Invisalign
- Invisalign is an orthodontic treatment that uses a series of custom-made clear aligners to gradually move teeth into correct alignment. The aligners are removable and virtually invisible when worn.
- It is effective for mild to moderate orthodontic problems: crowding, spacing, overbite, underbite, crossbite, and open bite. Severe skeletal discrepancies require a different approach, and your assessment will tell you which category your case falls into.
- Aligners must be worn 20 to 22 hours per day. Treatment effectiveness depends directly on compliance. Patients who wear aligners for fewer hours than recommended will extend their own treatment timelines.
- Treatment duration ranges from 3 months for simple cases to 18 months or longer for complex ones. After active treatment, retainers are worn to hold the results: skipping retention leads to relapse.
- For international patients: the initial consultation and aligner fitting can be completed in one Istanbul visit. Ongoing progress checks can be managed through remote monitoring or with a local orthodontist at home. For short cases, the full aligner series is handed over at the outset.
- At DentAkademi, Invisalign treatment is provided by certified Invisalign providers and costs significantly less than equivalent treatment in the UK or Europe.
Invisalign straightens teeth using a series of clear, removable aligners made to fit your specific tooth anatomy. Each aligner in the series moves teeth a small amount closer to their final position. When worn as directed, the full series produces the planned alignment outcome without metal brackets or fixed wires.
For patients who want to correct the alignment of their teeth without the visibility of traditional braces, Invisalign is the most widely used alternative. The aligners are made from clear thermoplastic, sit closely over the teeth, and are not visible in normal conversation or photographs when worn correctly.
This page explains what Invisalign can and cannot treat, how the process works, what international patients need to know about managing treatment from abroad, and how to decide whether Invisalign is appropriate for your specific case.
Qu’est-ce qu’Invisalign ?
Invisalign aligners are made from SmartTrack, a flexible BPA-free thermoplastic material designed to fit snugly over the teeth and apply gentle, controlled pressure to move them incrementally. Each set of aligners is worn for approximately one to two weeks before being replaced by the next set in the series. Each new set represents the next planned tooth position in the overall treatment sequence.
Because the aligners are removable, there are no dietary restrictions during treatment, and brushing and flossing remain straightforward. This makes maintaining oral hygiene during Invisalign significantly easier than with fixed braces, where food catches around brackets and interdental cleaning requires specialised tools.
The starting point is a digital scan of your teeth. The scan is used to create a 3D model, and the dentist plans the entire sequence of tooth movements in software, producing a step-by-step simulation of the treatment from start to finish. The full series of aligners is then fabricated based on this plan and typically delivered to the clinic within a few weeks.
What Can Invisalign Correct?
Invisalign is designed to address a range of common orthodontic problems in mild to moderate form. The following are the conditions most frequently treated with aligner therapy.
| Condition | De quoi s’agit-il ? | Invisalign suitability |
|---|---|---|
| Dents chevauchées | Insufficient jaw space causes teeth to overlap and twist | Mild to moderate crowding responds well. Severe crowding may need extraction or fixed appliances first. |
| Spacing and gaps | Gaps between teeth, most commonly between upper front teeth | Aligners close spaces by moving adjacent teeth together. Size and number of gaps determine treatment time. |
| Overbite | Upper front teeth overlap the lower teeth excessively when biting | Mild to moderate overbite can be corrected. Severe skeletal overbite may require jaw surgery. |
| Prognathisme inférieur (Underbite) | Lower teeth sit in front of upper teeth when the mouth is closed | Mild cases respond to aligners. Significant skeletal underbite requires surgical correction. |
| Occlusion croisée (Crossbite) | Some upper teeth sit inside the lower teeth when biting | Suitable for mild to moderate crossbite. Complex cases may need additional appliances. |
| Open bite | Upper and lower front teeth don't meet when biting down | Aligners can address dental open bite. Skeletal open bite typically requires surgical intervention. |
Invisalign cannot correct significant skeletal discrepancies: problems caused by the positions of the jawbones rather than the teeth. It cannot rotate cylindrical teeth such as canines reliably in all cases, and it is not appropriate for patients with active gum disease or significant bone loss. An honest assessment of your case will identify which category you fall into before any commitment is made.
Is Invisalign Right for You?
