More and more adults today are seeking orthodontic treatment to improve their smile. Often times, because adults usually are more compliant in their orthodontic treatment, their results turn out far greater than with a child and/or a teen. Orthodontic treatment is not only designed to improve your smile's appearance, but also, to improve the health of your teeth and gums.

If you have crowded or overlapping teeth, you may be unable to reach those areas and run the risk of severe tooth decay, gum and bone loss, irregular wear of tooth enamel and possible TMJ/TMD pain. Recent improvements in traditional braces have resulted in smaller, stronger, more efficient and less conspicuous brackets. Conventional braces with metal brackets are the most familiar; however, clear and tooth-colored ceramic and plastic brackets are now available.

Translucent "clear" braces and tooth-colored ceramic brackets provide a very aesthetic alternative to traditional metal braces.

Today's clear braces provide the same quality of treatment as metal braces but are simply less noticeable.

1. Treatment Plan
   We will thoroughly evaluate the condition of your teeth by visual inspection as well as taking precise radiographs. This will allow us to determine how to best position your teeth, step-by-step throughout the Invisalign^® process.
2. Custom Aligners
   A high-tech Invisalign^® lab designs a series of clear Invisalign^® aligners based upon the exact requirements needed to treat your specific case.
3. Wear A New Aligner Every 2 Weeks
   Depending on your specific situation, the exact time between changing aligners can vary but generally speaking, you will wear your aligners every day (about 20-22 hours a day) and start wearing the next set of aligners approximately every two weeks.
4. The Big Reveal
   During the final days of wearing your last aligner, congratulations; you have now achieved the beautiful straight smile you were after! IT IS POSSIBLE. Call us at 775-465-2388 and let Smith Valley Smiles prove to you that Invisalign^® can work for you.

Invisalign^® is clear and practically invisible.

• Unobtrusive in business meetings or social gatherings
• No metal wires or bands to irritate your mouth
• Most people won't notice you're wearing aligners

Over one million patients, many whom are adults, have benefited from Invisalign^®. Invisalign^® offers the clinical outcomes people want, all with a removable appliance that's virtually undetectable when worn. It's an ideal solution for the majority of adults.

Invisalign Teen^® is the only clear orthodontic aligner therapy designed to address the unique concerns of treating non-adult comprehensive patients. Because aligners are removable, patients can continue to eat their favorite foods and brush and floss normally to help keep teeth and gums healthy.

Invisalign Teen^® has all the features of Invisalign^® Full, plus:

• Compliance indicators track the patient's approximate wear time and help provide reassurance for parents that the teen is being compliant.
• Six free individual replacement aligners are included with Invisalign Teen^® to replace lost or broken aligners.
• Many teens present for treatment with erupting permanent dentition, so Invisalign Teen^® has been engineered with a feature to help prevent supra eruption of the second molars.

What do aligners look like?

Aligners are clear and nearly invisible. If you've ever seen clear teeth-whitening trays, that should give you a good idea of what the aligners look like. Invisalign^® aligners are custom-made to fit and move your teeth.

Will the treatment be painful?

Each time you change to a new aligner, there may be some temporary discomfort while your teeth adjust to their new position. This is completely normal, and is a good sign that the treatment is working.

Will wearing Invisalign^® aligners affect my speech?

Some people are affected more than others, but most adjust in a short period of time to the feeling of the aligners and do not have permanent changes in their speech.

How often will I have to wear my aligners?

Invisalign^® only works while you're wearing the aligners. It's recommended that you wear your aligners full-time, day and night, except to eat, brush, and floss your teeth.

What happens after treatment to prevent my teeth from moving again?

This varies person to person and depends on the outcome of the treatment. Some patients might need a positioner, or conventional retainer. Other patients might need a clear plastic retainer.

When closing a diastema (gap between teeth), differing amounts of movement of the two teeth is often needed. In this application, coil springs are placed to the side of each tooth. An arch wire acts as a guide and keeps the teeth from tipping as the space is closed.

Class I - A malocclusion where the bite is okay and the top teeth line up with the bottom teeth, but the teeth are crooked, crowded or turned.

Class II - A malocclusion where the upper teeth stick out past the lower teeth commonly referred to as an "over bite," "over jet," "deep bite" or "buck teeth."

Class III - A malocclusion where the lower teeth stick out past the upper teeth called an "under bite".

Orthodontics isn't only for pretty teeth. A good, healthy bite helps eliminate other health problems in later years. It also helps save teeth from wearing.

Palate Expander A palatal expander is an appliance placed in the roof of the mouth to widen the upper dental arch, which allows the arch to be painlessly separated and spread. A treatment used for younger patients. Many times a palatal expander can be used to create a proper alignment of the arches so permanent teeth have room to erupt in a natural position. Often, the use of an arch expander early may eliminate the need for braces later.

Retainer A gadget that the orthodontist gives you to wear after your braces are removed. The retainer attaches to your upper and/or lower teeth and holds them in the correct position. You wear the retainer 24 hours a day at first then at night to make sure that none of your teeth move while your jaw hardens and your teeth get strongly attached to your jaw.

Space Maintainer A space maintainer is a removable or fixed appliance designed to maintain an existing space. They are usually fitted to children when they have lost baby teeth early. The gap left from losing this tooth needs to be held open for the permanent tooth to erupt in its correct position.

Spring Distalizer This appliance is indicated when one molar (an erupting six-year molar) is caught under the edge of a primary second molar. The appliance features a wire spring which is attached to the erupting molar and to the second molar. The spring provides the force to move the erupting molar into proper position.

Spring Hawley Retainer After completing orthodontic therapy, it is not uncommon to still need a little fine tuning of tooth alignment. This is particularly true in patients who have undergone extensive orthodontic therapy and are simply "burned out." This retainer is useful in correcting minor rotations and crowding. When worn, the spring action of the wires provide a light force to align the teeth. The appliance is constructed to the "ideal" setting and the patient's teeth adapt to their new position.

Swing Lock Expander Arch (the "arc" line created by teeth in normal position development) is a collective term that describes a variety of appliances used to gain both arch width and arch length. These appliances range from simple appliances with lap springs to high-speed, rapid palatal expanders. They may utilize orthodontic movement and/or orthopedic movement and may be either fixed or removable. When a patient's arch is v-shaped and needs widening only in the front of the mouth, an appliance that expands only in the anterior (front) region is necessary. An expansion screw in conjunction with a separate posterior (back) hinge in this appliance allows for the gain in anterior space without affecting the posterior bite relationship.

Twin Block The orthodontic Twin Block for overbite treatment is a removable functional appliance consisting of two bite blocks (twin blocks), upper and lower, that are designed to interlock at 70 degrees in such a manner that the mandible (lower jaw) is held in a more protrusive position. Over time, the repositioning of the lower jaw forward eliminates the overbite (horizontal projection of upper teeth beyond the lower teeth). When treatment with the Twin Block is complete, teeth in the upper and lower jaws will interact normally.

Wilson 3D Appliance When the desired objective of a treatment plan requires bodily tooth movements, significant tooth rotations, root torquing or leveling, aligning, and rotating of entire arches, it is necessary to utilize full arch fixed mechanics. The Wilson 3D system utilizes a series of precision arch wire systems to enhance the efficiency of most fixed appliances. These snap-in modules fit into lingual tubes that attach to molar bands. Rapid results from using the Wilson 3D system are possible due to the twenty-four hour per day wearing time. This system is effective in a variety of movements and tooth positioning.