Key clinical considerations for early orthodontic treatment with Invisalign aligners
Ronald M. Sluiter, Christchurch, New Zealand, graduated from Dental School in Groningen, the Netherlands. He completed his orthodontic specialty training at Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. Before entering private orthodontic practice, Dr. Sluiter worked at the Sophia Children's Hospital in Rotterdam and as a staff member at the Academic Centre for Dentistry in Amsterdam. As a longtime committee member of the Dutch Dental Association, he participated in formulating the Quality Handbook for the Dutch Orthodontist. He is currently an international member of the American Association of Orthodontics, the European Orthodontic Society, and the New Zealand Association of Orthodontists.
more by this authorThe key to efficient and effective early orthodontic treatment is resolving the patient’s problems with the right treatment solution. If the orthodontic problem is skeletal, a skeletal solution is needed. If the orthodontic problem is dental, a dental solution is needed. Trying to solve a skeletal problem with a dental solution or vice versa often leads to headaches and disappointment from inefficient treatment. Several new Invisalign aligner products are now available to the clinician to match the treatment solution to the patient’s orthodontic problems. In addition to Invisalign aligners for teen treatment, an Invisalign First package is now available for Phase 1 treatment, with an optional package available for Phase 2 treatment. Each of these new products can be ordered with or without precision wings for mandibular advancement. Invisalign aligner packages provide the clinician with tremendous flexibility to treat younger patients efficiently and effectively, with the main advantage being that case acceptance in our office for early treatment with Invisalign aligners has been much higher than that of traditional early treatment appliances