Can Invisalign ruin your teeth?

Invisalign is a removable orthodontic system made up of a series of clear aligners that you normally change every 2 weeks.

Unlike normal orthodontics which have fixed brackets and wires, Invisalign allows you to remove the aligner to clean your teeth.

Because there are no brackets fixed to your teeth or archwires, Invisalign allows you to floss your teeth as well.

Flossing is very difficult with fixed orthodontics because the wire gets in the way. So normally you have to use interdental brushes under the wire and around the brackets.

One downside is that some patients tend to drink fizzy, sugary drinks constantly with the aligners in; this can cause a build-up of sugars inside the aligner and can cause tooth decay. We recommend avoiding fizzy drinks for all orthodontic systems.

We recommend a fluoride mouth rinse used once a day before going to bed.

With all orthodontic systems, sometimes we need to make spaces with interproximal stripping. This is where a disc or small bur is used to open a space between 2 teeth contacts. The contact between the 2 teeth is opened up.

The space is normally 0.3 to 0 .4 millimetres wide and will normally close with the aligner system.

Sometimes however the space is created too early, i.e when the teeth are heavily crowded or rotated then that can cause uneven spacing between teeth; these spaces do not close very well.

In reality this happens very rarely but can ruin patient’s expectations.

We advise interproximal stripping is done on teeth that are relatively straight or later in the treatment when they are not as crowded.

We also advise stripping should be done with a thin narrow disc and not with a drill or dental bur.

The last problem with orthodontics is poor oral hygiene as this can cause a problem with any orthodontic system especially fixed but less so with Invisalign.

In conclusion, Invisalign being a removable orthodontic system rarely can ruin teeth.