So you’re thinking about clear aligners and want to know how long the whole thing will take? We at Forest Orthodontics and Pediatric Dentistry know your time is valuable and knowing how long treatment will take helps you make smart decisions. The truth is the length of treatment depends on many things and varies from person to person. We wish we could give everyone the same simple timeline but that’s not how orthodontics works. How long you wear aligners to get the results you want depends on your specific dental problem.
The most important factor in how long your treatment will take is how complex your situation is. If someone has only a little crowding or a few small gaps they might be done in as little as 6 months. Cases that need a lot of tooth movement or bite correction can take 18 months or longer. We will evaluate your teeth and bite during your first visit to our Lake Forest, IL office. We can give you a more accurate estimate based on your condition after this evaluation. We don’t want to promise a timeline that will make you think anything will happen. If you are honest about what your treatment will require you can plan accordingly.
How quickly your treatment goes depends a lot on how well you follow the instructions for wearing your aligners. You can only use clear aligners when you have them in your mouth. We recommend you wear them at least 22 hours a day and only take them out to eat and brush your teeth. Patients who follow these instructions always get results on time. Patients who forget to wear their aligners or leave them out for a long time will have to wait longer. The best part is you can control a lot of the timeline by following the rules.
In some cases age can affect how quickly treatment works. Younger patients with more mobile teeth may develop faster than older adults with fully grown bone structure. But this isn’t a hard and fast rule. Adults have finished treatment quickly while teens have taken longer depending on their needs. The state of your teeth and how well you follow treatment guidelines are more important than your biological age.
Before you even get your first aligner Forest Orthodontics and Pediatric Dentistry uses state of the art planning technology to plan out your entire treatment. Digital scanning makes a perfect model of your teeth and special software tells us exactly how each aligner will move your teeth into their final positions. This planning stage allows us to be accurate with our timelines. We can see potential problems that may arise and include them in our estimates. This technology has made treatment more predictable than ever.
Changing to new aligners on time keeps the treatment going. Depending on your plan you will usually switch to a new pair of aligners every 1-2 weeks. Each new set moves you a little closer to your goal. Not making these changes or wearing them longer than recommended slows down progress. We give you specific instructions on when to change aligners and we recommend you mark your calendar or set reminders. If you follow these changes you will finish your treatment when we said you would.
We can monitor your progress and make any necessary changes by having you come in for regular check-ups. These sessions are every 6-8 weeks and only take a few minutes. We check to make sure your teeth are moving as planned during these sessions. We can fix any problems we see before they become big delays if we notice any changes from our plans. Going to all of your scheduled appointments will keep you on track with your treatment. If you miss appointments your completion date may be pushed back because we can’t see how things are going.
Some patients want to know if they can make their treatment go faster. We have products like Propel that can speed up tooth movement in some cases. These methods speed up bone remodelling which makes it easier for teeth to move. Not everyone needs or qualifies for these extras but they are worth talking about if you want to shorten the length of your treatment. During consultations we discuss the pros and cons of rapid treatment so you can decide if these options are right for you.
When talking about overall timelines it’s important to mention the retention phase after active treatment. You will need retainers to keep your new smile after you finish wearing your series of aligners. This phase isn’t really part of the actual treatment time but it does show you’re still committed. We give you instructions on how to wear your retainer so your results last forever. If you skip this important phase your teeth might move back to where they were before and all the time and effort you put into treatment would be wasted.
Some patients like to compare the lengths of treatment for different orthodontic methods. Moderate cases of traditional braces usually take 18-24 months. Clear aligners can get the same results in similar or shorter amounts of time. There’s no one method that’s always faster than another; it depends on the person. We help you figure out how [Invisalign] stacks up against other options based on your unique dental needs.
Having realistic expectations will help you not be disappointed during your orthodontic experience. Treatment doesn’t always go in a straight line. In the first few months you might see big changes and then you might have times when growth seems to slow down. This is normal and doesn’t mean anything is wrong. Teeth move through bone at their own pace so you need to be patient the whole time. We keep in touch with you about what to expect at each step so you never have to wonder if things are going as planned.
Sometimes things that happen in life can change how long treatment takes in ways we can’t predict. If you lose your aligners and need new ones it will take longer to get them. Health problems or dental emergencies could stop treatment for a short time. We will work with you through these situations and adjust the deadlines as needed. Being flexible and understanding helps us deal with surprises that come up.
Patients at our Lake Forest and Gurnee locations always say the time went by faster than they thought. If you stay busy with life the months will fly by before you know it. You look at your new smile and wonder where the time went before you know it. The months of treatment pay off for the rest of your life so even longer treatment periods are worth it. We’ll be with you every step of the way until you have the smile you’ve always wanted.