Invisalign in Tunbridge Wells — Straighten Your Teeth Without Announcing It

Invisalign is a system of clear, removable plastic aligners that gradually move teeth into a better position.

Each aligner is custom-made from a 3D scan or impression of your teeth and is slightly different from the last, so wearing them in sequence applies small, controlled forces that shift the teeth a little at a time.

You wear each aligner in the series for the period you're given — commonly one to two weeks — then change to the next. They're taken out to eat, drink anything other than water, and clean your teeth.

What problems can Invisalign correct?

Clear aligners treat most of the common problems with the way teeth meet. The six treated most often are:

• Crowding — too little room in the jaw, so teeth overlap, rotate or sit out of line. Crowded teeth trap plaque and are harder to clean.
• Spacing and gaps — extra space between teeth, either from teeth being small relative to the jaw or from teeth having drifted.
• Overbite — the upper front teeth sit too far over the lower ones. A deep overbite can wear the lower teeth and, in some cases, cause the lower teeth to bite into the palate.
• Underbite — the lower teeth sit in front of the upper teeth. Milder cases can often be improved with aligners; significant skeletal underbites usually need referral to an orthodontist, and sometimes surgery.
• Crossbite — one or more upper teeth bite inside the lower teeth rather than outside them, which can cause uneven wear and gum recession.
• Open bite — the front teeth don't meet when the back teeth are together, which affects biting into food and sometimes speech.

Most cases involve more than one of these at once.

Who is suitable for Invisalign?

Most adults and older teenagers with mild to moderate crowding, spacing or bite problems, and with healthy teeth and gums. Aligners move teeth that are anchored in healthy bone, so gum health matters more than age.

Aligners may not be the right choice where:

• Teeth need to move a long way, or need significant rotation
• The bite problem is skeletal — that is, the jaws themselves are mismatched rather than the teeth
• Gum disease is present and untreated
• You know you won't wear them for 20 to 22 hours a day

That last point is not a small one. Fixed braces work whether or not you're motivated on a given Tuesday. Aligners don't.

How long does Invisalign take?

It depends almost entirely on how far your teeth have to move. Minor corrections can be finished in a few months. More involved cases run to a year or more. Your estimated treatment time is given at the consultation, after your teeth have been assessed and the movement planned.

Two things extend treatment beyond the estimate: not wearing the aligners enough, and teeth that move more slowly than predicted. The first is the more common by a distance.

Does Invisalign hurt?

There's no drilling and no injection, so the treatment itself isn't uncomfortable in the way people expect from dentistry. What you will feel is pressure and tenderness for a day or two each time you change to a new aligner — that sensation is the teeth being moved, and it settles.

Most people find ordinary painkillers more than sufficient, and that the first few days of the first aligner are the most noticeable. Some people get a temporary lisp for a few days while their tongue adjusts.

Twenty to twenty-two hours a day, every day, for the whole of your treatment. That leaves roughly two hours out of them — enough for meals and cleaning your teeth, and not much else.

This is the single biggest variable in whether aligner treatment works, and it's worth being blunt about it. Teeth move because a force is applied consistently. Take the aligner out for an evening and the teeth begin drifting back towards where they were. Do it regularly and the aligners stop fitting, the plan stops matching your mouth, and treatment either takes considerably longer or has to be re-planned from a new scan.

Nobody wears them perfectly. If you slip, put the current aligner back in and wear it for longer before moving on rather than skipping ahead — and tell us at your next appointment rather than not mentioning it.

If you already suspect you won't manage 20 hours a day, say so at the consultation. Fixed braces are not a punishment; for some people they're simply the more reliable route.

No — aligners come out for everything except water. Eating with them in can crack them, and drinking anything coloured or sugary while wearing them traps the liquid against your teeth, which stains the aligner and puts your enamel at real risk of decay.

The practical routine:

• Take them out to eat. Anything at all, including snacks.
• Water only while they're in. Not tea, not coffee, not squash, not fizzy drinks.
• Brush before they go back in. Trapping food debris under an aligner for hours is how people develop decay during treatment. Carry a brush.
• Hot drinks warp them. Take them out first.
• Clean the aligners themselves — rinse them, brush them gently with cool water, and use whatever cleaning product you're given. Not hot water and not coloured mouthwash.
• Use the case. Aligners wrapped in a napkin end up in the bin. It happens constantly.

There's a side effect people don't anticipate: because eating means taking them out and brushing afterwards means putting them back in, most people snack considerably less during treatment.

Yes — and this is not optional or negotiable. Teeth are held in place by fibres and bone that take time to reorganise around a new position, and left to themselves they will drift back towards where they were. Relapse after orthodontic treatment is the normal outcome without retention, not an unlucky one.

Retainers come in two forms, and many people have both:

• Fixed retainers — a thin wire bonded to the back of the front teeth, where it can't be seen and can't be forgotten. It stays put and needs checking at your regular appointments.
• Removable retainers — clear retainers similar in appearance to your aligners, worn overnight.

Expect to be told that retainer wear is long-term, and that "long-term" realistically means for as long as you want your teeth to stay where they've been put. Nights, indefinitely, is the usual pattern.

Retainers wear out and get lost, and they need replacing when they do. Ask what replacements cost before you start — it's a real long-term cost of straightening teeth and it should be in your figure from the beginning.

Fixed braces — brackets bonded to the teeth and connected by a wire — remain the most versatile way of moving teeth, and for some cases they're the better answer. They work continuously without depending on you remembering anything, they can achieve movements that are difficult with aligners, and they handle more complex bite problems.

They're generally recommended over aligners where teeth need to move a long way, where significant rotation is required, where the bite needs substantial correction, or where wearing removable aligners consistently isn't realistic.

What is orthodontic treatment?

Orthodontics is the area of dentistry concerned with moving teeth that are crooked or don't fit together properly. Beyond appearance, it makes teeth easier to clean, which reduces the risk of decay and gum disease, and it can correct a bite that's causing uneven wear.

What's the best age to start?

For children, treatment often begins between roughly 10 and 14, while the jaw is still growing and teeth respond more readily. But there's no upper limit, and a growing proportion of orthodontic patients are adults. Teeth can be moved at any age provided the gums and supporting bone are healthy.

How do I look after fixed braces?

Brackets and wires create spaces where food and plaque collect, and plaque left around a bracket causes staining, white marks and decay. How your teeth look when the braces come off has a great deal to do with how you look after them while they're on.

• Brush after meals with a fluoride toothpaste, and clean between the teeth
• Use tools made for braces — interdental brushes, floss threaders, and an electric brush suited to orthodontics
• Use a fluoride mouth rinse
• Don't chew pens, straws, ice or your nails
• Avoid hard and sticky foods that break brackets and add appointments