Invisalign has given many people access to effective and discreet orthodontic treatment. These clear aligners have evolved a lot over the years, and today, they can treat a wide variety of tooth alignments or even bite issues.
However, if you’ve been looking into the procedure, then you probably learned that Invisalign can’t fix everything.
And that’s true - sometimes, patients will still need traditional metal braces or even surgery to fix their alignment problems.
Here is a rundown of the orthodontic issues that Invisalign can't fix:
An unhealthy bite can be caused by 2 things:
If the bite issue is caused by tooth positioning, then Invisalign may be able to fix it. The clear aligners add pressure on the teeth and slowly pull them into their most optimal position, effectively fixing underbites, overbites, crossbites, and more.
However, if the bite problem is skeletal by nature, unfortunately, Invisalign won’t do much to help. Patients will often require jaw surgery to improve the position of the jaws.
Wearing Invisalign can straighten your teeth, but the result can be a bit lacking. This is often the case with patients dealing with misshapen teeth.
Even if the teeth are now straight, the smile can still be uneven simply because Invisalign does not affect the actual shape of the tooth. You can address this through other cosmetic procedures, such as dental bonding or veneers.
Repositioning the teeth can help close the gaps between them, but not always. Very large gaps can still be present even if you straighten your smile. If the gap is 6mm or larger, then it’s very likely that Invisalign won’t have a great effect on your smile.
But, you’ll still have other options. Bonding, veneers, or even dental crowns can be used to remove the gaps between teeth.
Severe cases of rotated teeth may be too much for Invisalign to handle. The aligners in combination with buttons can apply more pressure on a tooth and help it rotate, but the treatment is usually successful if the tooth is up to 20 degrees out of position.
Anything over that will need braces to properly fix.
Invisalign isn’t the best at applying vertical force, which is needed to move the teeth up or down and fix extrusion and intrusion.
While it can have some effect, you’d have much better results with traditional metal braces.
The best way to know for sure if McFarland Invisalign treatment can help you improve your smile is to see Dr. Kevin for an appointment.
Book a consultation at Lakeview Modern Dentistry online, or call us at (608) 716-8622 for a short chat.
