dr. Caylin McCullough, our orthodontist here at Palmetto Kids Dentistry, recently shared about the Invisalign Clear Aligner System, a great option for kids orthodontics. Dr. Caylin goes over the simple process and some of the benefits for using Invisalign to help straighten your kiddo’s smile. Watch the video below to learn more.
You can also learn more in our blog article about the different types of braces for kids.
Hi guys. I wanted to take just a minute to talk with you about the Invisalign Clear Aligner System today and show you this little example that we have.
So Invisalign, it’s a really great option for a lot of patients because it gives you a little bit more flexibility with scheduling.
Overall, with clear aligner treatment, we usually have less frequent appointments, which means less time of yours that you have to take out of your day to come see me. So that is one great thing.
With the Invisalign system, we also have a lot less emergency appointments because we don’t have to deal with broken brackets or pokey wires. So that’s something that is really great for patients.
You also don’t have to worry as much about the foods that you’re eating. There are still some certain foods that we want you to avoid if you have attachments on your teeth, but in general you have more flexibility with what you are eating.
And then really one of the greatest things with Invisalign is just that it’s a much more esthetic option. Because the trays are clear, they are not completely invisible, but they are a lot more esthetic than braces.
So if we decide that you are a good candidate for Invisalign or your child is a good candidate for Invisalign, then the very first step would be to take a scan of the teeth. That scan is what I can submit through the Invisalign doctor site to set up your treatment plan.
Once I’ve spent the time setting up your treatment plan, what we will receive back is, we’ll receive back the number of trays. They come packaged in little packages like this. You can see [there’s an] upper and lower. Everything is labeled with the upper and lower and the number of tray just so that there’s never any confusion of which one you actually have.
The number of trays is dependent on the complexity of treatment, really, so sometimes patients with very minor treatment may come back with 20 trays, or other patients may come back with 60 trays. It’s just all dependent on the type of tooth movement that we’re trying to accomplish. So once we have the trays back, the next appointment for you will be to place the attachments, which I referenced earlier.
What those are, they are these little tooth-colored filling material shapes that we put on the teeth. You can see right here and here and same thing, you can see one over on this side here and those are something that are necessary with certain types of tooth movement. Really, it’s something that I will just have to decide which teeth need them. Sometimes it might be almost every single tooth in the mouth. So that’s an expectation that you have to have within Invisalign is that it is not completely invisible, but we do use materials that make it the most esthetic option possible.
Once we place the attachments, we’ll try in the trays. You can see the trays here. They just come on and off relatively easily. And it’s just a nice clear plastic. So long as you’re keeping them clean, they stay that way. Really, from there, treatment is usually pretty easy. We will just continue to monitor your treatment and we’ll make corrections as necessary.
So, if you think that you are a good candidate, or your child may be a good candidate, and you’re interested in hearing more, I’d love to talk with you about it.
