Category: Invisalign

Your Invisalign® trays offer you much more comfort than traditional braces do. However, like your regular teeth or traditional retainer, they need to be cleaned on a consistent basis to prevent staining and odors. Since Invisalign aligners and trays will collect the same food particles and debris as your teeth, it’s important that you use the Invisalign® Cleaning System crystals.

The Invisalign® Cleaning System is composed of proprietary cleaning crystals that create a soaking solution when added to water. To begin the process, remove your aligners and run them under lukewarm water to dislodge food particles. Combine the crystals with enough water to submerge your tray. Soak the aligners for about 15 minutes and remove them from the solution. Rinse them one more time with warm water and scrub the tray with a toothbrush to remove any remaining debris. This is also a good time to make sure that you brush and floss your teeth, as well. Rinse under warm water a final time and put the trays back into your mouth.

It’s important to repeat this process often to increase the longevity of your trays and ensure the best outcome from the investment you make into a beautiful smile.

If you have any questions about Invisalign or if you would like to schedule a free consultation, please contact our team or make an appointment. Our incredible staff will give you the best dental care possible.

We know that the best and most honest recommendations of a dental clinic come from our patients themselves. In that spirit, we have created dozens of real-life testimonial videos to show you what you can expect from our team here at 6th Ave Periodontics and Implant Dentistry.

The following is a testimonial from a real patient:

“I came here originally to get a quote for correction of my bite. It was pretty excessive overbite with a large arch from years and years of thumb sucking. I actually ended up getting the treatment, which took about a year and a half. A lot of people were discouraging me, saying I should get braces because it was the only thing that could correct my bite, because of the strong brute force of the metal, but I know braces have proven to be very uncomfortable.

So I tried the Invisalign after lots of research online and seeing before and after pictures of different individuals giving their testimonies, and I just thought that it was a miracle. After a year and a half, my bite is very straight. I’m very happy with my smile. I don’t have to close my mouth anymore when I smile.

I would recommend Invisalign to anyone considering having their bite fixed. The doctor was very professional, and most of the people I’ve had contact with are very professional, and the girls here are very sweet and they try to accommodate as best they can. That ends my journey here at 6th Ave Periodontics and I wish you all the best of luck.”

If you have any questions about Invisalign or if you would like to schedule a free consultation, please contact our team or make an appointment. Our incredible staff will give you the best dental care possible.

As a top 1% Invisalign provider, we’ve had the incredible opportunity to work with hundreds of patients here in San Diego. Over this time, we’ve answered countless questions about the benefits of Invisalign, the treatment options, and how the whole process works. Invisalign has recently released some of the most common questions that patients should ask their dentist before receiving the treatment. Here are some of the best from the list:

Adult Questions

How does Invisalign move my teeth?

How many times will I need to visit your office?

What can I eat and drink with Invisalign?

Will I need to wear a retainer when I’m done with the treatment?

Parent Questions

Will my teen have to change eating, school, sports, or other activities?

How will I know that my teen is wearing the aligners as prescribed?

Teen Questions

Can I still play sports or play a musical instrument?

Will wearing retainers affect my speech?

How much will my parents have to pay for a broken aligner?

What happens if I forget to wear my aligner?

If you have any questions about Invisalign or if you would like to schedule a free consultation, please contact our team or make an appointment. Our incredible staff will give you the best dental care possible.

Most of us have heard numerous horror stories about the plight of living with traditional braces. Furthermore, we’ve personally witnessed the pain and awkward appearance of many of our family members and friends. However, Invisalign provides a completely different patient experience, and we’re confident that you’ll like the innovative approach to teeth straightening.

Invisalign has a fairly minimal impact on daily life, and patients can easily wear Invisalign for 20-22 hours each day. The aligners can be taken out and cleaned in a simple fashion, which allows you to continue to floss and brush like normal. This ensures that your mouth will continue to stay healthy for the duration of your Invisalign treatment.

You can also remove the aligners when you eat, which means that you can enjoy all of the amazing experiences around food that you have your entire life. There are little to no restrictions, a welcome change from the days of traditional braces.

Invisalign aligners also allow patients to continue to play sports without having to worry about sharp metal objects or brackets injuring you during impact.

Finally, your bedtime routine will change very little, as you’ll be able to clean your mouth as you always have.

In the end, Invisalign is a great choice for anyone in San Diego looking to straighten their teeth in a better way. Make an appointment with our team and discover how Invisalign can offer you better oral health.

As a Top 1% Invisalign Provider, we obviously believe in the amazing benefits that Invisalign can bring to patients, and we’ve seen dozens of successful cases firsthand.

