Invisalign is an orthodontic system that consists of a set of plastic aligners that are worn on the teeth 18 to 22 hours per day. Invisalign has become one of the leading orthodontic treatment options because it’s virtually invisible to others, care is simple and there are no dietary restrictions.
Mar Orthodontics is proud to be a St. Albert & Edmonton Invisalign® provider.
With Invisalign braces, you'll have a series of custom-made orthodontic aligners created for you, and designed to correct your specific orthodontic issues and straighten your teeth.
Invisalign aligners are made from safe, smooth and comfortable plastic, and the best part? They're virtually invisible! There are no metal brackets attached to your teeth or wires to be tighten.
Instead, you'll just need to wear a new set of aligners for approximately one to two weeks at a time (typically you'll have between 20 - 40 sets of aligners depending on the severity of your orthodontic issues). These aligners gradually shift your teeth into the ideal alignment determined by our skilled orthodontists.
To get more out of your Invisalign braces orthodontic treatment, proper oral hygiene is very important. Check out this short and informative Invisalign hygiene video to learn more about cleaning your Invisalign braces and other aspects of Invisalign oral hygiene.
Studies show that without an orthodontic retainer, your newly straightened teeth may gradually shift back to their original positioning. Wearing a retainer ensures you minimize this movement, and protect your new smile and your investment.
Mar Orthodontics offers custom retainers crafted in our onsite lab. Learn more about the
importance of retention.
Ultimately, cost will be determined by the complexity of your orthodontic issues. The cost can depend on a number of factors.
Mar Orthodontics is pleased to offer Propel® for our adult & adolescent patients. It's an innovative and advanced orthodontic technology that works with your Invisalign aligners to fast track your orthodontic treatment.
If your orthodontic issues are not severe, you might wonder if it’s worth getting orthodontic treatment. After all, who wants to undergo treatment for a couple years to sort out what might be considered minor issues?
That’s where Invisalign Lite comes in! It’s not a Invisalign Full where you’d need to wear anywhere between 20-40 aligners, but instead requires that only 10 to 14 sets of aligner be worn.
Invisalign Lite is ideal for people who have some crooked teeth, crowded teeth, teeth in an incorrect position and abnormal gaps.
Many people have relatively minor orthodontic issues, like tooth spacing or crowding, that they would like to have corrected. Most do not pursue orthodontic treatment because they believe that it’s too much of a hassle (will take too much time or effort) or that that it may be expensive.
Introducing Invisalign Express – designed to fix minor orthodontic issues and slight imperfections. Your orthodontist will be able to access whether or not you’re a good candidate for Invisalign Express treatment.
Invisalign Express orthodontic treatment typically involves five sets of aligners that are changed about every two weeks, rather than 20 to 40 sets like you see with Invisalign Full treatment.
Minor Orthodontic Issues – If your teeth have slight imperfections and you’d like them corrected, you may be a candidate for Invisalign Express. Our orthodontists will be able to access if you’re indeed a candidate.
Orthodontic Treatment Relapse – As many people are aware, our teeth do not stay in the same position for our entire life. The same science that allows your body to have teeth moved into ideal positions also allows your teeth to move back into less than ideal positions. If your teeth have shifted since a previous orthodontic treatment, talk to our orthodontists to see if Invisalign Express is an option to correct this before the problem gets worse.
One question we’re often asked is why Invisalign Teen? Isn’t this the same treatment as the Invisalign Full treatment that adults get?
Well, yes and no. The main difference is that Invisalign Teen is designed specifically for teens and the unique issues they face in orthodontic treatment.
Invisalign Teen has a number of features that differ from regular Invisalign Full that are specific to the orthodontic issues teens face. These include:
New Teeth – Adolescent teeth are still growing, depending on how old your teen is and what stage their teeth are at, Invisalign Teen aligners can be designed to accommodate growth of second premolars, second and third molar teeth as well as canines. In addition to accommodating the growth of these teeth, if the orthodontist anticipates they may grow incorrectly, they can guide them into proper position as they grow through treatment.
