INVISALIGN:
Align Technology - The Marketing Company
Align Technology - The Operations Company
2. UNDERSTANDING THE INVISALIGN MENU
Invisalign Full
Invisalign Anterior
Invisalign Express
3. WHO SHOULD YOUR INVISALIGN DOCTOR BE?
Who Does provide Invisalign
Who Should provide Invisalign
Why the discrepancy? A historical basis.
4. WHO IS THE IDEAL INVISALIGN CANDIDATE
INTRODUCTION TO INVISALIGN:
Align Technology Incorporated is the company behind the Invisalign appliance. Understanding INVISALIGN begins with understanding Align Technology Inc.
Align Technology is NOT a health care company (the hyppocratic oath does not apply). They are a marketing and operations for profit company.
Align Technology - The Marketing Company:
The marketing of Invisalign involves marketing to consumers directly (television/radio) and marketing to dentists and orthodontists. Align Technology has and continues to market themselves to consumers as "invisible braces.....that can do just about anything standard braces can do." As a result, a large number of patients are pursuing orthodontic treatment, expecting Invisalign to solve all their orthodontic problems. Unfortunately, Invisalign markets their product in ways that are inaccurate and quite over-stated.
The marketing of Invisalign to general dentists (non-orthodontists) is also a dishonest process. Dentists are encouraged to incorporate Invisalign into their practices to increase their income. Align tells dentists that Invisalign is easy to use and that Align will do all the clinical decision making for the General Dentist, who have little to no education in orthodontics.
The dentists who utilize Invisalign may achieve tooth straightening, and may even produce a reasonable bite. Unfortunately, the dentist generally has no education in orthodontic diagnosis, tooth stability after orthodontics, and movements to avoid that will cause long-term problems (despite short term success).
Moreover, general dentists have no ability to "dig themselves out of a hole" when Invisalign does not solve the problem. That is, they are not trained to utilize braces, and do not have braces as a final solution where Invisalign fails.
Align Technology - The Operations Company:
The operating arm of Invisalign is quite impressive. They incorporate state-of-the-art CAD/CAM systems and well-designed software to follow the directions of the doctor. The software allows the doctor to move the teeth in virtual reality in any direction desired. Unfortunately, the actual teeth (not virtual teeth) do not necessarily respond the way the software presents it.
Moreover, the software does not advise the doctor of movements that are unhealthy and ill-advised. As such, the operations company is fantastic. But the ability of the doctor to finesse the appliance and the doctors knowledge limit the efficacy of Invisalign.
UNDERSTANDING THE INVISALIGN MENU:
Invisalign is a set of aligners. However, different Invisalign "packages" exist, based on the amount of tooth movement required. Do not be fooled by the names as they are deceiving.
Invisalign Full
Invisalign Full provides an infinite set of aligners that will move any and all teeth in the mouth. This system can provide many years of aligners to accomplish a task. However, the movements that this package tries to provide is not predictable, since movements of teeth behind the canines is difficult and usually not attainable.
Invisalign Anterior
Invisalign Anterior also provides an infinite set of aligners. But this system only attempts to move the front six upper and lower teeth (no teeth behind the canines are moved). The cost is NOT less than Invisalign Full, but this system is more predictable, and this is the most predictable Invisalign system available. Invisalign FULL may be less effective than Invisalign Anterior because the FULL system tries to move too many teeth at a time, while ANTERIOR is a more focused approach.
Invisalign Express
Invisalign Express is a set of ONLY 10 aligners. It presumes that the patient needs only minor movement that will last less than 5 months. This system usually DOES NOT FULLY correct crowding or spacing problems.
Sometimes, an experienced doctor will work with 2 sets of Invisalign Express (2 sets of 10), rather than a single Full or Anterior to speed up the treatment time to better serve the patient.
WHO SHOULD YOUR INVISALIGN DOCTOR BE?
Who Does provide Invisalign?
You may be surprised to know that General Dentists provide Invisalign despite the fact that they may have as little as 1 hour of education in orthodontics (and rarely more than 10 hours of education).
At present, any dentist can provide Invisalign as long as they become "certified" by Align Technology Incorporated. The "certification" process take as little as 1 hour.
Who Should provide Invisalign?
Invisalign is an orthodontic appliance. Orthodontists are uniquely trained for 2-3 years after dental school to understand the complexities of orthodontics. Orthodontists understand the potential problems that Invisalign can produce. Orthodontists can avoid these problems or may need to solve these problems with other orthodontic appliances (such as braces) if needed. General dentists have neither the knowledge to know what they should avoid, nor the know-how to resolve problems that might arise.
Interestingly, studies have demonstrated that General Dentists charge similar fees to orthodontists and produce lesser quality results. As such, wise consumers visit orthodontists for Invisalign treatment.
Why the discrepancy? A Historical basis.
Align Technology Incorporated started out only providing Invisalign through orthodontists (The company was started by an orthodontist). When the company became publicly traded (original owner sold all shares), the need for greater profits overcame the need for a great reputation. Align Technology started marketing Invisalign to Dentists. Orthodontists became enraged by the unhealthy concept, and so Align Technology (wanting to save face with orthodontists) then actually "sued itself" to be "forced" to allow general dentists to utilize the Invisalign system. The lawsuit actually marketed the system to dentists because it was a popular topic in the dental world. Brilliant marketing move by Align Technology.
In their lawsuit, Align Technology did little to defend the notion that "dentists are not trained in orthodontics." But they did a great job defending the "right of the consumer to choose their doctor." As such, the consumer presently has the ability to make their choice. If you are reading this, you are a wise enough consumer to have researched your options thoroughly. Unfortunately, most consumers are spontaneous even with health care.
WHO IS THE IDEAL INVISALIGN CANDIDATE?
Invisalign is best for individuals with a Class I bite (a proper fitting bite) and only crowding or spacing to resolve.
Invis-align is an Invisible-aligner. It only aligns teeth and it cannot fix bites. It is not called Invis-a-fix-a-bite. Only braces fixes bites.
Be careful if you ask your doctor (dentist or orthodontist) for Invisalign, because you may just get Invisalign! Better to ask for a result, and then ask if Invisalign can provide that result. After all, it is the result you want!
LIMITATIONS OF INVISALIGN:
It is difficult to explain the limitations of Invisalign, because every case is different and every "general limitation" has unique exceptions. This is the reason that orthodontists are specialists. There are no simple answers.
Notwithstanding the foregoing sentence, the following orthodontic problems are "generally" not correctable with Invisalign:
Crossbites, Open bites, Deep bites, Class II bites, Class III bites, Functional shifts, Transverse Discrepancies, Vertical Discrepancies, Poor interdigitation, Excessive Overjet, Insufficient Overjet, Impactions, Tipping Discrepancies, Smile Canting.
