What is Invisalign Lite?

You may see or hear about Invisalign Lite, Invisalign Express, or Invisalign Teen, and wonder what these names mean.

(And, don't you wish they would learn how to spell "light"?)

Here are the answers.

There are currently three categories of Invisalign, which they call Lite, Full, and Teen.  

Most treatments (maybe 95% of cases) fit into standard Invisalign - called "Invisalign Full".  This will provide as many Aligners as needed to straighten the teeth.  These are examples that would take 12-18 months of treatment (26-41 sets of Aligners):

If all permanent teeth are not erupted (ie haven't come through), we use "Invisalign Teen" (opens in a new window).  Usually this is for younger patients with baby teeth, like this:

However it can be used for older patients if their teeth are slow to grow.  This one is over 21:



For Full and Teen Invisalign, you can get as many sets of Aligners as you need, plus you have the security of more Aligners at no extra charge (called Refinement or Refiners) to finish the job if it doesn't all work perfectly the first time.  This is like having a warranty - if you follow the rules, your teeth will be straightened with Invisalign, and Refiners just dot the i's and cross the t's.  

In the photo on the right above, you can see what was achieved with the Invisalign Aligners.  Just a little more 'tidying up' is needed in Refinement.

And then there is "Invisalign Lite".  In 2010, Invisalign Lite replaced Invisalign Express.  Do you want the good news, or the bad news?

The good news - Invisalign Lite costs less than Full or Teen.  

The bad news - it can only fix very simple problems, and you get NO warranty - ie no Refinement aligners.  That's not our decision - that's Invisalign's rules.  So, if it doesn't work out perfectly first time, you may need fixed braces to get it right!

It's like driving a car without a spare wheel (or one of those repair thingies).  It might work out OK, but it's a risk.

Invisalign Lite gives you 14 sets of Aligners, and is best used for small gaps:



or for very slightly crooked teeth like these:




The bottom line - for nearly everybody, we use Invisalign Full.  This gives the best results.  Although the cost of Invisalign Full is more than the cost of Invisalign Lite, it is about the same as the cost of braces, and better than braces, as I will discuss in the next post.

Attachments

In some of the photos above you can see 'attachments'.  These are little tooth-coloured fixtures, placed on a few teeth, where needed, to make treatment work better.  They are not very visible, and not everybody needs them.  These two patients each have eight attachments (that's more than average!).  Can you spot all 16 attachments?

These attachments are used with all three types of Invisalign.  We put them on after you get used to the first two or three sets of Aligners, then polish them off before we make your retainers.

As always, if you have any questions, call us on (07) 3366 0022, or use our "Contact Us" form.