Invisalign & Clear Aligners
Invisalign
in Murwillumbah.
Thinking about straightening your teeth without metal braces? Dr Daniel Johnston is an accredited Invisalign provider at Biltoft Dental and treats most adult cases right here in Murwillumbah — with honest assessments, clear pricing, and the convenience of your regular dentist looking after the whole job.
Why straight teeth matter
It is not just about how your smile looks
Most people come in asking about Invisalign because they want their smile to look better. That is a perfectly valid reason on its own. But there is a functional side to straight teeth that is worth knowing about too.
Crowded and crooked teeth are harder to clean. Brushes and floss miss the tight spots, plaque builds up where you cannot reach, and over time that raises your risk of decay and gum disease. Healthdirect Australia notes that orthodontic treatment is considered when misalignment causes difficulty chewing, speech issues, or problems with oral hygiene — not just for cosmetic reasons.
A bite that does not line up properly also puts uneven load on certain teeth, which over decades can contribute to chipping, wear, and jaw joint discomfort. Straightening the bite is not a guarantee of solving those issues, but it often helps.
And yes — most patients also mention confidence. Smiling without thinking about it in photos, at work, on a date. That is a real outcome and one we are happy to help with. Individual results vary, and we will talk through what is realistic for your specific case before you commit to anything.
I am Dr Daniel Johnston, the dentist at Biltoft Dental in Murwillumbah. I am an accredited Invisalign provider and I treat patients from Murwillumbah, Tweed Valley, Uki, Pottsville and Kingscliff. This page walks through how Invisalign actually works, when it is the right tool, when braces would be a better fit, and what it costs here — so you can decide with your eyes open.
What it is
Clear aligners, in plain English
Invisalign is a system of clear, removable plastic trays — aligners — that gradually move your teeth into the planned position. It is made by Align Technology, and it has been in mainstream use for over two decades.
Here is the short version. We take a 3D scan of your teeth using an intraoral scanner (no goopy moulds). That scan, along with photos and x-rays, is used to build a digital treatment plan — the ClinCheck — which maps every small movement your teeth will make from where they are now to where we want them to end up. You review this plan with me before a single aligner is made.
A series of custom aligners is then manufactured. You wear each aligner for roughly 1–2 weeks, then swap to the next. Each tray moves your teeth a small amount — usually around a quarter of a millimetre per stage. Over the full series, those small movements add up to a straightened bite.
The aligners are taken out to eat, drink anything other than plain water, and to brush. They go back in straight after. The widely accepted wear time is 20 to 22 hours per day, and that figure is non-negotiable if you want the treatment to track to plan.
Most patients are seen every 6–10 weeks for a quick progress check. At the end of the active phase, there is usually a second scan and a set of refinement aligners to fine-tune anything that did not track perfectly.
Invisalign vs braces
An honest comparison
We treat most of our adult orthodontic cases with Invisalign because, for those cases, it is genuinely the better option. But braces are not obsolete — there are situations where fixed appliances are still the right tool, and we will tell you if yours is one of them. See our Invisalign vs braces comparison for a deeper dive.
Where Invisalign usually wins
- ✓Nearly invisible in day-to-day life — most people will not notice you are wearing them
- ✓Removable, so you brush and floss normally — easier to keep teeth and gums clean during treatment
- ✓No metal brackets or wires to irritate cheeks and lips
- ✓You can eat whatever you want — aligners come out for meals
- ✓Fewer emergency visits for broken brackets or poking wires
- ✓Treatment plan is visualised in 3D before you start
Where braces still win
- ✓Severe skeletal discrepancies where jaw position, not just tooth position, needs correcting — often in combination with specialist orthodontic or surgical input
- ✓Significant rotations of round teeth like canines and premolars, which aligners can struggle to grip
- ✓Teenagers or patients who honestly know they will not wear aligners 20–22 hours per day — compliance is built in with fixed braces
- ✓Complex extraction cases where teeth need to be moved long distances through the bone
- ✓Certain bite corrections that benefit from the constant, low-level force of fixed wires
If your case sits firmly in braces territory, we will refer you to an orthodontic specialist rather than stretch Invisalign beyond what it is good at. That is the honest call and it is the one we make.
Am I a candidate?
The cases Invisalign typically handles well
Most adult orthodontic problems fall into one of a handful of categories. Here is a fair read on which ones Invisalign generally treats well, and which ones need a closer look.