Compliance Indicators – Each Invisalign Teen aligner has a built in compliance or wear indicator that helps you, your teen and the orthodontist see how long the aligner has been worn. This also allows us to partner better with our patients to empower positive outcomes. The wear indicator fades from blue to clear, so you’ll know if your teen has been wearing them enough or not.
Six Free Replacement Aligners – One thing parents know about teens is that they can be a little forgetful and sometimes careless. If an aligner is misplaced or lost, Invisalign Teen provides up to six free replacement aligners (or 3 sets). Therefore if a few are lost or damaged they can be replaced at no extra cost.
Invisible – We can all recall our teen years and understand just how self-conscious teens can be. Conventional braces can often be a major source of anxiety, so an invisible braces option like Invisalign can help with this.
Ease of Cleaning – Teenagers these days often lead very busy lives and can therefore be time-limited, or sometimes a little forgetful or lazy. One of the great things about Invisalign Teen is the ease of care. Aligners are easy to pop out and clean, and even better, allow your teen to brush and floss normally.
Eating & Drinking
– If you’re familiar with conventional braces, you’re well aware that there are a number of dietary restrictions. Eating hard or sticky foods is not a good idea because of the possibility damaging your braces, and the difficulty of oral hygiene. This is not the case with Invisalign Teen. Since Invisalign aligners pop out, your teen can eat and drink normally, therefore there’s no need to keep after them about what they’re eating or drinking.
Our Edmonton Invisalign orthodontists will help you to determine if your teen is a good candidate for Invisalign Teen.
If your teen is an athlete that plays contact sports where they could be injured by the brackets or wires on traditional braces, Invisalign Teen is a great option. During practices and games, your teen can just swap out their Invisalign aligner for a mouthguard.
Want to eat and drink normally? If you don’t relish the idea of changing your diet to suit your braces, and you might not want all the extra work and cleaning wearing traditional braces might entail, Invisalign Teen is a great option.
Teens often can have challenging orthodontic issues, and we are excited about Invisalign’s ability to treat these tougher cases.
Invisalign MAF, or Invisalign with mandibular advancement features, allows treatment of Class 2 malocclusions or, as it is more commonly known, overbite (mandible refers to the lower jaw).
If your teen has an overbite, Invisalign MAF may be a great option!
As you’re probably aware, Invisalign treatment consists of a series of clear aligners designed to move a patient’s teeth from their current position to their ideal final location. The series of aligners change slightly each time, gradually moving teeth.
Invisalign MAF has precision wings molded into each aligner in the molar area. When a patient bites down, the wings engage and gradually guide the mandible (lower jaw) forward in an advanced position. Aligners with MAF are changed more frequently, often weekly.
There are no elastics involved, which makes it makes patience compliance a lot easier. Compliance with elastic wear has proven to be problematic for most teenagers therefore Invisalign MAF is a positive option.
Mar Orthodontics is pleased to announce that we now offer Propel®, innovative and advanced orthodontic technologies that work with both aligners (e.g. Invisalign ) and braces to fast track Edmonton Invisalign orthodontic treatment.
While each patient’s treatment time will vary due to the complexity of their orthodontic issues, many Propel® patients can have their orthodontic treatment lessened by several months. To benefit from Propel® you must first have aligners or braces in place.
Propel Orthodontics offers two main technologies: 1) Excellerator Series and 2) VPro5.
Your orthodontist will use an Excellerator tip to create micro-osteoperforations (MOPs) in areas requiring a larger amount of tooth movement.
It only takes a few minutes and is performed chairside with local anesthetic. Typically one to three treatments are required with no post procedure care needed.
MOPs stimulate the alveolar bone to increase cytokine activity and induce an inflammatory response, this results in a marked increase in osteoclast activity! Simply speaking this means faster bone remodeling around the target tooth or teeth, which accelerates treatment.
