Manhattan Invisalign doctors

Generally speaking, overbites are difficult to treat using any types of orthodontics especially in adults. Time and patience are needed simply because we are intruding anterior teeth (pushing front teeth back into dense bone) and extruding posterior teeth (pulling back teeth out of the bone) – Furthermore, not all overbite cases are simple teeth problems and could be of skeletal problems as well which refer to irregular amount and angulation of skeletal bone.  We take digital panoramic and cephalometric x-rays to determine much info before starting treatment.

What I have found when treating overbite cases with invisalign is as follows:  Typically, the results we see on invisalign computer modeling called clincheck, looks better with more of the overbite gone by the end of treatment.  Although this seems to be a bad thing, we have learned over the years and thousands of cases that in order to battle this issue, we perform what is called an over-correction.  Basically, if we want to reduce 50 to 60% overbite which seems to be the case here, we NOT only reduce overbite to ideal on the computer model but we continue ordering more aligners beyond ideal final results and purposely create a virtual open bite of about 1mm on the computer model.  More happens in clincheck and less in the mouth so we will still end up where we want and we simply stop treatment once ideal overbite has been achieved!

Keep in mind the key to successful orthodontic treatment is anchorage and compliance. Anchorage comes from tiny little composite resin buttons called attachments.  We at our office place good number of both facial and lingual attachments to insure proper anchorage especially in overbite cases.  Patient compliance and wear is very important in achieving successful results.

Also from your photos, it seems you have what is called a class II bite meaning uppers are more forward than they should be.  We use tiny invisible circular elastics just as used in braces to pull uppers back and lowers forward into ideal class I bite.

Proper diagnosis and treatment planning along with great attachments and use of elastics and great compliance on your part will give you ideal results with invisalign.  If you think, you will not wear aligners properly, you may as well go for braces which would require much less compliance on part of the patient.

The clincheck computer modeling below is an example of how overbite is corrected. Please note overbite video.

***Online Answers should NEVER be substituted for a complete clinical exam and following advice of your treating doctors based on proper and full diagnosis and treatment planning.   There is no way anyone can properly diagnose and treatment plan a patient online without an in office exam.

Who Makes the Treatment Plan, the Dentist or the Invisalign Company?
There is only one company manufacturing invisalign. Does it matter which provider I go to?

Invisalign is just like dental implants meaning it’s a medical device so experience and dedication of your doctor has a lot to do with how the results may turn out.  We can use Clincheck software to modify the treatment based on x-rays, photos, 3D model, PAN, CEPH, and patient’s desire.  Some can diagnose, treatment plan and treat complex cases after years of experience and some are new and are not familiar with this new technology.  The ranges of outcomes vary greatly depending on which invisalign provider you go to! The more I have learned about clincheck software, invisalign treatment planning and Cephalometric analysis, etc, the more time I now spend sometimes even hours to treatment plan most difficult cases… Just because you see certain movements on the 3D software, this does not mean they are realistic and modifications have to be made for proper realistic outcome.

Generally speaking you get what you pay for is true in this case. Of course, patient compliance also matters greatly in the types of results. We have had many extremely difficult cases with unbelievable results and then few easy cases with less than ideal results if the patient was not fully compliant to wear aligners as instructed or not keeping good hygiene, etc.

Invisalign and Clincheck Software are tools just like carpenter’s tools but each carpenter will produce varying quality of work based on their experience, dedication and innovation.  

Easy answer: I have heard 3000 to 11,000 – Payment plans 200 to 300+ per month
Read about $20,000 case below!

Depends on location, experience of the doctor, length of the case, complexity of the case, patient compliance, and the office you go to.  Also depends on how many cases and how many difficult cases the office has treated.  Furthermore, it depends on a very rare factor: Is your doctor willing to treat the most complex cases No one else is willing to treat?

Location: Unlike popular belief, doctors and dentists are really hard workers and they have extremely high overhead and responsibility. If you live in places like LA and New York, overhead is typically higher hence the price is a bit higher.
Experience of the doctor: When I started treating invisalign 10 years ago, I could only treat very simple cases and I had to treat them at cost or even at a loss to gain experience and the patients quickly.  Its normal less experienced doctors have to keep fees low or even take a loss. There are some Groupon deals for invisalign which are so low to the point we know for sure the doctor is losing and there has to be a reason why they are willing to lose! (NOTE: Important comment below)

Length of the case: I have treated cases from 3 months to over 3 years.  We really did not think it’s fair to charge the same fees for everyone!  Let’s keep it fair.

Patient compliance: If a patient is not compliant, new sets of aligners will be required which will add the need to keep ordering new sets of aligners, and also more time and material and office time.  

Complexity of the case:  We had a patient who came to our office about 5 years ago. Her case was so complex that five offices had rejected her to be treated via invisalign, orthodontics NOT even braces.  She was told she needed surgery and braces, etc.  She gave up and was sooo depressed.  Her friend begged her to come to our office for another opinion and they both begged me to do something anything to make invisalign work for her.  Neither I nor anyone had treated anything this complex with invisalign before! (See video below) – I told the patient, I am willing to do it provided she does not have much expectation and she signs a special consent and if it did not work out, we would put her in braces… I hate to over-promise but not deliver so I had to be on the safe side though I had flashes of many ideas how to make this work in my head… Patients really hate it when someone over-promises and in medicine and dentistry nothing is guaranteed especially if I am treating a type of case NO one has ever treated before.  I spent hours and hours figuring out Clincheck computer modeling to the point even the technicians at invisalign would not understand what I really wanted to change on the software – We performed so many modifications, I think the technicians were about to kill me but thankfully they were nice and we finally had an acceptable computer model and specialized attachments on the front and back of the teeth for additional anchorage!  We also had many challenges during 3 years of treatment and had to use additional aids such as invisible elastics from tooth to tooth and from tooth to aligner, etc to pull the canines which were not erupted into the aligners… Thankfully I learned a lot from this case and now can treat even more complex cases…  This patient saved about $30,000 not doing surgery and braces! Some say we should have charged $20,000+ but we believe patients with such a case help us innovate and we appreciate their trust in us --- Therefore, we have never charged anything more than $9000 for a compliant patient while our lowest cost has been about 3000.  This case was honestly a lot of work because I had to keep thinking of the ways to treat this case and coming up with many ideas along the way NOT to let it fail but it has now smoothed the path to treat other complex cases easily and I am always thankful to such patients NOT wanting to charge anyone beyond what is fair.  Part of my compensation is what I learn from such cases and these patients and the relationships we build which leads to many other referrals.  

The point is this:  NOT all cases are the same and we may spend 5 hours on one case or may spend 40 hours on another and so patients need to understand it’s not like buying a product online to know how much by placing a phone call to any office… Even if number of months is the same, some cases may be more complex than others.  We have also recently innovated ways to reduce the number of months so long as it’s clinically safe.  There is various no interest financing options which brings the cost to about $200 to $300 a month.  Some offices may offer this so just ask if they can provide with no interest or long term payment plans.