Reviewing the Good and the Bad
Positive Review
One of the biggest advantages of invisalign braces is the aesthetic factor. As these are see-through plastic aligners, they are barely noticeable when a person wears them. This is the reason why this option is particularly preferred by older people. Furthermore, these aligners are much more comfortable when compared to metal braces. They are removable orthodontic appliances, and can be easily worn and removed as per the persons preference.
One of the biggest factors that contribute to the various positive reviews that one may come across is that, due to these aligners being non-fixed, a person needn’t restrict his diet to non-sticky food. Also, as these are removable aligners, the dental health of the individual is not compromised, as he can always remove these aligners, and then brush and floss his teeth. There are many disadvantages of fixed orthodontic braces, like problems associated with maintaining oral hygiene, recession of gums, and damage to the supporting bone. Also, almost any kind of fixed orthodontic treatment option will invariably lead to some amount of shortening of roots, that is, root resorption. Also, the build up of tartar and plaque around the brackets of fixed braces often leads to demineralization and tooth decay.
Negative Review
Although there are many factors that work in favor of this product, there are also drawbacks of this popular treatment option. Firstly, not all patients can be treated with invisalign aligners. Only people that have minimal amount of malocclusion, and so, have only mild crowding, can be treated. Hence, overbite correction, for cases where there is a severe overbite or crossbite, cannot be done with invisalign. In fact, even mild, single anterior crossbites are difficult to treat with only invisalign. Also, tooth rotation cannot be done solely with these aligners, especially when it comes to molars and premolars. Invisalign aligners are also contraindicated in patients that have the habit of teeth grinding, as this can lead to irreversible damage to the aligners.
The other major factor that often gets a mention is that as these are removable orthodontic appliances, many patients tend to abuse this advantage. There is a stipulated minimum amount of time that a person needs to wear these aligners, so as to notice or bring about any kind of correction in the misaligned teeth. Thus, the success rate of this treatment is greatly dependent on the patient and his level of motivation. If the person is very lax in his approach towards this treatment option, then the desired results may elude the orthodontist and patient. The invisalign price is another deterring factor for many, as this treatment option is more expensive than regular metal braces. Also, if a patient does not regularly use his aligners, due to which the expected amount of correction is not seen, then the next set of aligners may not fit properly. Due to this, there may be need to re-fabricate them, which will further lead to an increase in the cost of these aligners.
After reading up on this review, you may have realized that you need to have only a certain amount of dental crowding, without any skeletal abnormality, to be able to avail this treatment option. Cases of malocclusion due to skeletal deformities, like a large or small jaw, or a forwardly or backwardly placed jaw cannot be treated with the help of invisalign, but instead, will need surgical intervention like crossbite surgery or overbite or underbite surgery. The fact is that this treatment is indicated only in a very small percentage of patients that require orthodontic correction. Hence, the basic point that is being stressed in this review is that first and foremost, one will need to check if he is applicable for this treatment option or not, and if he is, then he needs to be motivated enough to religiously follow the orthodontists instructions, if he wishes to see any visible difference in the alignment of his teeth.
