How Long Does Invisalign Take? Experts Compare Its Timeline to Braces

The intake and installment process metal braces may hinge on your orthodontist’s availability. Then comes the amount of time it takes for installation — metal braces can take a few hours. Meanwhile, getting aligners can take a few weeks after scans are done, depending on who you go to.

“The patient can get metal braces on in one or two hours,” Dr. Tasio explains. “In comparison, it can take four weeks to get Invisalign clear aligners after scans are done.”

However, it can take far less time to get Invisalign braces if your orthodontist has access to a digital scanner. Dr. Agarwal tells us that Invisalign sells a high-end machine called iTero to orthodontists, which can cost upwards of $40,000. These machines can effectively process dental scans within about 30 minutes, and the trays are sent to the patient’s home about 10 days after that.

“Its current version, iTero Lumina, can scan a patients complete mouth digitally in 10 minutes. The remaining 20 minutes are spent assessing overall good oral health,” Dr. Agarwal explains. “You then play around with the digitally simulated smile outcome on the scanner to show patient the expected outcome at end of treatment. But, absence of a digital scanner can make the intake process very time consuming as now you need to send an analog impression to the Invisalign lab.”

If you’re wondering which yields results more quickly, it depends on who you ask. Dr. Tasio says clear braces may result in noticeable changes more quickly than metal braces. A blog post from the orthodontics practice, Roland Park Smiles, explains this may be largely due to the fact that aligners apply force to your teeth. They reconfigure your smile in a completely differently way from metal braces.

“It depends on the severity of the case but some Invisalign patients see results in two months,” Dr. Tasio explains. “It will take at least six months to see significant results with braces.”

However, Dr. Agarwal disagrees with this timeline. She says that metal braces tend to work faster. A blog post from TS Orthodontics explains that metal braces can be more effective than clear, because they apply more direct pressure to your teeth. It could also be due to the previously mentioned level of compliance, as metal braces are not removable.

“[For Invisalign], the three months mark is when some visible difference starts appearing and it keeps getting improving as the treatment progresses,” Dr. Agarwal says. “Metal braces are typically a little faster but then again it all depends on the level of misalignment and other factors.”

Beauty

Dental Aligners vs. Braces: What’s the Difference?

In decades past, fixing your teeth sometimes involved multiple forms of orthodontics (a retainer, braces, a palate expander and head gear — sometimes all at the same time!). Aside from being very expensive, it also took quite a bit of time, and could be quite painful. However, modern orthodontia makes it far easier to obtain […]

Ultimately, it’s up for debate if Invisalign takes longer to produce long-lasting results than metal braces. A review posted to the National Library of Medicine said some studies have shown Invisalign takes longer, while others have shown braces produce the desired result more quickly. Dr. Tasio says that it varies from case to case: “It doesn’t necessarily take longer to get good orthodontic results with Invisalign compared to braces, but it depends on the case,” he tells us. “Invisalign could take as little as six months or as long as two years.”

Invisalign could take as little as six months or as long as two years

However, Dr. Agarwal disagrees. She says metal braces tend to take less time overall than clear aligners. This is supposedly because metal braces can be adjusted, tightened and realigned — whereas your provider doesn’t adjust your treatment with clear braces: “Metal braces are more closely tuned and adjusted by the treating doctor. Invisalign usually is more laid back in the approach of slow and steady correction,” she explains.

“The set of trays are ordered all at once (from the beginning of treatment to end). A more aggressive approach in Invisalign can sometimes cause teeth to become loose and other unwanted impacts.”

The timelines for metal braces and Invisalign can vary greatly. Some feel that Invisalign takes more time than traditional brackets, while others believe the timeline is relatively comparable. But because it varies by case, it would be best to speak to your orthodontist before making decisions. In fact, it’s generally recommended to garner more than one opinion, to ensure you’re truly making the right decision for your pearly whites.