Mild to moderate crowding
Teeth overlapping or rotated slightly because there is not quite enough room. Very common in the lower front teeth in adults, especially after late teens. Invisalign handles this well, sometimes with a small amount of IPR to create space.
Spacing and gaps
Gaps between teeth — either a single noticeable gap or general spacing — are often one of the more predictable Invisalign cases.
Mild rotations
A tooth twisted out of line. Small rotations respond well to aligners, especially on front teeth. Severe rotations of canines and premolars are harder and sometimes better suited to braces.
Relapse from previous orthodontics
You had braces as a teenager, stopped wearing your retainer, and your teeth have drifted. These cases are usually quick — often a single-arch case in 6–9 months.
Mild bite issues
Minor overbite, underbite, crossbite or open bite in otherwise healthy adult mouths. Invisalign can often correct these; more severe bite problems need specialist input.
Cases that need a closer look
Severe skeletal discrepancies, significant jaw growth problems, deeply impacted teeth, active gum disease, or anyone unwilling to commit to 20–22 hours per day of wear. We will give you a straight answer after the assessment.
The process
Step by step, from first visit to final retainer
No surprises. Here is what the journey actually looks like at Biltoft Dental.
1. Initial consultation
We sit down, look at your teeth, talk about what you are hoping to change, and go through your dental and medical history. If your teeth and gums need attention before we can start — decay, gum disease, a cracked tooth — we will flag that.
2. Records and 3D scan
If Invisalign looks like a good fit, we take a full set of records: clinical photos, x-rays, and an intraoral 3D scan with the iTero-style scanner. The scan is fast, non-invasive, and replaces the old putty impressions.
3. ClinCheck treatment plan
Your records are used to build a digital treatment plan — the ClinCheck — which shows every movement each tooth will make, stage by stage, and gives an estimated number of aligners. I review and adjust the plan, then we go through it together on screen so you can see the projected outcome before ordering trays. Simulations are illustrative, not guarantees; individual results vary.
4. Fitting your first aligners
Your trays arrive about 2–4 weeks after plan approval. At the fitting appointment we bond any attachments, do IPR if planned, fit the first aligner, teach you how to insert, remove, and clean them, and give you a written wear schedule.
5. Wearing the aligners
You wear each tray 20–22 hours a day, swapping to the next on the schedule we give you — usually every 1–2 weeks. Progress reviews happen every 6–10 weeks. Teeth tend to feel tight for a day or two after changing to a new tray; that is the movement happening and it settles.
6. Refinements
Near the end of the planned series, we take a new scan and compare your actual result to the original plan. Most cases — even well-behaved ones — benefit from a short round of refinement aligners to polish the final result. This is normal, not a sign something went wrong.
7. Retainers
Once we are both happy, attachments come off, your teeth get a polish, and we fit retainers. See the retainer section below — this part is not optional.
Realistic timeline
How long will it take?
A fair answer: most adult cases finish in roughly 6 to 18 months. The NHS puts typical orthodontic treatment at 6–30 months depending on complexity, and that range applies to both braces and aligners.
Short cases (6–9 months). Mild crowding, post-retainer relapse, small amount of spacing, single-arch cases. Often finish faster than people expect.
Typical cases (9–15 months). Moderate crowding or spacing treated across both arches with some bite correction. This is where most of our adult patients sit.
Complex cases (15–24 months or longer). Significant bite correction, substantial crowding needing IPR or extractions, or cases needing multiple rounds of refinement. Still manageable, just longer.
The single biggest variable is wear time. Patients who hit 20–22 hours a day consistently tend to finish on or close to their original plan. Patients who drift below that need more refinements and take longer. We will be straight with you about this at review appointments.
Doing it properly
The four rules of wearing Invisalign
Get these right and your treatment will largely take care of itself. Get them wrong and you will be the patient who finishes late, with extra refinements and a bill that keeps growing.
1. Wear them 20–22 hours a day
Aligners only move teeth when they are in your mouth. If you leave them out for long lunches, after-work drinks, and bedtime snacking, you will fall behind plan. Aim to have them out for no more than 2–4 hours in every 24.
2. Only eat with them out
Aligners are not built to chew against. Anything other than plain water should go in your mouth, not your aligners. Hot drinks can also warp the plastic — coffee and tea come out too. Rinse briefly before putting the tray back in.
