Braces cost much less than Clear Aligners/Invisalign.

• With braces, there is no lab fee and no other party wanting a piece of the pie. With braces, there is only the practice who gets paid. With clear aligners/Invisalign, there’s the practice and the company making the aligners that get paid, driving up the cost of orthodontic treatment.

Braces results are superior to Clear Aligners/Invisalign.

• Dr. Adams actually sees and treats every patient every month, ensuring excellent results! Clear aligners/Invisalign companies and their providers, who see their patients every 8 to 12 weeks, cannot make this claim or guarantee results like Dr. Adams. Ultimately, clear aligner/Invisalign companies sell “convenience”. Dr. Adams achieves “Excellent Lifetime Results”.
• Typically, clear aligner/Invisalign patients are seen every 8 to 12 weeks. Dental assistants, not dentists or orthodontists, usually deliver new aligners to patients to be worn over the next 8 to 12 weeks. Dr. Adams has interviewed many clear aligner/Invisalign patients over the past 15 years and most state that they rarely saw their dentist or orthodontist during the course of their treatments. They only saw dental assistants.
• Excellent orthodontic results achieve a healthy and stable bite, first and foremost, and a beautiful, confident smile. With braces, the bite is assessed at every monthly appointment and adjustments can be made to the braces and archwires at those appointments for the top teeth to better fit with the bottom teeth. So, by the end of treatment, the top teeth and bottom teeth are fitting as they are designed to fit, creating a healthy and stable bite that will not wear abnormally over time and that promotes better oral hygiene. That abnormal wear and tear overtime will create future dental problems, pain, and dental costs.
• Clear aligners/Invisalign treats the top teeth and bottom teeth separately. A computer program will take the initial scans of patients' teeth and little by little straighten their teeth to their desired position. A certain number of aligner trays are made to achieve their individual final results. This is done for the upper teeth and for the lower teeth. According to the computer program's simulation for each case, the top teeth and bottom teeth always fit perfectly together after the final trays have been worn. However, in real life that does not happen and excellent bites are difficult to achieve with clear aligners/Invisalign treatment. This reality is known by orthodontists and that is why many will inform potential patients of clear aligners/Invisalign’s shortcomings.  

Braces treatment times are less than clear aligners/Invisalign.

• Braces provide the experienced orthodontist with more control and patients are seen more often. This combination results in shorter treatment times. Moderate to severe full treatment cases are completed within 18 to 24 months and less complicated full treatment cases range from 12 to 18 months with braces. Limited treatment may be completed in as little as three months with braces.
• It is very common for clear aligners/Invisalign not to fit sometime during clear aligner treatment. This is usually due to patients not wearing the previous set of aligner trays correctly or not enough. Many times, though this necessitates new scans and additional sets of aligners to be made, increasing the time in treatment. It is not uncommon for aligner treatment to go on for years.

If braces are the superior treatment modality, then when are clear aligners / Invisalign appropriate?

• Adult patients with good bites and minor to moderate crowding are good candidates for clear aligner/Invisalign treatment. Adult patients have the maturity and discipline to wear the trays at least 22 hours per day as required.
• Some adult patients just want their treatment option to be less noticeable, and Dr. Adams understands and appreciates their concerns. He also advises these patients that if a bite issue should develop during their clear aligners/Invisalign treatment that he would offer to place braces for a very short period of time to correct any bite issue and there would be no additional charge.