Invisalign--patient profiling. Analysis of a prospective survey

The aim of the present prospective study was to produce a profile of those patients who are interested in treatment with the Invisalign system.

Personal data and clinical findings of 89 patients attending the Invisalign consulting hours offered by the Department of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, Charité Medical School were recorded. Personal data included gender, age, profession, motivation for treatment, accepted treatment duration, and initial source of information; clinical findings included anomalies of tooth position and jaw relationship as well as oral hygiene.

Statistical analysis of the data revealed a characteristic profile: Mainly women between 20 and 29 years of age were interested in Invisalign treatment, chiefly for esthetic reasons, accepting a treatment time of 1.5 to 2.5 years. The majority of patients rejected treatment with visible appliances. 41% had been initially informed of this new treatment system by their dentist or an orthodontist, and the same percentage through different media. The standard of oral hygiene was only moderate or low in 54% of all subjects. Frontal crowding was diagnosed in 87%, and a Class II malocclusion in 49%.

The demand for orthodontic treatment mainly among women is substantial, but many of these potential patients baulk at the esthetic impairment induced by a fixed labial appliance or the speech disturbances induced by a lingual appliance. In order to increase the acceptance of new treatment methods, the high demands placed by those concerned on esthetic and phonetic aspects should therefore be respected. With respect to oral hygiene, many patients are still in urgent need of professional instruction.