Invisalign is typically appropriate if:
- You have mild to moderate crowding, spacing, or bite problems
- All permanent teeth are fully erupted
- Gum health is good with no active periodontal disease
- You are committed to wearing aligners 20 to 22 hours per day consistently
- You understand that skipping wear hours directly extends the treatment timeline
- You want a discreet option and are willing to follow the discipline the treatment requires
Invisalign may not be appropriate if:
- The orthodontic problem is severe and skeletal in origin
- Active gum disease or significant bone loss is present
- The patient cannot commit to consistent wear hours
- Significant tooth rotations or vertical movements are required that exceed aligner capability
- Fixed braces would produce a more predictable result for the specific tooth movements needed
Not sure whether Invisalign can treat your specific case? Send us photos of your teeth and a description of what you want to correct. Our orthodontics team will give you a straight answer within 48 hours.
Send My Photos: Free AssessmentDr. Dt. Hale Guner, Orthodontics
"The most common thing I see in patients who come for an Invisalign consultation is that they have already decided they want aligners. What I need to do is confirm whether aligners will actually give them the result they are expecting.
For a lot of patients, the answer is yes. Mild crowding, minor spacing, small bite discrepancies: these are exactly what aligner therapy handles well. The results are predictable, the process is manageable, and the aesthetic advantage during treatment matters to people.
But there are patients for whom I have to say: for your case, fixed braces will give you a better outcome. Maybe the rotation needed on a specific tooth is at the limit of what aligners can reliably produce. Maybe the bite correction requires elastics and anchorage that works better with brackets. Telling someone who wants aligners that they are better suited to braces is not what they want to hear, but it is the most useful thing I can tell them. An aligner treatment that doesn't fully correct what we set out to correct isn't a successful treatment, regardless of how invisible it was along the way."
Dr. Dt. Hale Guner, Orthodontics, DentAkademi
Invisalign vs Traditional Braces
| Caractéristique | Invisalign | Appareils orthodontiques traditionnels |
|---|---|---|
| Apparence | Clear, nearly invisible when worn | Visible metal or ceramic brackets and wires |
| Removable? | Yes, for eating, drinking, and cleaning | No, fixed for the full treatment duration |
| Compliance required | Yes, 20 to 22 hours daily. Less wear = slower results | No, fixed in place: no compliance decision |
| Portée du traitement | Mild to moderate misalignment and bite issues | Mild to severe, including complex bite and skeletal correction |
| Hygiène bucco-dentaire | Easy: remove aligners to brush and floss normally | Requires interdental brushes and more careful technique around brackets |
| Confort | Smooth plastic, no wires or brackets | Initial adjustment period; wires may irritate gums and cheeks |
| Durée | 3 to 18 months depending on complexity | 12 to 24 months depending on severity |
| Idéal pour | Adults and teens wanting a discreet option for mild to moderate cases | Any complexity, particularly complex bite correction and severe crowding |
Le processus de traitement : Étape par étape
Consultation and Assessment
The dentist examines your teeth, gums, and bite to confirm whether Invisalign is appropriate for your case. Digital X-rays and photographs are taken. A 3D intraoral scan of your teeth is made using a digital scanner: no physical impressions needed. This scan becomes the basis for the entire treatment plan.
ClinCheck Simulation and Treatment Planning
The dentist uses Invisalign's ClinCheck software to plan the sequence of tooth movements from start to finish. A step-by-step simulation shows how each tooth is expected to move through the treatment series. You can review this simulation before the aligners are fabricated. Once the plan is approved, the full series of aligners is ordered from the Invisalign manufacturing facility.
Attachments and Preparatory Steps
Many Invisalign cases require small tooth-coloured attachments: composite nodules bonded to certain teeth before treatment begins. These give the aligners grip points to produce specific movements, particularly rotations and vertical movements that smooth plastic alone cannot achieve. In some cases, minor enamel reduction between adjacent teeth (interproximal reduction) creates small amounts of space needed for movement. Both procedures are done under no anaesthesia and are generally comfortable.
Wearing the Aligners
Each aligner is worn for one to two weeks, removing them only to eat, drink anything other than water, and to brush and floss. The full aligner series is usually handed over at the fitting appointment or supplied in batches. Some mild pressure or sensitivity when switching to a new set is normal and usually settles within a day or two. Progress appointments are typically every 6 to 8 weeks, though remote monitoring reduces the need for in-person visits between aligner changes.
