Invisalign aligners: what they are, who makes them, how treatment is carried out, care rules

The brand name comes from the English word “invisible”, which means “invisible”. They are truly invisible even from a distance of 20-30 centimeters, which makes them the most aesthetic option for correcting a bite.

Invisalign was the very first aligner to appear on the orthodontic market. All other brands focused specifically on this system, which today has existed for more than 20 years. The company created a real revolution in the field of bite correction and won recognition among doctors and patients around the world.

Indications for installation

crowding of teeth (except in severe cases),
gaps in the dentition: trema and diastema,
slight displacement of the teeth of one jaw relative to the other,
incorrect position of one or more teeth,
use from the age of 12-13 years.

Brand benefits

highest aesthetics,
fast and predictable results,
individual production using computer modeling,
the most famous aligner system with a long history,
patented material that does not cause allergies.

Expert opinion
Rustamova Gunel Bakhmanovna Dentist-orthodontist Work experience 4+

“Contrary to popular belief, Invisalign aligners can solve almost any bite problem – even difficult cases. This is confirmed not only by my personal practice, but also by numerous clinical studies1.”

Among the disadvantages of Invisalign aligners is their rather high price. It is due to the use of computer modeling of the treatment process, the use of expensive materials, as well as the delivery of a complete set of mouth guards from the manufacturer.

Information about the brand and its manufacturer

The manufacturer of Invisalign aligners is the international company Align Technology, established in 1997 in the USA. It produces medical products. In addition to mouth guards, it manufactures intraoral scanners and also sells digital OrthoCAD services.

The products of this manufacturer are used by the best dental clinics in the world. The high quality of the product is confirmed by the fact that, since 1999, with their help more than 5 million people have effectively solved problems associated with occlusion.

Invisalign aligners are made from a clear polymer biosilicone. It is a medical grade thermoplastic material. It does not cause allergic reactions, and therefore products made from it are suitable for all people.

Why is Invisalign considered orthodontic perfection?

Among orthodontic bite correction systems, Invisalign occupies a special place. Due to the success of the treatment results, doctors from all over the world became interested in the system. It is popular today in all countries and on all continents. Possessing an excellent orthodontic effect, it allows for gentle correction. A person with an orthodontic problem quickly gets used to the aligners, gets used to the aligners and stops noticing them. Today you can find orthodontic aligners in Moscow in many clinics. We offer an American system; smile correction will be as comfortable as possible, quickly, without pain, discomfort and unpleasant sensations. To find out how much they cost, call us by phone or call a specialist in the online window that pops up on the site.

Types of correction programs

The essence of the action of aligners is to move teeth in the process of synchronized directed mechanical action. At each stage of therapy, certain dental elements move according to a pre-developed plan.

There are 3 adjustment programs. They are differentiated depending on the complexity of the existing defect and, accordingly, on the number of aligners:

SuperLite – up to 7 pieces;
Lite – up to 14;
Full – from 10 to 40 pieces.

The choice of program is made by the doctor, in accordance with the patient’s initial data.

Indications and contraindications for treatment with the Invisalign system

Like any method, treatment with aligners has its own indications and contraindications.

Correction using the Invisalign system is indicated:

in case of violation of occlusion, including with deep vertical overlap;
in the presence of diastemas;
with crowding of dental elements.

Aligners are not used:

in correcting malocclusion in children under 12 years of age;
in the presence of mental illness;
for bone tissue abnormalities.

Stars who wore aligners

Most celebrities cannot afford to wear braces, so Invisalign aligners have become a real salvation for them.

Gisele Bündchen

The only flaw in Giselle's appearance was once a crooked front tooth, for the sake of straightening which she put on aligners.

Zac Efron

Many celebrities are proud of their gap hair, but not Zac Efron. The gaps between his front teeth gave him a rustic appearance. Thanks to wearing aligners, the actor’s appearance changed dramatically.

Khloe Kardashian

Socialite Chloe always thought she had uneven teeth and wanted to fix them, but only decided to undergo orthodontic treatment last year.

