Dear Dr. Hall,
I had my teeth straightened with Invisalign a couple of years ago and was very happy with how that worked out. My 13-year-old son now needs braces. Would Invisalign work for him?
– Annmarie from Tennessee
(See Dr. Hall’s answer below.)
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Annmarie,
Yes, Invisalign can be used as young as 6 or 7, but there are potential problems. Let me explain them.
First, for Invisalign to work well, the teeth need to be fully erupted. Some 13-year-olds will have all their permanent teeth fully erupted, but some have teeth that are slower to come in.
Second, Invisalign requires excellent patient compliance. Aligners should be worn 22 hours a day. Erratic compliance with this will cause the teeth to be pushed back and forth and isn’t good for them. Many teenagers are forgetful or for various reasons will leave the aligners out. To address this problem, when a case is made for a teenager, Invisalign embeds a blue dot in the back of each aligner. If the aligner has been worn for the prescribed time for two weeks, the blue dot will be gone. This is a way for a parent to check up on the teen so that you can know if it is okay to move to the next set of aligners. But the fact that Invisalign does that tells you that this is a significant problem.
Third, teens tend to lose things. When I was practicing, I enjoyed providing Invisalign for adults. I only did it for one teenager, and it was a very frustrating experience. He didn’t wear his aligners faithfully and kept losing them, and I would need to contact Invisalign for replacement aligners. His parents ended up giving up on him and abandoned treatment. Invisalign tries to address this problem for teen cases by providing six free sets of replacement aligners during the course of treatment. But, while they address the cost issue, they can’t eliminate the hassle.
There is an additional clinical problem. With Invisalign, the dentist sends in impressions of the patient’s mouth and x-rays, and the entire series of aligners for the whole case is manufactured by computer and sent back. The dentist then delivers them spaced out over the treatment period. The problem with your 13-year-old is that he won’t be finished growing for five years or longer. With conventional braces, as his jaw grows, adjustments can be made along the way. With Invisalign, there is some guesswork in predicting the exact growth pattern. Maybe that will work out, but maybe it won’t.
Could your 13-year-old son do Invisalign? You probably know your son better than anyone else and can weigh these issues in consultation with your dentist. I would lean toward conventional braces, but Invisalign would be possible.
– Dr. Hall
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About David A. Hall
Dr. David A. Hall was one of the first 40 accredited cosmetic dentists in the world. He practiced cosmetic dentistry in Iowa, and in 1990 earned his accreditation with the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. He is now president of Infinity Dental Web, a company in Mesa, Arizona that does advanced internet marketing for dentists.
Wow, I had no idea there were so many factors to consider when deciding between Invisalign and traditional braces for teens. I thought Invisalign was a good fit for everyone, but it sounds like compliance and the risk of losing aligners could be a big challenge for teenagers. Thanks for the helpful info!