Refinements (if needed)
At the end of the aligner series, a review appointment assesses whether the planned movements have been achieved. In some cases, a short series of additional refinement aligners is needed to complete fine adjustments. Refinements are common and normal: they are not a sign the treatment has failed, but a standard part of the Invisalign process for achieving a precise result.
Contention
Once active treatment is complete, retainers are worn to hold the teeth in their new positions. Teeth have a natural tendency to drift back toward their original positions when the forces holding them in place are removed. Without retainers, relapse will occur. Your dentist will advise on whether fixed or removable retainers are appropriate for your case, and how long they need to be worn.
Combien de temps dure le traitement Invisalign ?
Durée du traitement depends on how complex the tooth movements are and how consistently the aligners are worn. As a general guide:
| Complexité du cas | Durée typique | Exemples |
|---|---|---|
| Léger | 3 à 6 mois | Minor crowding, small gaps, slight rotation of one or two teeth |
| Modéré | 6 to 12 months | Multiple teeth requiring repositioning, moderate spacing or crowding |
| Complex | 12 to 18+ months | Significant bite correction, extensive crowding across several teeth |
Wearing aligners for the full recommended 20 to 22 hours per day is the single biggest factor within a patient's control. Each hour of missed wear per day, compounded over weeks and months, meaningfully extends the treatment timeline.
On Compliance and Realistic Expectations
"I want to be direct about something that does not always get said clearly enough before treatment starts: the timeline I give you at the beginning is an estimate based on full compliance. It is not a guarantee, and it is not fixed.
If a patient wears their aligners for 16 hours a day instead of 22, the teeth will not move as planned between appointments. We will find at the check-up that the aligner doesn't fit the current tooth positions accurately, because the teeth haven't moved far enough to match the next aligner in the series. That requires refinements, additional aligners, and more time. The treatment timeline extends, and the cause is straightforward.
I am not saying this to make patients feel pressured. I am saying it because people who understand the cause-and-effect relationship manage their treatment more effectively. The patients who get the best results with Invisalign are the ones who treat the wear hours as non-negotiable, not as a flexible guideline."
Dr. Dt. Hale Guner, Orthodontics, DentAkademi
Invisalign for International Patients: What to Know
Invisalign treatment involves ongoing appointments throughout the treatment period, typically every 6 to 8 weeks. For international patients who cannot return to Istanbul at those intervals, this needs to be planned for carefully. There are two main approaches.
Option 1: Start in Istanbul, continue at home
The initial consultation, digital scan, ClinCheck planning approval, attachment placement, and first aligner fitting all take place in Istanbul. The full aligner series, or the first batch, is handed over at the fitting appointment. The patient returns home and changes aligners on the prescribed schedule independently. Progress checks between Istanbul visits are managed through digital monitoring tools or with a local orthodontist who reviews photos and aligner fit periodically. The patient returns to Istanbul for a mid-treatment or end-of-treatment review as needed.
Option 2: Short case, managed independently
For mild cases of 3 to 6 months duration, the full aligner series is a small number of sets. Many patients in this category receive all their aligners at the initial Istanbul visit, change them according to the schedule, and return only for the final retention appointment. For straightforward short cases, this approach is practical and widely used by international patients.
| Visit | Ce qui se passe | Duration in Istanbul |
|---|---|---|
| Initial visit | Consultation + 3D scan + ClinCheck review + attachment placement + aligner fitting + aligners handed over | 3 à 5 jours |
| Mid-treatment (if needed) | Progress check, aligner fit review, next batch of aligners | 1 to 2 days |
| Final visit | End-of-treatment review, refinement aligners if needed, retainer fitting | 2 to 3 days |
Between clinic visits, patients use a dental monitoring app to photograph their teeth and aligner fit at home. These photos are reviewed remotely by the DentAkademi team. If the aligners are tracking correctly, the patient continues to the next set on schedule. If there is a tracking issue that needs attention, we advise on next steps before it becomes a larger problem. This remote monitoring model is what makes international Invisalign treatment practical.