Justin Bieber

A favorite of teenage girls, sweet-voiced Justin would never agree to ruin his image and put braces on his teeth. The Invisalign system helped him achieve his perfect smile.

Eva Longoria

Desperate housewife Eva Longoria is rarely tormented by doubts. I decided to correct my crooked teeth - I chose Invisalign - and that was the end of it!

What is included in the diagnosis

Preliminary diagnostics in our clinic are performed using high-precision imported X-ray equipment ORTHOPHOS XG. This stage is necessary to identify indications and contraindications for occlusion correction using aligners.

The second stage of diagnosis is making individual impressions or scanning with an iTerro device, which allows you to create a 3D model of the jaws. Based on this model, personal mouth guards will subsequently be manufactured in production in the USA. When using this technology, there is no need to make physical impressions.

Based on the data obtained, a step-by-step therapy algorithm is developed using special software. ClinCheck technology allows digital interpretation to predict the progress of defect correction and visualize the final result. It should be noted that our clinic’s specialists are certified to use Align Technology products.

Request for consultation

The laboratory for the production of aligners is located in Costa Rica. After examination in the clinic, dental casts are sent to Mexico, where they are scanned and virtual models of the jaws are obtained. Next, specially trained dental technicians use a computer program to move the teeth of our virtual jaws into the desired position, record something like a video (called ClinCheck) and send it by email to the clinic.

At the clinic, the doctor and the patient watch this video, if they don’t like something, they send it for revision, and if they like it, they approve it. From this point on, all the data is transferred to Costa Rica, where, using a stereolithography printer, a series of jaw models are made, slightly different from each other, on which the teeth are gradually moved into the desired position. Next, aligners (aligners) are stamped onto them using vacuum molding, which are sent to the clinic. The process is fully automated. This is a conveyor belt on which hundreds of thousands of aligners are churned out per day, packaged and sent to clinics around the world.

The entire process from taking impressions to the start of treatment takes 6-8 weeks. The duration of treatment depends on the situation and usually does not exceed one year. The mode of wearing aligners is constantly, at least 22 hours a day. Each aligner must be worn for 2 weeks, then it is replaced with the next one.

Thus, the doctor and the patient can see the final result of the treatment and know how much time it will take even before it begins, at the planning stage!

In the above example, it can be seen that to correct this situation, 15 pairs of aligners will be required (scale below), 2 weeks for each, which means the treatment will last 7.5 months. It is very important. And this cannot be done by any other methods.

Another important point is that if we want to improve the appearance of your front teeth, we no longer have to wait a year and a half for them to become straight with the help of braces; using aligners instead of braces, we can immediately start with teeth whitening and restoration, before starting orthodontic treatment. The aligners themselves not only do not worsen the appearance of the teeth, but even give them a pearly shine.

Invisalign appeared in Russia in 2011. In the Krasnodar region in 2012. We are pleased to inform you that the doctors of our clinic were among the first to be certified in this unique method of orthodontic treatment.

We are absolutely confident that methods of correcting bites with aligners (aligners), in particular Invisalign, are the most modern and progressive today. Any braces compared to them, in our opinion, are a thing of the past, so we abandoned braces and completely switched to aligners.

Of course, not all orthodontists think the same way.

Personally, before I met Invisalign, I had been using braces for 15 years (since 1996) and was sure that it was good. Now it seems to me that I have been driving a cart all these years and only recently switched to a foreign car.))

Believe me, this is so...

Braces appeared almost 100 years earlier than aligners, at the beginning of the 20th century, and non-removable arch devices have been known since the 18th century.
Braces today are a classic of the genre. All medical schools teach students that braces are the most modern orthodontic device. Manufacturers of braces regularly hold presentations of “new” braces with “unique” designs and “unique” properties. Almost all training seminars and advanced training courses for orthodontists show clinical examples of successful orthodontic treatment using braces. You have to understand that this is a business, an entire industry that is not going to give up its positions.