3. Brush teeth and aligners properly
Brush and floss after meals before reinserting. Clean the aligners themselves with a soft toothbrush and cool water, or a dedicated aligner cleaner. Skipping this traps sugars and acids against your teeth and invites decay — something the NHS specifically warns about during orthodontic treatment.
4. Do not skip changeovers or reviews
Swap to the next tray on schedule, and come to your progress checks. If you lose a tray, call us before jumping ahead — sometimes going back one stage is safer than rushing forward.
Attachments and IPR
Two words you will hear — what they actually mean
Attachments are small tooth-coloured bumps of composite resin (the same material we use for white fillings) that we bond onto specific teeth. They give the aligner something to grip on when making harder movements — particularly rotations, extrusions, or moving roots. They are shaped and positioned based on your ClinCheck plan. Most people get used to them within a day. They come off painlessly at the end of treatment with a polish, and the tooth underneath is unchanged.
IPR (interproximal reduction) is a careful, small amount of enamel filing between specific teeth — typically a fraction of a millimetre per contact — to create space for teeth to move without needing to extract any. It sounds more dramatic than it is. Enamel is several millimetres thick on the side surfaces, and IPR well within published safety limits does not cause pain, sensitivity, or increased decay risk. It is a long-established orthodontic technique used with both braces and aligners.
Not every case needs attachments, and not every case needs IPR. Both are mapped out in the ClinCheck plan before we start and we walk through exactly what is planned before you commit. Individual circumstances vary.
Retainers — non-negotiable
Without retainers, teeth move back. Full stop.
This is the single most important piece of advice on this whole page. Teeth have memory. The same fibres and forces that let us move them during treatment will try to pull them back toward their original position after treatment if nothing is holding them in place.
The NHS guidance on retainers is clear: after active treatment, retainers are usually worn nightly for at least 12 months, and many orthodontic practices now recommend indefinite night-time retainer wear to keep results stable long term.
At Biltoft we fit either clear removable retainers (similar in appearance to the aligners, worn at night) or fixed wire retainers bonded behind the front teeth — sometimes both. We discuss options near the end of your active treatment and include an initial set of retainers in the quoted fee.
If a patient decides to stop wearing retainers after treatment, the teeth will drift. We do not sugarcoat that. The good news is that once you are in the habit of night-time wear, it is a small commitment for a long-term result.
Transparent pricing
Invisalign at Biltoft — $5,000 or $8,000
Clear, fixed pricing — not a range that drifts upwards as you go.
Single arch
$5,000
Top arch only or bottom arch only. Suitable when the issue is genuinely limited to one arch — for example, lower front crowding after post-brace relapse.
Full treatment
$8,000
Both arches treated together. This is the typical case for most adults — most bite corrections need both arches working together.
What is included
- ✓Records, 3D scan, and ClinCheck treatment plan
- ✓All aligners in the main series
- ✓Attachments and IPR where clinically planned
- ✓Progress reviews through treatment
- ✓Standard refinement aligners at the end
- ✓Initial set of retainers after treatment
What is extra or may be quoted separately
- +Initial consultation
- +Any preparatory dentistry — clean, fillings, gum treatment — needed before starting
- +Complex cases or unusually long refinement rounds (quoted individually after assessment)
- +Replacement retainers down the track if lost or broken
Private health insurance. Extras cover with orthodontic benefits usually contributes toward Invisalign. The amount varies widely between funds and levels of cover, and many funds have lifetime orthodontic limits rather than annual ones. We give you the item numbers so you can call your fund for an exact quote before committing.
Medicare. Orthodontic treatment is not covered by Medicare for adults — Healthdirect notes this plainly.
Payment options. We offer staged payments spread across your treatment rather than a single upfront fee, and we are happy to talk through what works for your situation.
Why Biltoft
Invisalign with your regular dentist, in Murwillumbah
What you can expect from us
- ✓Accredited Invisalign provider. Dr Daniel Johnston has completed Invisalign provider training and treats cases in-house.
- ✓Continuity of care. Because your Invisalign dentist is also your regular dentist, anything that comes up during treatment — a chipped edge, a new filling, a clean — is handled in the same chair.
- ✓Honest assessment first. If Invisalign is not the right tool for your case — severe skeletal work, complex rotations, growth-related issues — we will say so and refer to an orthodontic specialist.
