Invisalign for adults in Pearisburg

What adults usually want fixed

Adults tend to arrive with something particular in mind rather than a wish for perfect teeth. The usual reasons are these:

• Crowding at the front, where one tooth overlaps another or has turned.
• A tooth that has drifted, often into the space left by a missing tooth, or as the bite has changed over the years.
• Relapse after braces as a teenager, usually because the retainer stopped being worn.
• Spacing, where gaps have opened up between the front teeth.

Wearing aligners at work

Clear aligners are far less noticeable than braces, which is the main reason adults choose them. Across a desk or a counter they are easy to miss. Some people lisp slightly for the first few days, and it passes as the tongue gets used to them.

The real adjustment is the routine, not the look. Aligners are worn about 22 hours a day, so they come out only to eat and to brush. If you eat away from home, keep the case and a travel toothbrush with you, and put the aligners back in as soon as you have finished.

Can you eat and drink with Invisalign?

Take the aligners out to eat anything, and to drink anything other than plain water. Plain water is fine with them in. Coffee and tea stain the aligners, hot drinks can warp the plastic, and anything sugary or acidic gets trapped against your teeth under the aligner, which is how decay starts.

After you eat, brush if you can, or at least rinse well with water, before the aligners go back in. The hardest habit to fit around aligners is grazing. Every snack means taking them out, and a coffee sipped slowly through the morning can quietly eat into your hours of wear.

Gums and fillings come first

Aligners move teeth through the bone, and they need healthy gums and sound teeth to do it. A cavity is filled first, with a tooth-colored filling. If the gums are inflamed, or gum disease has cost some of the bone around the teeth, that is brought under control before any tooth is moved, because moving teeth in unhealthy gums can make the gum problem worse. Gum disease treatment explains what that involves.

That is why the first visit includes a full look at your teeth and gums, not only a scan. There is a payoff on the other side, too: straighter teeth are easier to keep clean, because overlapping teeth trap plaque in places a toothbrush struggles to reach.

Crowns, bridges and implants you already have

Dental work you already have changes the plan but does not usually rule aligners out. A tooth with a crown can still be moved, because it is the root that moves through the bone, not the crown on top. Attachments can be harder to fix to some crown materials, and the plan takes that into account.

A dental implant is different. It is fused to the bone and will not move at all, so the plan treats it as a fixed point and moves the other teeth around it. Teeth joined by a bridge move together or not at all.

If a crown or bridge is due for replacement anyway, it can make sense to straighten the teeth first and replace it afterward, so the new one is made for where your teeth end up. We will talk through the order with you before anything starts.

The honest part: the commitment

Nobody else can wear the aligners for you. About 22 hours a day, every day, for the length of the plan, is what makes the result happen. If your days involve constant snacking or long meals out, be honest with yourself about that before you start, because every hour out slows the plan down.

It also ends with a retainer for the long term, because teeth drift back without one. How Invisalign works walks through every step, and the fee is quoted in writing after your scan, before you commit to anything.

Questions patients ask