As a result, everyone uses braces, but only a few use aligners. This won’t last long, I’m sure, “you can’t hide an awl in a bag.” But for now, the majority of orthodontists can talk about the effectiveness of treatment with aligners purely theoretically or, in general, modestly remain silent about this technology.

We often hear from patients who wear braces that this is the first time they have heard about aligners, and that “their doctor” did not say anything like that, or said that there are some aligners in the world that seem to correct the bite, but immediately dissuaded them , said that the technique is untested or not effective enough.

In no way, I don’t want to judge anyone, I’ll just comment on the most popular misconceptions about treating malocclusion with aligners.

How is the treatment carried out?

After the finished products are delivered from the USA to our center, the administrator notifies the patient about this by phone call and schedules an appointment time. With this visit to the orthodontist, the immediate course of correction begins.

The doctor explains the rules for wearing and the frequency of self-replacement of the aligners. The dentist also gives recommendations on how to care for your mouth and aligners. As a rule, the replacement is carried out by the patient himself once every 2 weeks. To check the effectiveness of the correction process, regular visits to our clinic are planned - approximately once every 1 - 2 months (depending on the complexity of the existing defect).

It is important for the patient to commit to wearing mouth guards daily and not to violate the recommendations of the attending physician. In addition, during the initial fixation of the corrective device and during its planned replacement, there may be a feeling of pressure on the teeth for several days. This phenomenon indicates that movement of the dental elements is initiated.

After achieving the result, a course of maintenance therapy is required, i.e. it is necessary to wear a retention device (or the last aligner from the kit). This consolidates the result and prevents the teeth from gradually returning to their original position.

Why is self-discipline needed?

If a person experiencing certain inconveniences periodically removes the system out of self-pity, the program developed for him will be disrupted and the treatment may be ineffective.
A set worn by mistake will also lead to the same result - for example, not the 5th, as scheduled, but the 6th. Each new mouthguard must strongly compress the teeth and move them a little more, and when worn incorrectly, the process is interrupted, which negatively affects its result.
A duplicate of a lost or broken mouthguard will have to be ordered from an American laboratory, which will take time, and the next stage of correction will be skipped.

Duration of therapy

The time required to obtain the final result depends on the complexity of the clinical case. On average, according to the official Align Technology website, it takes about 1 year, which corresponds to 24 sets of aligners.

The doctor can announce the approximate duration of therapy in a specific situation only after diagnosis and development of an algorithm for the treatment process.

General overview

Let's start with the fact that both braces and aligners, at their core, perform a single task. The purpose of their installation is to eliminate diagnosed pathological changes that worsen the aesthetic and functional characteristics of the jaw. In both cases, the design exerts targeted pressure on the problematic units, forcing them to move in a given vector, restores natural occlusion, and also helps eliminate problems with articulation. However, aligner models produced by the Italian company Nivol, as well as the American concern Align Technology, have a number of advantages that distinguish them from traditional devices for orthodontic correction.

Rules for wearing and care

Successful correction of occlusion is impossible without careful adherence to the orthodontist’s recommendations. Our dental center specialists advise:

wear mouth guards daily for 22 hours;
remove orthodontic products before eating or drinking hot drinks;
brush or rinse the aligners with running water before each use;
To clean the trays, use special pharmaceutical disinfectants or (if slightly dirty) a soft brush and paste. Note: Products cannot be boiled or washed with hot water;
Use special containers for storage.

As you can see, the rules are simple and easy to follow.

Installation of braces

It is very simple to install this type of braces yourself: you just need to rinse the aligners with running water and carefully put them on the teeth. The device will automatically “fall into place” when you close your teeth and will not be felt at all in your mouth during conversations or eating (it is recommended to remove the aligners at home before meals so as not to injure them).

After a certain period of time, when the teeth have moved to the required distance, it is recommended to visit the dentist to receive a new mouthguard made from dental casts, taking into account the changes that have occurred in them.