- ✓Fixed, written pricing. $5,000 single arch or $8,000 full, with a clear list of what is included — no surprise add-ons halfway through.
- ✓Local practice, local patients. Families from Murwillumbah, Tweed Valley, Uki, Pottsville and Kingscliff. You are not a stranger to us.
- ✓Sensible referral when warranted. We do not stretch ourselves into work better done by an orthodontist or oral surgeon.
If you also need other work — wisdom teeth removed before starting, or dental implants to replace a missing tooth — we can coordinate it all from the one practice. See also our guide to adult Invisalign and our breakdown of Invisalign costs in Australia. Individual outcomes vary; suitability is determined at consultation.
FAQs
Questions people usually ask about Invisalign
How much does Invisalign cost at Biltoft Dental?
Single arch (top or bottom only) is $5,000. A full case treating both arches is $8,000. Complex cases — severe crowding, significant bite correction, or cases likely to need multiple rounds of refinements — may be quoted differently after the assessment. Every patient receives an itemised written quote before any treatment is booked. Individual circumstances vary and private health extras cover can reduce your out-of-pocket cost.
How long does Invisalign treatment take?
For most adults with mild-to-moderate cases, treatment runs roughly 6 to 18 months. Healthdirect notes that orthodontic treatment typically takes 18 months or longer and Invisalign’s own guidance is that you may start seeing changes in as little as 6 months, with the full duration depending on case complexity. Simple spacing or mild relapse cases may finish faster; more complex bite work takes longer. Dr Daniel Johnston will give you a realistic estimate after reviewing your 3D scan.
How many hours a day do I need to wear the aligners?
The widely accepted guidance is 20 to 22 hours per day — essentially everything except eating, drinking anything other than water, and cleaning your teeth. Aligners only move teeth when they are in your mouth. Patients who wear them less than this tend to fall behind the plan, need more refinement trays, and have a longer overall treatment. This is the single biggest factor in whether Invisalign works well for you.
Is Invisalign as effective as braces?
For mild-to-moderate cases — the majority of adult orthodontic work — clear aligners can achieve comparable results to traditional braces, and that is why they have become a mainstream option. For severe skeletal discrepancies, significant rotations of round teeth like canines and premolars, or growing teenagers with compliance issues, fixed braces are still sometimes the better tool. We assess each case honestly and will recommend braces (or refer to an orthodontist) if that is genuinely the right choice for you.
Will I need attachments or IPR?
Often, yes — and that is normal. Attachments are small tooth-coloured bumps of composite resin we bond to certain teeth so the aligners have something to grip when making more complex movements. They come off at the end of treatment. IPR (interproximal reduction) is a small amount of enamel filing between selected teeth to create the space needed to align them without extracting. It is a well-established orthodontic technique and, done within limits, does not harm the teeth. We will explain exactly which teeth are involved before we do anything.
What happens after treatment — do I really need retainers?
Yes. Retainers are not optional. Teeth have memory and will drift back toward their original position without something holding them in place — this is true for braces and Invisalign alike. The NHS guidance on retainers is clear: they are usually worn nightly for at least 12 months, and many orthodontists now recommend indefinite night-time wear to keep results stable long term. We discuss retainer options (removable Vivera-style clear retainers or bonded wire retainers) at the end of treatment.
Am I too old for Invisalign?
No. Adults make up a large share of orthodontic patients in Australia, and there is no upper age limit as long as your teeth and gums are healthy. Gum disease and untreated decay need to be sorted first — which is one of the advantages of having Invisalign with a general dentist: we can treat those issues as part of your care rather than sending you elsewhere.
Do I need a referral to see Dr Daniel Johnston about Invisalign?
No referral needed. Call us on (02) 6672 1980 or book online for an initial consultation. Bring any recent dental x-rays or notes from a previous dentist if you have them — it saves time and money. You will leave the consult with a clear recommendation and a written quote.
Ready to look at your options
Book an Invisalign consultation in Murwillumbah
If you are thinking about straightening your teeth, book a consult with Dr Daniel Johnston. You will get an honest read on whether Invisalign is the right fit, a clear written quote, and time to think it over without pressure. We also have a growing Invisalign article library if you want to keep reading first.
Or visit our contact page for opening hours and directions.
Become Part of the Biltoft Family
Whether it has been months or years since your last visit, we are here to help you get back on track. No judgement, just gentle, attentive care.