How a Custom Invisalign Treatment Plan Is Developed

Every patient's Invisalign® treatment regimen is unique. However, the way a treatment plan is developed is comparable. This article describes the process of developing a treatment plan for Invisalign. Your dentist will design a personalized Invisalign treatment plan tailored to your situation.

How is an Invisalign treatment plan created?

Ahead of any Invisalign treatment, the dentist must do an exam and x-rays to establish whether the patient is eligible for Invisalign aligners. The dental professional will also use a digital scan of the teeth to create 3D models or utilize the traditional impression-taking method. This information will help the dentist determine whether the patient's teeth can be straightened with this orthodontic treatment.

Once it has been decided that Invisalign is a good fit, the dentist will create a comprehensive treatment plan for dental alignment, including the movements the teeth should make throughout treatment. These instructions will be detailed, including the time and sequence of the motions the teeth will make.

Making the Invisalign trays

The dentist then sends the customized Invisalign plan and instructions to the lab that will fabricate the Invisalign aligners. The dentist will get a functioning model that will show how the teeth will line up, and the bite will come together depending on the treatment plan. If the dentist believes that modifications are necessary, the model may be updated and adjusted as many times as needed to get the best possible outcome.

This thorough preparation and planning show how the teeth will look when the orthodontic treatment ends, typically in about 12 months. Thanks to the digital component and design approach, this is achievable, even before patients get the first Invisalign aligner over their teeth.

The treatment process begins

Treatment starts once the dentist has approved the Invisalign treatment plan, the aligners have been manufactured, and materials sent back to the dentist. At each dentist visit, patients will be given multiple sets of aligners. Check-ups for Invisalign users are less frequent than for conventional metal brace users.

Patients are primarily responsible for the progress of the Invisalign treatment. It is crucial to stay committed to the orthodontic treatment, keeping the aligners on the teeth for 20 to 22 hours each day and carefully cleaning them.

After treatment

It becomes necessary to keep the teeth in their new locations after wearing the final set of Invisalign aligners. Retainers are an important last step in the Invisalign treatment. The retainers may be worn only at night or worn a couple of days per week. Failure to wear the retainers as directed may cause the teeth to shift back to their previous positions.