Do I take my aligners out to eat?

Not here. Dr. Cortes has patients keep their aligners in while they eat, then take them out afterward to clean the aligners and brush and floss. Teeth move under constant force, and hours lost at mealtimes are where aligner treatment usually slips. That is different from the standard instruction you will read elsewhere, and he will walk you through exactly how it works before you start.

How long does treatment take?

It depends on how far the teeth need to move. Some cases are a few months, others closer to a year or more. You will get an estimate specific to your teeth before you start.

Each new aligner feels tight for a day or two, which is the tooth moving. Most people describe it as pressure rather than pain, and it settles quickly.

Can I take them out for a wedding or a presentation?

Occasionally and briefly, yes. Treatment depends on total wear time, so the rare hour out will not derail anything. A habit of leaving them out will.

Will I have to wear a retainer afterward?

Yes. Teeth move back toward where they started if nothing holds them, and that is true of any orthodontic treatment. Retention is part of the plan, not an afterthought.

Am I too old for this?

No. Teeth move at any age as long as the gums and bone supporting them are healthy, which is something we check before starting.

Invisalign

Invisalign in Kearny Mesa

Straighter teeth, without the metal.

Invisalign in Kearny Mesa is a customized treatment plan built around your teeth, with the finished result mapped out before you start. A series of clear aligners moves them into place instead of brackets and wires. They come out to clean, not to eat.

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At a glance

What it is: Clear aligners that move teeth without brackets and wires.
Where: Kearny Mesa Smile Center, 8018 Clairemont Mesa Blvd, San Diego, CA 92111.
When: Fridays and Saturdays, 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM.
Check-ins: Short appointments on Fridays and Saturdays.
Wear: In this office you wear your aligners around the clock, including while you eat.

It Is NotOnly About Looks

Most adults who ask about aligners bring up appearance first. That is a perfectly good reason and we are not going to pretend otherwise.

But crowded teeth are harder to clean, and the places a brush and floss cannot reach are where decay and gum problems start. Teeth that do not meet properly wear unevenly, and that wear does not grow back. A bite that is off can also put load through the jaw joint that it was not designed to take.

So straightening teeth is often a preventive decision wearing a cosmetic one's clothes.

How Invisalign Works

01. Records. Photographs, X-rays and a digital scan of your teeth.
02. The plan. Your scan is used to map out how the teeth will move, step by step, before you start.
03. Your aligners. A series of clear trays, each worn for a set period, each moving the teeth a small amount.
04. Check-ins. Periodic short appointments to confirm things are tracking as planned.
05. Retention. Once the teeth are where they should be, you wear a retainer. Teeth drift back otherwise. This part is not optional.

The protocol here

We Do ThisDifferently

If you have read anything about clear aligners, you have read that you take them out to eat. That is the standard instruction. It is not ours.

In this office you wear your aligners around the clock, and that includes while you eat. When you finish a meal, you take them out, clean the aligners, and brush and floss your teeth. Then they go straight back in.

Here is the reasoning. Braces work because they apply a small, constant force. The wire never comes off, so the teeth are always being moved. Aligners can do exactly the same job, but only while they are actually on the teeth.

When you take them out for meals, lunch becomes forty minutes and dinner becomes an hour, and in that time the teeth are not simply failing to move. They are drifting back slightly. Do that twice a day for months and a real share of the treatment is spent recovering ground you already covered.

The fact that aligners come out is genuinely the best thing about them. You can take them out and clean your teeth properly, which is impossible with a wire. It is also the one thing that ruins cases. Dr. Cortes has finished heavily crowded cases on schedule with patients who wore them constantly, and he has watched straightforward cases run many times past their estimate because the trays spent too long on a nightstand.

This protocol asks more of you than the standard one. It is also the difference between finishing on time and finishing eventually. Dr. Cortes will go through the routine with you in detail before you start, so you know exactly what a normal day looks like.

Watch how it works

Dr. Cortes explains the process and the routine in this short video.

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Where Aligners WorkAnd Where They Do Not

Aligners handle a great many cases well, particularly crowding and spacing. Some bite problems and some complex movements are better treated with fixed braces or by an orthodontist, and if that is your situation Dr. Cortes will tell you rather than starting treatment that will fall short.

The other requirement is you. Aligners only move teeth while they are being worn, and our protocol asks you to wear them essentially all the time. People who follow it get where they are going. People who leave the trays on the nightstand do not, no matter which protocol they are on.