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Invisalign
Chicago, Illinois
Would you like to get your teeth straightened but aren’t sure you can tolerate braces for a couple of years? There’s another way of doing it now and that’s using clear aligners. If your teeth are mildly to moderately crowded or misaligned, Invisalign offers outstanding advantages whether you’re a teen or an adult.
Aligners instead of wires
Instead of having brackets securely affixed to your teeth and a wire connecting them that is gradually tightened in ways that will re-align you teeth, a series of clear plastic trays can be worn. Each tray picks up where the previous one left off and in small increments, they end up repositioning your teeth into a straighter and healthier alignment.
There are usually 15 to 25 sets of aligners in the series. After two weeks, you set aside the aligners you’re currently wearing and start wearing the next in the series. They are barely visible when in place, as they’re made of a clear polymer and are customized exactly to your teeth’s positioning.
A customized sequence of aligners
To set up this treatment, Dr. Emery closely examines the position of your teeth to plan stages of treatment. Teeth can be misaligned in several ways:
Twisted to the left or right
Rooted too far to the left or right, causing gaps or crowding
Angled too far forward or back
Positioned so that they meet the teeth on the opposing jaw incorrectly
Dr. Emery will take a bite impression of your teeth and send it to Invisalign. The Invisalign company uses sophisticated 3-D computer imaging software to build a series of trays based on those bite impressions. In a second visit, Dr. Emery will give you the first few sets and clear instructions on how to wear them and what to expect.
Check-up visits
Each 6 weeks or so, you’ll have a check-up visit, where Dr. Emery will monitor your progress and give you the next few sets of aligners. The average length of treatment is a year.
Aligners are removable
Ideally, you should wear the aligners 24 hours a day, and remove them only to eat, drink, brush and floss. But one of the great advantages of straightening your teeth using Invisalign is that you can remove the trays any time. If you have a special date, a job interview, or for some other reason you can take them out for a few hours and simply put them back in when you’re ready again.
This ability to remove them is a valuable freedom, but mustn’t be over-used, because the aligners work only as long as they’re in position, and 20 to 22 hours per day most of the time is necessary.
If you’re in or near Chicago, Illinois, and would like to learn more about how Invisalign can straighten your teeth, please call or e-mail us today to schedule your initial consultation.
(773) 883-1818
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