Invisalign Clear Braces – Glenpool, OK

Improved Comfort

With traditional braces, gentle pressure is applied to your teeth with brackets and wires. With Invisalign, gentle pressure is applied to your teeth with custom aligners! Since they are crafted from smooth plastic, you won’t have to worry about sharp edges or protruding wires irritating the soft tissue in your mouth. Of course, if you do run into any problems – like a rough edge on one of your trays – you can still use dental wax.

Boosted Confidence

Simply put, you won’t mind smiling during treatment because your braces are completely clear! That means your coworkers, family members, and friends won’t detect the fact that you’re undergoing orthodontic treatment (unless you tell them, of course).

It’s also worth noting here that you can remove your aligners for special occasions as well. For example, if you have an important presentation at work, you can take them out and make up the time the next day.

Easy Dental Hygiene

If you’ve had traditional braces in the past (or you know someone who has them now), then you know that interproximal toothbrushes, pre-threaded floss, and other special oral hygiene products are needed to remove food particles and other debris from the brackets and wires. That’s not the case with Invisalign. Simply take off your aligners, place them in their case, and brush your teeth as usual. Just don’t forget to clean your trays too!

Quick Follow-Ups

There aren’t monthly adjustment appointments with Invisalign. That’s because we give you several sets of aligners at a time, allowing you to progress through your treatment plan at home. That said, you do need to come in every six to eight weeks so we can track how your teeth are moving. Usually, these appointments only take 15 minutes or so; just enough time to scan your teeth and give you your next round of aligners.

You Don’t Have to Alter Your Diet

With Invisalign, you can eat and drink whatever you’d like. You can even chew gum! The only rule is that you have to take your aligners out first (with the exception of water, of course). There are also a few guidelines we recommend following, including keeping added sugar to a minimum and exercising caution with sticky, hard, and crunchy foods that can cause an attachment to come loose.

Shorter Average Treatment Timelines

One of the biggest benefits of Invisalign is also the one that’s talked about the least: the average treatment timeline is 12-18 months. This is considerably shorter than traditional braces, which can take 24-36 months. The key to staying on-track with your treatment plan is following all of the instructions we give you, including making it a priority to wear your aligners for 20-22 hours a day.

Wearing Your Trays

Actually wearing your trays will probably be the biggest adjustment. The best way to make the transition easy (and to stay on-track with your treatment plan) is to only take them off when absolutely necessary. In other words, you should focus on wearing your aligners for 20-22 hours a day. There are several ways you can track your wear time, like using the stopwatch on your phone!

Cleaning Your Aligners

Cleaning your aligners consistently is also important. After all, you don’t want your clear aligners turning yellow, right? To prevent that from happening, get in the habit of rinsing them thoroughly with clean, cool water when you take them off and then using a soft-bristled toothbrush to gently scrub them before putting them back on. You can also use the cleaning crystals that came in your welcome kit on an as-needed basis.

Eating & Drinking

The good news is that you won’t need to dramatically alter your diet. At most, we may ask you to exercise caution with extremely crunchy, sticky, and hard foods since they can cause an attachment to come off or a tooth to chip. Of course, we also recommend keeping foods and drinks with added sugar to a minimum to help prevent an oral health problem from developing during your teeth-straightening journey.

Losing or Damaging a Tray

Let’s start with damaging a tray. Whether there is a hairline crack or your aligners have broken into several pieces, call us ASAP so we can get the process of having a replacement made started. If you lose your trays, on the other hand, then we recommend carefully retracing your steps, keeping an eye out for the small crevices they could’ve fallen into. If you can’t find them, then do the same thing: give us a call.  

Routine Check-Ins

Even if you have your entire series of aligners, you need to prioritize your check-in visits at our office. Why? To start, we use these appointments to take new scans of your teeth and make sure they are moving as expected. We can also clean your aligners, make small adjustments to your treatment plan, and answer any questions you have about life with Invisalign at this time. In short, these routine visits are important, so don’t skip them!

Crowded Teeth

When there is not enough room in your mouth for all of your teeth, it can cause your teeth to overlap each other. They then become harder for you to brush and floss, and even dental hygienists have a more difficult time ridding them of plaque at your cleanings. As a result, you are at a greater risk for oral health issues. Invisalign can more evenly space out your teeth.

Gaps Between Teeth

Wide spaces between your teeth can jeopardize your dental health. Food particles can get trapped in these gaps, attracting bacteria that contribute to cavities and gum disease. Luckily, Invisalign can close these spaces. Many patients are very pleased with the aesthetic results they get after closing a gap with clear aligners.

Overbite

A small overbite is normal and healthy, but when the top teeth protrude too far in front of the bottom teeth, it can have adverse effects on your oral health and facial aesthetics. For example, it can lead to uneven dental wear, speech issues, and jaw pain. Invisalign, often with the help of accessories, can be used to correct some cases of overbite.

Underbite

When the bottom teeth rest in front of the top teeth, it is known as an underbite. This can give the appearance of a prominent chin and contribute to oral health issues, such as difficulty chewing. It can even play a role in the development of sleep apnea and speech problems. Invisalign, along with elastics or other attachments, can sometimes be used to address an underbite.

Crossbite

If some of your bottom teeth overlap your top teeth, you have what is known as a crossbite, which may be the result of genetics, the premature loss of baby teeth, or other factors. Left untreated, a crossbite may increase the risk of tooth decay, jaw pain, speech problems, and other issues. Thankfully, Invisalign is often able to address cases of crossbite.

Open Bite

If there is a visible space between your top and bottom front teeth even when your back teeth are touching one another, you have an open bite. This issue may be the result of prolonged thumb-sucking as a child, poor bone development, or other factors. In many cases, Invisalign is able to close an open bite.

Factors That Affect the Cost of Invisalign

Various factors can impact the amount of money you’ll have to pay for Invisalign, some of which include:

• Your age (orthodontic treatment generally takes longer for older patients than younger ones)
• Whether you’re straightening just one arch or both
• The complexity of your orthodontic issues
• The estimated length of your treatment

Invisalign vs. Smile Direct Club™: Which Costs More?

If all you’re looking for is a quick and easy way to straighten teeth in Glenpool that are only mildly crooked, then you might benefit from Smile Direct Club or other “do-it-yourself” clear aligners. They typically cost significantly less than Invisalign. However, these DIY aligner kits come with zero oversight from an orthodontic professional.

 There are too many chances for things to go wrong, from having to take impressions of your teeth on your own to not following the treatment steps correctly. This may result in serious dental issues that would have to be corrected by a professional anyway. With Invisalign, on the other hand, you have the trusted supervision of our dentists every step of the way. Our accurate, professionally made impressions will make the process smoother and more successful overall. If you want quality results, paying extra for Invisalign treatment is well worth it.

Does Dental Insurance Cover Invisalign?

Only some dental insurance plans cover orthodontic treatment, and of those, many of them only include coverage for traditional braces. That said, it’s still worth asking our team members to look over the details of your insurance plan to find out how much coverage you qualify for. We’ll gladly file your claims for you, and we’re even in-network with many of the nation’s most popular dental insurance plans.

Options for Making Invisalign Affordable

Outside of insurance, our team at 918 Dentist of Glenpool has methods of helping you fit Invisalign into your budget. For one, we can help you apply for a loan through CareCredit – a third-party financing company that breaks up the cost of your treatment into manageable payments. Many of their plans have little to no interest.

We also have an in-house loyalty plan as an alternative to insurance. All you have to do is pay a flat $250 fee a year, and in exchange, you receive FREE routine preventive care as well as a significant discount on most of our other services, including orthodontics.