Invisalign has designed a line of aligners around the needs to teenagers. Our Surrey dentists explain why Invisalign Teen is a great choice for adolescent patients, and how it's different from standard treatment.
The basics: what is Invisalign, and how does it work?
Invisalign is a series of removable, clear plastic aligners that are a great alternative to traditional metal braces for many patients. Each aligner in the series is worn for about two weeks and then switched out for the next one.
Each aligner is slightly different from the last, and each is custom made to fit into its position in the lineup. Each aligner is responsible for a small adjustment to the position of your teeth. When treatment is finished, your teeth will have been moved into their new, straightened positions.
The aligners are almost invisible when worn, making them a good choice those with concerns about aesthetics, and who don’t like the look of traditional metal braces.
The aligners can also be removed, making eating, brushing and flossing easy during treatment.
So what additions have been made to Invisalign Teen?
Invisalign Teen has a few extra features that were developed with typical teenagers in mind, with the goal of making it easier for them to comply with their treatment schedule, and to accommodate their growing smiles.
Compliance Indicators
Invisalign Teen aligners feature small blue dots that fade away after two weeks of consistent wear.
Teenage patients tend to be less compliant to their prescribed treatment than adults. This makes them likelier to take their aligners our more frequently and leave them out for longer periods of time than prescribed. It can therefore be difficult to keep track of how much longer they need to wear a given set of aligners.
The compliance indicators help solve this problem because they only fade after the aligners have been worn for the two full weeks required. This makes it easier for teens to get back on track with their orthodontic treatment!
Eruption Tabs
Invisalign can be prescribed for teens whose adult teeth are not quite finished growing in. This is thanks to the addition of special eruption tabs. These eruption tabs are essentially spaces in the Invisalign Teen aligners that allow the teeth to erupt through.
6 Extra Replacement Aligners
As mentioned above, teens are more likely to take their aligners out and leave them out for longer than adult patients. This in turn means that their aligners get lost or damaged more frequently. For this reason, an Invisalign Teen series comes with 6 replacement aligners so that treatment can stay on track.