However, a successful Invisalign treatment is a true partnership between our team and the patient. Our commitment is to offer professional care and treatment and to educate patients about how to maximize each procedure for optimal results. In the case of Invisalign, we find these 10 commandments, written by WebDental and adapted by our team, to be quite useful:

1. Thou Shalt Be of a Responsible Age and Mindset.

People using Invisalign need to be responsible enough to swap one mouth tray for another. That’s why Invisalign is typically not an option for patients who are younger than a teenager.

2. Thou Shalt Not Eat with the Trays in Thy Mouth.

You must remember to remove the trays when eating anythingand to put them back in when finished.

3. Thou Shalt Remove the Trays When Drinking Anything But Water.

In other words, remove the trays when eating or drinking anything except for plain water.

4. Thou Shalt Never Eat Very Hot Foods or Drinks With Invisalign.

Hot foods or drinks could “melt” the plastic aligner a bit, making it fit less well to your mouth and decreasing the efficacy of the tray’s work to straighten your teeth.

5. Thou Shalt Never Drink Coffee, Tea, Colas, or Wine.

Coffee, tea, wine, and colas can stain your teeth, which means they also can stain the plastic trays, leaving them less than invisible.

6. Though Shalt Wear the Invisalign Trays Whilst Sleeping.

The only time you should remove the trays is to brush your teeth, eat and drink. You should wear the aligners a minimum of 22 to 23 hours a day, every day.

7. Thou Shalt Not Chew Gum Whilst Using Invisalign.

You probably can figure out why – the gum could become stuck to the aligners.

8. Thou Shalt Not Smoke Whilst Using Invisalign.

Like coffee, colas, tea, and wine, tobacco can stain the aligners, rendering them visible, and possibly even damaging them from the heat of the cigarette. You also shouldn’t chew tobacco while using the aligners. If you haven’t done so already, quit smoking before starting your Invisalign regimen.

9. Thou Shalt Clean the Aligners as Instructed by Our Team.

Our team will give you clear and complete instructions on how to care properly for the trays. If in a pinch – and only in a pinch – clean the aligners by brushing them and rinsing with lukewarm water.

10. Thou Shalt Visit Our Office Regularly, as Recommended.

You will need to visit our office every four to six weeks. This is much more frequently than the “every six months” timetable you may be familiar with when it comes to seeing a dentist, so be prepared for this frequent schedule.

If you have any lingering questions about Invisalign, or if you would like to schedule a dental exam, please contact our team or make an appointment. Our incredible staff will give you the best dental care possible.

Children aren’t the only humans that struggle with crooked or misaligned teeth. As we know, adults can have the same problem. In fact, over 50% of braces are now placed on adults, according to WebMD. However, the treatment looks much different than it used to, with fewer and smaller brackets, less metal, and more clear aligners.

Many adults never alleviated major problems with their teeth when they were children, going years with a smile that could be more beautiful. Most adults with crooked or misaligned teeth are extremely self-conscious about their smile, and this feeling affects the amount they laugh or enjoy themselves with friends, family, and colleagues. The good news is that new options exist for adults who want to straighten their smile but don’t want to deal with a mouth full of metal.

The other reason to get braces as an adult is to ensure that your smile is as healthy as possible. When teeth are crooked or misaligned, plaque builds up unevenly and aggregates in small places and cracks that shouldn’t be there. More plaque means more gum disease and major problems with dental health down the road.

While adults with extremely crooked teeth may need more traditional braces to fix their problem, most adults will benefit greatly from the use of clear aligners. As a Top 1% Invisalign Provider, we’ve performed this procedure for several years, with excellent results. Invisalign® is clear and practically invisible, so nothing gets in the way of your new smile. The aligners are unobtrusive in business meetings or social gatherings. There aren’t any metal wires or bands to irritate your mouth. In the end, most people won’t notice you’re wearing aligners at all. In 2011, over 1.5 million patients used Invisalign to achieve straighter teeth. Invisalign is not a fad or a gimmick. It’s a reliable treatment option that really works for millions of patients.

The Invisalign treatment isn’t nearly as invasive to daily routines as traditional braces are. Aligners are often changed about every 2 weeks, offering you a way to achieve better oral health along the way to straighter teeth. Invisalign must be worn 20-22 hours a day to be effective. This means that Invisalign is a serious commitment that our patients must take seriously. Invisalign generates tremendous patient outcomes, but it takes a sacrifice that patients must be willing to accept. However, in the end, most patients proclaim that this sacrifice is much less than they thought they might have to endure with traditional braces.

In the end, it’s never too late to straighten your teeth in order to gain a more beautiful and healthier smile, whether you’re just out of high school or beginning your adventure into retirement.