Factors That Affect Treatment Cost
The cost of Invisalign varies based on the complexity and duration of the case. The main factors include the number of aligners required, the complexity of the planned tooth movements, whether refinements are needed, and the type of retainers used at the end of treatment. Preparatory work such as attachments or interproximal reduction is typically included in the treatment fee.
A precise cost estimate is only possible after the ClinCheck plan has been produced, because the total number of aligners is what primarily determines the fee tier. At DentAkademi, Invisalign treatment costs significantly less than at equivalent certified providers in the UK or Europe, while using the same Invisalign system and laboratory process.
Retention: The Part That Lasts
Once active treatment ends, the result needs to be held in place. Teeth have a natural tendency to drift back toward their original positions, driven by the surrounding soft tissue and the memory of the previous tooth position in the bone. Without retainers worn consistently after treatment, some degree of relapse will occur in almost every case.
Retainers can be removable, worn at night, or fixed, a thin wire bonded to the back of the front teeth. Many patients use a combination: a fixed wire for the lower front teeth, which are most prone to crowding relapse, and a removable retainer for the upper arch worn nightly. Your dentist will advise on the right approach for your case based on which teeth moved and how much.
Why Choose Istanbul for Invisalign Treatment?
Invisalign treatment in the UK typically costs between £2,500 and £5,500 depending on case complexity. At DentAkademi, the same Invisalign system, using the same ClinCheck planning software and the same aligner fabrication process, is available at substantially lower cost. The certified provider status means the treatment protocol is identical: only the price differs.
For patients with mild to moderate cases who can manage aligner changes independently and use remote monitoring between visits, Istanbul represents a genuinely practical option for Invisalign. The initial visit of 3 to 5 days covers everything needed to begin treatment, and the digital monitoring model covers the between-visit period effectively.
DentAkademi en chiffres
Want to know whether your orthodontic case is suitable for Invisalign, and what your options are as an international patient? Contact us with photos or your existing X-rays.
Contact Our Orthodontics TeamConsidérations pratiques pour les patients internationaux
How do I know if my case is suitable before travelling?
Send us clear photos of your teeth from the front, sides, and bite view, along with a description of what you want to correct. Our orthodontics team will give you an initial assessment of whether Invisalign is likely to be appropriate for your case. A definitive answer requires a 3D scan, which happens at the first Istanbul visit.
What happens between Istanbul visits?
You change aligners on the prescribed schedule and submit progress photos via a dental monitoring app at regular intervals. These are reviewed by the clinical team. If your aligners are tracking correctly, you continue. If there is an issue, we advise you before it becomes a problem requiring an in-person visit.
What if I need refinements?
Refinements are planned remotely using updated photos and, if needed, a new digital scan taken at a local provider or at a return Istanbul visit. The refinement aligners are then fabricated and either delivered to your home address or collected at the next Istanbul visit.
Can I start treatment in Istanbul and finish with a local orthodontist?
Yes, and for complex longer cases this is often the most practical arrangement. We provide full ClinCheck records and treatment documentation so any certified Invisalign provider can take over mid-treatment if needed. Patient management across different providers is a standard part of how international Invisalign treatment works.
Questions Fréquemment Posées
Résumé
Invisalign is an effective orthodontic option for patients with mild to moderate alignment and bite problems who want a discreet, removable treatment. The results it produces for appropriate cases are clinically comparable to fixed braces: but the case selection matters. Patients with complex skeletal discrepancies or significant bite corrections that exceed what aligners can predictably achieve are better served by fixed appliances or jaw surgery. An honest assessment identifies which category applies.
For international patients, the treatment model is practical for mild to moderate cases. The initial Istanbul visit covers everything needed to begin treatment. Aligner changes are managed independently at home. Remote monitoring covers the between-visit period. Return visits for mid-treatment review and retention are planned around the treatment duration and case complexity.
At DentAkademi, Invisalign is provided by certified providers using the same ClinCheck planning system and aligner fabrication process as practices in the UK and Europe, at a substantially lower overall cost.
Find Out Whether Invisalign Is Right for Your Case
Send us clear photos of your teeth and a description of what you want to correct. Our orthodontics team will give you a straight answer about whether Invisalign is appropriate, what the treatment would involve, and how international patients can manage it practically.
Send My Photos: Free Orthodontic Assessment
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