Reviewed by Megan Reznik, DDS, MS
Invisalign straightens teeth with a series of clear, removable aligners rather than brackets and wires. Reznik Orthodontics is an Invisalign provider at both its Odessa and Midland offices, treating teens and adults, and the consultation to find out whether you are a candidate is free.
The appeal is obvious: almost nobody notices them, and you take them out to eat. The catch is equally simple, and it is worth knowing before you start. Aligners only move teeth while they are in your mouth. Twenty to twenty-two hours a day is the requirement, not the recommendation, and treatment stalls for anyone who treats that as flexible.
If that sounds workable, aligners are an excellent tool. If you already know you would leave them in a napkin at lunch, say so at the consultation and you will get an honest recommendation instead of a sale.
How treatment actually runs
- The scan. You start with a digital scan. An iTero scanner captures the shape of your teeth and gums in a few minutes, with no putty impression and nothing to gag on, and you can watch the model build on the screen while it happens.
- The plan. From that scan, the doctor plans the movement of every tooth, in sequence, and that plan becomes your aligners. Each aligner is a fraction of a millimeter different from the last.
- Wearing them. You wear one set for about two weeks, then move to the next, and the teeth follow the series. Small tooth-colored attachments are bonded to a few teeth in most cases, since certain movements need something for the aligner to push against.
- Visits. You come in every 4 to 8 weeks so the doctors can check that the teeth are tracking the plan and hand over the next sets. Many cases complete within about a year, though that varies with how much has to move. Some patients qualify for remote check-ins through Dental Monitoring, which replaces a portion of those visits with a scan from your phone.
- After treatment. You wear a retainer indefinitely and usually at night. Teeth drift for the rest of your life whether or not they were ever treated, so retention isn’t optional if you want the result to last.
Who Invisalign suits, and who it does not
Aligners handle crowding, spacing, and many bite corrections well. They are a strong choice for adults who present at work all day, for teenagers who play a wind instrument or a contact sport, and for anyone who wants to keep brushing and flossing the way they always have.
They are a poor choice for anyone who will not wear them. That is the honest gate, and it applies to responsible adults as often as to teenagers.
Some cases also need more force or more control than an aligner can deliver: severe rotations, large movements, certain bite corrections and most cases that need jaw surgery. For those, fixed braces or self-ligating braces are simply the better instrument. A specialist will tell you which category you are in after one examination, and the two options are compared side by side on the types of braces page.
Why it matters who plans the treatment
Aligners are manufactured by a company. The treatment is designed by whoever is treating you, and that is where cases are won or lost.
General dentists offer Invisalign in both Odessa and Midland, and several of them rank for it. An orthodontist completed two to three additional years of full-time residency in tooth movement and jaw growth after dental school, and treats nothing else.
Dr. Megan Reznik and Dr. Derek Reznik are each a Diplomate of the American Board of Orthodontics, which means each has submitted finished cases from their own practice to an examining board and defended them. The difference shows most in cases that do not go as planned, because someone has to decide what to do next. See board certification for what the credential involves.
What Invisalign costs
How pricing works. The fee is set by the case, not by the product. How far the teeth have to move and how many aligners the plan needs are what move the number, which is why nobody can quote you Invisalign over the phone.
What’s fixed is how you can pay:
- Consultation: free
- Same-day starts available
- Monthly payments: starting at $99
- Down payment: $0 available
- In-house plans: no interest
Reznik Orthodontics is not in-network with any insurance plan, but accepts most PPO plans, bills your carrier directly, and takes assignment of benefits where your plan allows. HSA and FSA funds work, and CareCredit is available.
The cost and financing page has the full breakdown of payment structures and what the fee includes. Midland patients specifically comparing aligner costs can also read the cost of Invisalign in Midland.
Braces or aligners, which costs more? Sometimes, sometimes not, and the gap is smaller than most patients expect. Ask for both numbers at your consultation and decide with real figures rather than assumptions.
Living with aligners
The daily routine, in short: aligners come out to eat and to drink anything other than water. Coffee, tea, and soda stain the plastic, and hot drinks can warp it.
Before the trays go back in, brush, or at minimum rinse thoroughly, since sealing sugar against your teeth for twenty hours is worse than not wearing braces at all.
The trays get brushed with a soft brush and cool water, never hot. And they live in the case whenever they’re not in your mouth, since a tray wrapped in a napkin at a restaurant is a tray in the bin.
Expect the first day or two of each new set to feel tight. That’s the aligner doing its job, and it settles.
Two habits make the difference between a case that finishes on schedule and one that doesn’t:
- Putting the trays back in immediately after eating
- Not taking them out for anything that isn’t food
Everything else is manageable.
Invisalign for teenagers
Aligners work well for a teenager who will wear them, and not at all for one who will not. That sounds obvious and it is still the single most important thing to establish before a fee is quoted.
For the right teenager the advantages are real: nothing to break during a contact sport, no brackets to work around with a wind instrument, no dietary restrictions, and normal brushing and flossing. For a teenager who will leave them in a locker, fixed braces will simply produce a better result, because nothing about them depends on memory.
The consultation covers this honestly rather than optimistically. If aligners are the wrong tool for your household, you will be told so. Teen treatment options sets out the alternatives.
What the fee covers
What’s included in the treatment fee:
- The records used to plan your case
- The aligners themselves
- Every routine visit during active treatment
- One set of final retainers on completion
What’s not included: work at another dental office, or replacement of aligners and retainers lost or damaged through misuse.
Because aligners are removable, they’re also losable, which is the one cost risk that’s genuinely within your control. Keep the case with you and use it.
Attachments are worth a sentence of their own, since they surprise people. These are small tooth-colored shapes bonded to a few teeth so the aligner has something to push against for certain movements. They stay on for the length of treatment and come off at the end, and they’re the reason aligners can do more than they could a decade ago.
Find out whether you are a candidate
Call the Odessa office at (432) 333-7105 or the Midland office at (432) 682-1222, or request an appointment online.
The consultation is free, includes a digital scan, and ends with a straight answer about whether aligners will do what you want, along with the fee and a payment option.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the "30 minute rule" with Invisalign?
It is the informal guideline that aligners should be out of your mouth for no more than about half an hour at a time, which is roughly one meal. Aligners out for hours is what actually derails treatment, not the occasional long dinner.
Can I drink coffee with my aligners in?
Water only. Hot drinks can warp the plastic and anything with color will stain it, so take them out for coffee, tea and soda, then brush before putting them back in.
What happens if I lose an aligner?
Call the office before doing anything. Depending on how far into that set you were, you may be told to go back to the previous aligner or move forward to the next. Guessing can cost you weeks.
Is Invisalign a good option for a teenager?
For the right teenager, yes, and the practice treats teens with aligners regularly. It depends entirely on whether they will wear them, which is a conversation worth having honestly before the fee is quoted rather than after. Teen treatment options covers the alternatives.
Will aligners give me a lisp?
Sometimes, for a few days. Your tongue adapts to the thickness of the plastic and the effect settles. Reading aloud for a few minutes a day speeds it up.