If you have any questions about your dental health or if you would like to schedule a free consultation, please contact our team or make an appointment. Our incredible staff will give you the best dental care possible.

Most people that walk into our office for a San Diego Invisalign treatment want to have a more beautiful smile and more confidence to laugh and smile at will. We are more than thrilled to offer our patients the amazing confidence that a beautiful smile brings. However, the benefits of Invisalign extend beyond your smile. According to research from the American Dental Association, it turns out that straighter teeth can lead to a healthier you.

How does this work?

When teeth aren’t straight, it means that there is either too much space or crowding happening somewhere in the mouth. These extra spaces or crowded teeth lead to problems such as periodontal disease and gum disease. Invisalign takes care of this problem by providing a safe way to straighten your teeth.

Furthermore, Invisalign aligners can be removed so that you can clean your teeth more thoroughly, decreasing the amount of plague and decay that can be associated with traditional braces.

Finally, correctly aligned teeth eliminate pockets that act as a haven for bacteria. Bacteria build up in your mouth can lead to a host of problems, such as heart disease, stroke, pneumonia, and diabetes, among others, according to the American Dental Association. 

In the end, Invisalign can make you healthier, as well as give you a more beautiful smile and more confidence. If you’re interested in learning more, ask us a question, contact our office, or schedule an appointment to come and meet our team. We would love to give you excellent dental care that results in a happier, healthier you.

As an Invisalign Elite Preferred Provider, we firmly believe in the many benefits that Invisalign can offer our patients in San Diego. Beyond the cosmetic benefits, there are many other benefits that can positively impact your oral and general health, as well.

1. Invisalign can reduce swollen, red gums that are caused by tightly spaced teeth. Better spacing and alignment also reduces periodontal disease, which can wreak havoc on your gums and mouth.

2. Invisalign aligners are removable, which means your teeth will be much easier to clean. This greatly reduces the amount of plaque and decay that can lead to cavities, crowns, and other periodontal issues.

3. Finally, since Invisalign greatly reduces the number of bacteria in your mouth, your general health will benefit as well, since bacteria won’t have a gateway into the rest of your body. Studies by the American Dental Association have shown that oral infections can also lead to other more serious ailments such as heart disease, stroke, pneumonia, and diabetes. 

If you’re interested in finding a trusted and elite San Diego Invisalign provider, look no further. Contact Dr. Niakiani and schedule an appointment to experience the many benefits of Invisalign yourself.

We’re incredibly excited to announce that we have once again been identified as a Top 1% Invisalign® provider, one of only a handful of practices in the San Diego area that can boast this claim with over 20 years of experience.

Invisalign® has many advantages over traditional braces, as it invisibly straightens your teeth with a series of custom-molded aligners. Change them about every two weeks, and your teeth will move—little by little, week by week—until they are happily resting in their final position.

If you have any questions about Invisalign® or if you would like to schedule a free consultation, please contact our team or make an appointment. Our incredible staff will give you the best dental care possible.

Even though Invisalign offers a wide variety of benefits, in comparison to traditional braces, many patients still ask whether or not they’ll experience pain at any time during the Invisalign treatment.

It’s common for patients to experience some sort of pain at some point during the treatment process. Patients may experience pain from a new aligner, from the aligner fit in the gums, cheek, or floor of mouth, or mild pain when eating. In fact, a study performed by Nedwed, published in the Journal of Orofacial Orthopedics in 2005, showed that 54% of patients experienced mild pain, while 35% experienced no pain at all. The good news is that most patients claimed that the pain went away in a couple of days, and 85% claimed that they were used to the treatment after only a week’s time.

The interesting part about aligner pain or tension is that this discomfort can be a sign that the treatment is proceeding correctly. There should be pressure placed on your teeth from the aligners. If there wasn’t, your teeth would never adjust. This pain will most likely be the most severe at the beginning of the treatment when the gap between where your teeth currently are and where they will be is the greatest.

The aligners might also rub up against part of your mouth, causing mild irritation. 6% of patients witnessed this in the study mentioned above. If this occurs, our team can perform an adjustment to make sure that your aligners fit perfectly in your mouth.

Finally, while eating and drinking can be much more pleasurable with Invisalign than with traditional braces, some patients experience discomfort while eating.

If you’re experiencing pain with a new set of aligners or at any time during the treatment, please let our office know. We can offer the best advice on a case-by-case basis with deep knowledge of your treatment plan.

If you have any questions about Invisalign or if you would like to schedule a free consultation, please contact our team or make an appointment. Our incredible staff will give you the best dental care possible.