Invisalign aligners are easy for patients to remove when they eat, drink, and care for their teeth. Unfortunately, this handy feature can make it tempting for teens to remove them more often that prescribed…that’s where Invisalign Teen compliance indicators come in!
To keep your orthodontic treatment on track, you must wear your Invisalign aligners for a minimum of 22 hours every day.
The more frequently you remove your aligners, and the longer you keep them out, the more setbacks there will be to your treatment. Patients who do not comply with proper wear will find that their treatment will take much longer than anticipated.
Invisalign Teen compliance indicators are designed to help with this problem, and to make it easier for the orthodontist to tell if their patients are following directions.
What are compliance indicators?
Invisalign Teen's compliance indicators are a series of blue dots on the backs of each aligner. The compliance indicators are not visible when the aligners are being worn. Over the two week period when the aligners are worn, the blue dots slowly fade away. The blue dots will only be visible to the orthodontist if the patient fails to wear the aligners as perscribed.
If the orthodontist consistently sees the blue dots, they’ll know that the patient isn't following the directions. This gives the orthodontist the opportunity to remind the patient, and their parents, why wearing the aligners as prescribed is important.
If for any reason the patient can’t or won’t comply with the treatment schedule then the orthodontist can discuss other treatment options such as traditional metal braces.
Compliance indicators also let the orthodontist know if the treatment is effective. If a patient has been diligent in wearing the aligners as prescribed, yet the anticipated tooth movement is not taking place, adjustments can be made to the treatment plan.
Compliance indicators can also help the patient to stay on track with their treatment. Each patient's aligners have been carefully calibrated to achieve a certain tooth movement during each stage of wear. Moving on to a new aligner before your mouth is ready, or leaving a given set in for too long, can cause setbacks to the treatment process.
It's easy to lose track of how much longer to wear that particular set of aligners if a patient takes their aligners out more often than they should, or leaves them out for long periods of time. Since the compliance indicators only fade after the aligners have been worn for a full two weeks, it makes it easier for the patient to keep their treatment on track.