Invisalign® in Plymouth

We treat clients from 12 years old onwards, with no upper limit. Even though the majority of our clients are between 20 and 40 years old, we have teenage clients and those in their 60s too.

It’s actually not about the age. What matters is the client’s optimal dental and gum health to have the orthodontic treatment. An initial comprehensive assessment ensures the client’s suitability to straighten their teeth with Invisalign.

Not really. Invisalign has advanced so much over the last two decades and we are able to treat a wide range of issues. Even extremely complex cases can be treated with Invisalign by an experienced provider. Only a very few cases, where the primary problem is with the jaw bone rather than the teeth, may not be suitable for Invisalign. Please book in for a Free Consultation to see if we can help you.

Invisalign is in a class of its own due to being around for over two decades and having treated over 17 million people. The long-term research, combined with the patented technological advances, has enabled complex movements with Invisalign that are not possible with other aligners.

We don’t recommend using the DIY aligners ordered online. Safe orthodontic treatment requires an initial comprehensive assessment, followed by careful monitoring through the journey. In addition to not be able to achieve movements predictably, DIY aligners can be dangerous to dental health too.

There is also a risk of the aligner company disappearing without notice, abandoning people mid-treatment, as it happened recently with the Smile Direct Club. Teeth Straightening is best done with a suitably qualified and indemnified dentist/orthodontist, registered with the UK General Dental Council.

In most cases, even when only one arch (upper or lower) needs aligning, the other arch needs small adjustments. This is to allow the problem teeth to move into the right place (opposite teeth can be on the way) and to match the bite for the new position of the corrected teeth.

It is generally recommended to have aligners for both top and bottom teeth for the best results. Invisalign with us doesn’t cost any more to treat both top and bottom teeth together.

We offer two levels of Invisalign, that cover the entire range of teeth straightening needs – Invisalign Standard & Invisalign Advanced. They are both authentic Invisalign aligners, categorised based on the complexity of the case.

Invisalign Standard is for simple cases. Invisalign Advanced is for complex cases that take more time. At the initial Free Consultation, our Invisalign dentist will confirm which one is suitable for you.

These are different packages of lab work offered to the Invisalign providers by the Invisalign Lab. Except for Invisalign Comprehensive, the other varieties have limited number of aligners. This means we could potentially run out of aligners with the other varieties, if the desired result is not achieved within a set number of aligners.

Both Invisalign Standard & Invisalign Advanced offered by our dentist Krish are based on the Invisalign Comprehensive package, and provide as many aligners as needed for the best outcome. This offers you the peace of mind that there will be no extra fees down the line to get more aligners and that we won’t abandon you with a compromised result.

If the problem is the position of the teeth, it is best corrected by moving the teeth to the correct position - with orthodontic treatment, like Invisalign. Composite Bonding involves irreversibly adding a resin material to the teeth surfaces. This is ideal only for correcting shape of the teeth and sometimes the colour of the teeth. When Composite Bonding is used to make crowded teeth look ‘straight’, it usually doesn’t look right due to the varied thickness of ‘bonded’ teeth and due to the root angles still not being right at the gum level.

Moreover, Composite Bonding is not a once-in-a-lifetime procedure. It will need ongoing maintenance/replacements every few years, for life, to keep them looking fresh. With Invisalign, it will be your own teeth, just re-positioned to the correct place, so they will look great. It is much more easier to maintain too.

Minimal Composite Bonding can still come handy after Invisalign, to correct the shape, if your teeth have worn/chipped edges or if a tooth is proportionally too small.

Our Principal Dentist Krish has been offering Invisalign for over 13 years now and is an experienced Platinum Elite Provider of Invisalign. He is also the top provider of Invisalign in Plymouth. Before Invisalign, he provided Fixed Orthodontics (train-track braces) for a few years, but has since moved exclusively to Invisalign due to its impressive results and popularity with patients.

In addition to the UK, he has also visited Copenhagen, Berlin & Prague for further Invisalign education, to offer the best results and experience to his clients.

Invisalign treatment is not available on the NHS. Orthodontic treatment on the NHS involves traditional ‘train track’ braces and is offered only to children meeting their eligibility criteria.

Invisalign will work fine even when someone is pregnant. However, at the start when doing the Comprehensive Assessment, we use x-rays to assess the quality of your teeth roots and the bone supporting them. This is something we would avoid during pregnancy. Also, with the hormonal changes during pregnancy, the gums can swell and get inflamed easily. This can make wearing the aligners a little uncomfortable sometimes.

In short, it is best not to start the treatment if you are currently pregnant. But it is fine to carry on and complete the treatment, if you get pregnant mid-way.

Yes, presence of crown, bridge or implant generally doesn’t stop you from having Invisalign. Crowned teeth can move to a new position, however we avoid any extruding (lifting) forces to prevent the crown coming off. Bridged teeth, if needed, can move as one unit. Implants don’t move with any braces, so we work around them.

If you are registered elsewhere for Routine Dentistry (e.g., NHS dentist), you won’t lose your place with them by having Invisalign treatment with us.

