Anterior Aesthetic Alignment

Dr Harry Marget, principal of the East Bentleigh Dental Group in Melbourne, has achieved enormous clinical success by integrating Invisalign with cosmetic dentistry into his general practice.

The new process, known as Anterior Aesthetic Alignment ("AAA") allows general dentists to integrate an alignment phase (using the state-of-the-art Invisalign process) into aesthetic dentistry and combines current cosmetic modalities with advanced direct bonding materials, bleaching procedures and a revolutionary veneer delivery system.

Anterior Aesthetic Alignment is a major paradigm shift in aesthetic dentistry philosophy and introduces the concepts of "green dentistry" and an "enamel neutral edict". It is aimed to widen the dentists' aesthetic armamentarium, allowing them to offer patients the most conservative options first.

"Invisalign has been available in the US since 1998 and Australia since 2001 and now there are over 800,000 patients who have been treated worldwide. While Invisalign is an incredible alternative to braces, I realised that general dentists without orthodontic experience have found it difficult to fully utilise Invisalign to its potential in its current format," Dr Marget said.

"Aesthetic dentists are very different from specialist orthodontists and look at their adult patients from a multi-disciplinary perspective. Many of them have no orthodontic experience or desire to get involved in complex orthodontic treatments but they are intrigued by how Invisalign can help them do limited orthodontics for adult patients who don't want braces but want to rejuvenate their tired smiles".

Over the last two years, Dr Marget in tandem with Invisalign Australia, has worked with Dr David Penn, Managing Director of SCDL, one of Australia's largest dental laboratories, to create an integrated offering that incorporated an alignment phase into a turnkey solution for aesthetic dentistry.

"As a general dentist with limited orthodontic experience who started using Invisalign, my eyes were opened to the immense possibilities whereby superior aesthetic results can be achieved by aligning the anterior teeth before considering restorative work and thus, minimising the loss of enamel," Dr Penn said.

"This in turn led me to focus on developing a direct veneer delivery system that could be incorporated into what dentists need to deliver minimally invasive treatment options. I truly believe that Anterior Aesthetic Alignment will have a profound impact upon the way aesthetic dentistry is practised".

"Our new philosophy centres around a treatment pendulum which is aimed at moving aesthetic cases towards the 'green zone', whereby an alignment phase is considered as the first part of the aesthetic process".

Dr Penn said that their method of diagnosis adds this alignment phase (using Invisalign), as the first modality to be considered in the total aesthetic process. Almost every case can be diagnosed using this new classification as follows:

• Align;
• Align and Bleach;
• Align, Bleach and Bond (simple composite);
• Align, Bleach and Bond (complex with stent);
• Align, Bleach and Ceramics (veneers);
• Align, Bleach and Crown & Bridge; and
• Bleach and Composite Stent.

Both Dr Marget and Dr Penn have achieved remarkable clinical results with this process. Simple orthodontic movements which are predictable are undertaken under the watchful guidance of SCDL's team of Invisalign experts.

"All general dentists can produce these stunning results with great ease. There are thousands of adult patients in each practice who would like anterior crowding and spacing resolved without fixed braces. Many of them have issues with wear and colour as well what we call the "Tired Smile Syndrome".

Cases which are deemed to be too complex are immediately filtered by the treatment planning team at SCDL and referred to orthodontists.