Have you been prescribed an Invisalign passive aligner? In this video, Diamond Braces Chief Clinical Officer Dr. Oleg Drut explains what a passive aligner is and why you might need one.
For certain orthodontic cases with clear aligners, the diagnosis might be specific to only one set of teeth – top or bottom. For instance, your invisible braces case might require alignment of the top teeth, but the bottom teeth are already in the correct positions.
However, your orthodontist may be concerned that movement of the top teeth would cause movement of the bottom, which they want to prevent. For this reason, they might assign you a passive aligner for the bottom teeth, to hold them in place while the upper teeth are moving. Think of it as a retainer for your already straight teeth while the other ones move into their correct positions!
However, when your Invisalign treatment is done, you’ll receive a new set of retainers, so you’ll stop wearing your passive aligner.
This is the use of an Invisalign passive aligner.
Patients might be confused about the use of a passive aligner, and be tempted to discard it since it’s not actively moving misaligned teeth.
Don’t do this! You need to wear your passive clear aligner to ensure that those teeth are held properly in place while the other ones move.
If you skip out on using your Invisalign passive aligner, those teeth might be affected by the shifting of the other teeth, and move out of place. Then your treatment will be delayed as your orthodontist will have to fit you for clear aligners on those teeth as well. Learn more about Invisalign treatment to understand how the process works.
Don’t go through treatment twice: wear your Invisalign passive aligner as prescribed by your orthodontist, and enjoy a healthy, happy smile for a lifetime!