We offer Invisalign to clients from several other dental practices in and around Plymouth. Many dental practices recommend us to their patients for advanced Invisalign.

We have frequent Open Days for Free Consultations (first visit). Following this, we have reserved spaces available in a week for Comprehensive Assessments (second visit), booked on a ‘first come, first served’ basis. If you confirm to proceed after this and arrange the selected payment option, we can submit the case to Invisalign straight away and the Digital Preview (third visit) will be ready in about 2 weeks. After we approve the future smile at the Digital Preview appointment, Invisalign will manufacture your aligners and the Invisalign Start (fourth visit) usually happens in 2 to 4 weeks.

In short, 4 visits are required to start your treatment and the usual timescale is about 3 to 6 weeks from your first visit. Many times, the Digital Preview and the Invisalign Aligners are ready sooner than this timeline because we use only Digital techniques. We will always look to bring your appointment forward if possible, especially if you have a wedding or a move away from Plymouth pending.

For predictable results, it is recommended to wear the aligners for 22 hours a day. Aligners are taken out only to eat food, have hot drinks, and clean your teeth. Otherwise, they stay on your teeth. It is fine to keep the aligners on for activities like gym training, swimming, sports etc.

Invisalign aligners apply gentle pressure on your teeth to move them to a new position. When getting started, you could feel some tenderness over the first few days. After this, it is just some tightness in some areas when changing weekly to a new aligner. As it is a gradual change over several weeks, it is easily manageable.

Also, with Invisalign there are no wires or brackets rubbing against the lips and cheeks. So, they are much more comfortable than the traditional metal braces.

Treatment time varies depending on the movements required, so each case is unique. Most cases are completed between 6 to 9 months. While some smiles are ready in even 4 months, extremely complex cases can even take 18 to 24 months. When you visit us for the Free Consultation, our dentist will give you a timescale estimate based on similar cases we have treated in the past.

The fee for Invisalign is based on the complexity of your case. At the initial Free Consultation, our dentist Krish will confirm which Invisalign option is suitable for you - Invisalign Standard or Invisalign Advanced.

The fee for Invisalign Standard is £3300 and the fee for Invisalign Advanced is £4200. With a variety of finance options available, this can be even as little as £72.98 per month or £92.89 per month*.

We have three different options to pay your treatment fees. One of the following payment options is selected and arranged after the Comprehensive Assessment (second visit), so we can submit the case to Invisalign.

• Option 1 - Full payment - You can pay fully at the start and complete your payment obligations for the entire treatment.

• Option 2 - Three payments - The fee is divided into three and each third is paid monthly. The first will be due when we start (after the Comprehensive Assessment), second is due in about a month from there, when we have your Invisalign Start. The last payment will be due 4 weeks after that when you visit us to collect more aligners.

• Option 3 - Finance - You can finance the treatment fully or partially using our specialist Dental Finance Provider (Tabeo). This is a quick application done on your phone by you or your friend/family on behalf of you, approved based on the credit status. The case can be submitted as soon as your finance is approved.

* Finance for Invisalign Standard (£3300) or Invisalign Advanced (£4200) over 60 months, at 12.9% representative APR.

Additional aligners are usually required after the initial aligners are completed. This is just to fine tune and finish with a perfect smile, same as how Orthodontists adjust the brackets/wires until the finish. This doesn’t mean the treatment has not worked – it is how Orthodontics work – adjusting teeth position until the desired result is achieved.

While some cases are ready with just the initial aligners, most clients may need 1 to 3 rounds of additional aligners for a perfect smile. We don’t charge for additional aligners – they are all included until we reach your super-straight smile.

Our Invisalign appointments are on Mondays and Tuesdays. Once the treatment starts, you will usually be attending once every 4 to 8 weeks for checks, monitoring and adjustments. When you attend each appointment, we will offer to book the next one.

A person’s teeth, smile and face are quite personal features. We believe it is not right for us to blast them online to promote our services. This doesn’t mean we are not proud to show our results or they are bad. We (and our clients) are absolutely delighted with every single result, but will only keep them confidential.

Our approach also ensures to prevent misleading representation, as every individual’s smile is unique in a way. The iTero Outcome Simulation at the Free Consult, and the Digital Preview we receive from Invisalign later, are more appropriate ‘Before-After’ representations of your own teeth.

The only photos we take are the pictures required by the Invisalign lab for case assessment purposes.

To design and make the custom Invisalign aligners (and the retainers at the end), we need to capture the shape and position of your teeth. Traditionally, impressions (moulds) of your teeth were made and posted to the Invisalign lab. With the latest technology, we can capture this digitally by using the iTero scanner and send this online.

As one of the few dental practices with this fully digital workflow, no messy moulds (goop) are required with us during your Invisalign treatment. Also, with the digital workflow, the waiting time is less due to the digital record being available to the Invisalign lab within a few minutes.

Aligners align teeth. Retainers retain teeth. They both may look similar, but serve different purposes.

Aligners are used to move teeth to a different position. These are worn 22 hours a day during Invisalign treatment. Retainers hold teeth in the same position. These are used at night after the treatment is complete, to maintain the straight smile.