Given the choice, who wouldn’t want to wear braces or clear aligners for the shortest time possible? For the best results, however, shorter doesn’t equal better or even necessarily as good. This also holds true for Invisalign Express. Marketed to people with minor orthodontic issues, such as very little crowding or spacing as well as early onset orthodontic relapse, it takes less time because it only addresses very minor problems.
Invisalign Express uses the same materials and techniques as traditional Invisalign. The difference is it consists of a series of either 5 or 10 aligner sets compared to comprehensive Invisalign treatment often with significantly more aligner sets.
Other than the severity of problems treated, Invisalign Express works the same way as traditional Invisalign but with limited application. The Express 5 (a series of five aligner sets), for example, is only capable of rotating up to a few teeth three to four degrees if there is space and only tip them a millimeter.
It not only limits the type of movements you can do, but also eliminates the amount of control an orthodontist has available to get the best results.
In order to be considered a candidate for Invisalign Express, the patient only requires a little movement on a limited number of teeth in the anterior of the mouth.
Since I am a Tier 7 provider (averaging more cases in one month than most orthodontists do in one year) I get the best pricing on the lab fees to pass along to my patients, so my cost difference in the number of aligner sets is not a consideration. This makes the traditional Invisalign treatment the clear choice for most of my patients.