Propel VPro5 is a high frequency vibration (HFV) device designed for use with Invisalign . It's main function is to improve aligner seating (fit). It is meant to be used anywhere and only takes 5 minutes a day - preferably before bedtime, when you’ll be wearing your aligners for the longest, uninterrupted period of time.
It’s simple. HFV is a low magnitude mechanical stimulus characterised by an oscillatory motion. VPro5 utilizes HFV to shimmy aligners into place, helping them fit more snugly to the teeth. The better fit helps to ensure that your teeth move more fully and accurately in the direction intended by your orthodontist. This reduces the likelihood of refinement and therefore results in a shortened treatment time.
"I include VPro5 with every Invisalign treatment because I believe strongly in the benefits of this tool." - Dr. Ly T. Mar, Orthodontist & Principal
Benefits Include:
The cost of Invisalign is something most people consider when deciding to get orthodontic treatment. Invisalign is one of the most popular orthodontic treatment options today, so questions related to Invisalign cost and financing are common at Mar Orthodontics.
So, how much does Invisalign cost?
Without a consultation it is impossible to determine an exact cost for Invisalign treatment. The cost can depend on a number of factors.
The following factors may contribute to the cost of Invisalign:
Many patients have orthodontic treatment benefits through their employer’s benefits plan that will typically cover Invisalign treatment. We advise patients to check on any limitations in orthodontic coverage such as age or maximum value covered. Providing us with these details will help us determine your out of pocket cost for Invisalign treatment.
When a patient has more than one insurance company, the insurance companies will work together to coordinate the patient’s benefits. For example, if two parties, such as both parents, have orthodontic coverage in their benefit plans, it is possible to use both benefit plans to cover the cost of Invisalign for their child.
Curious to know more about how much your Invisalign treatment will cost?
We invite you to book an initial consultation where we’ll give you basic information about your orthodontic treatment options. From there we will do an initial orthodontic exam and preliminary diagnosis. Patients (and guardians) are explained our orthodontic process, given a tour of our office, shown the types of braces and Invisalign we use, and any questions, concerns or anxieties are addressed.
At this point we will be able to assess the complexity of your orthodontic issues and recommend a treatment option(s). This will allows us to give you a precise estimate of cost, and we will also discuss payment options at this time.
1. How long will Invisalign treatment take?
As with any orthodontic treatment, treatment time varies depending on the complexity of your orthodontic issues and treatment compliance. For people with minor issues, Invisalign treatment can be as little as six months using Invisalign Express, while those with more complex orthodontic alignment issues can take up to 18 months or more using Invisalign Full or Invisalign Teen.
2. What are the benefits of Invisalign?
One of the major benefits of Invisalign is that it is virtually invisible. For those who worry about others noticing conventional braces, Invisalign can be a great option. You will also have no specific dietary restrictions when using Invisalign since you can just pop your aligners out when you want to eat and drink. Oral hygiene is much easier as cleaning your aligners and flossing is simple compared to doing so with braces.
3. Is it possible to only wear the Invisalign aligners while I sleep?
Not if you want your orthodontic treatment to be successful or take the amount of time it should. Invisalign aligners must be worn 20 to 22 hours per day, the minimum for the treatment to be successful.
4. Are there food restrictions with Invisalign treatment?
There are no food or drink restrictions while undergoing Invisalign treatment! You just need to remember to take out your aligners when eating or drinking (unless you’re just drinking water). You will need to remember to brush and floss after each meal to make sure your teeth are nice and clean before putting your aligners on. If you don’t have time we recommend that you rinse at the very least.
5. What is the best way to clean my Invisalign aligners?
Cleaning your aligners is as simple as brushing them and rinsing them in room temperature water. You do need to make sure you brush and floss your teeth as you normally would after eating and drinking before you put your aligners on.
Do you have additional questions about Edmonton Invisalign orthodontic treatment?
Many do! We invite you to book a consultation so that you can meet Dr. Mar in person and get your questions answered.