Congratulations on embarking on your Invisalign journey! To ensure the success of your Invisalign treatment, here are a few essential steps you need to follow.
WHAT TO REMEMBER
ATTACHMENTS
To make Invisalign effective, we’ve added tooth-colored attachments to your teeth. These attachments vary in shapes and sizes to guide each tooth’s movement. Everyone with Invisalign has these attachments, but their placement is customized for you.
If an attachment comes off during your treatment, you can still wear your aligners. However, it’s crucial to schedule an appointment to have it reattached. Do not switch to a new aligner without the attachment back on, as Invisalign won’t be effective without them. Check your attachments every morning after brushing your teeth to ensure they are in place.
IPR (INTERPROXIMAL REDUCTION)
As discussed at your consultation, you may need IPR, which stands for inter-proximal reduction. When your teeth are crowded we need to somehow make room for the teeth to be aligned. IPR is a safe and effective way to do this without extracting teeth or pushing teeth out of the bone that houses them. Not every case has IPR and it is case -specific.
ALIGNER “CHEWIES”
Every time you wear a new aligner, it’s important to ensure it sits properly on your teeth. The aligner should be flush against your teeth, but it may feel tight initially, preventing it from seating completely.
To help the aligner seat correctly, we’ve provided aligner chewies in your bag. For the first 3 days, chew on the aligner chewies for 5 minutes twice a day, preferably in the morning and at night. If, after the third day, the aligners still don’t fit well, continue using the chewies until the issue is resolved.
KEEP IN MIND
Invisalign is moving your teeth, which will cause some of your teeth to be sore for the next 24-48 hours. Every time a new aligner is placed this may happen, therefore, we do advise changing aligners at night so the majority of the pain has been slept through.
If you find your aligners are sharp, you can use a nail file to smooth off the edges. Please do not cut your aligners, If the aligner continues scratching, please call us so we can assess you aligner.
All aligners come in packets that are numbered so please follow the numbers and do not skip ahead. Once you have finished your aligner place it back in its original packet and keep it. We advise to keep all your aligners until you have completed your treatment.
Please keep aligners away from dogs, they will try to eat them.
REGULAR CHECKUPS
Every 4 – 6 weeks you are encouraged to make an appointment to attend the clinic for us to check how your teeth are tracking and to give your next set of aligners. At these regular appointments you will see one of the staff or Dr Rosh to ensure you are on track.
At these appointments IPR may be performed. Not all patients will need IPR, you will be informed this when or if this is needed. At each appointment we will dispense the aligners so it’s important that you do attend.
FINAL CHECK
Once you have worn your last aligner, we will book you in for a final check appointment. If a clean is required, we will allocate one hour with our hygienist. She will clean your teeth, once done, we will assess your teeth positioning and check your bite. If Dr Rosh and yourself are happy with the results, we will book you in to have your bonded lingual wires placed and scan you for your retainers.
If we think more improvement is needed, then we will scan you for a refinement set.
REFINEMENT SET
This adds to the length of your treatment and the number of extra weeks needed, varies and is case-specific. The process of attending the clinic for checkup appointments will continue until you finish your refinement set. Once completed, you will be booked in again for a final checkup appointment. Again, we will assess the teeth and ensure that we are happy to finish treatment.
FINAL APPOINTMENT
Once you have completed the Invisalign treatment, an appointment with the hygienist will be booked to insert your wires and scan you for your retainers. This appointment is usually 1 hour in length.
RETAINER COLLECTION
When your retainer arrives approximately 2 weeks later, a staff member will contact you and book you in for a retainer collection. This is a 15-minute appointment to assess the fit of the retainers, as well as give you the instructions and provide you with your complimentary take home whitening kit.
From here we highly recommend a 3-month Invisalign review and 6 monthly scale and cleans / exams.