How Invisalign works: ClinCheck, SmartTrack and attachments

What is specific to the Invisalign workflow

What separates Invisalign from aligner treatment in general is the system around it rather than the underlying tooth movement. Align Technology supplies the planning software, the tray material, the attachment shapes and the manufacturing, and your clinician works inside that system rather than specifying each part separately.

Planning happens in ClinCheck. Your 3D scan is uploaded and the software renders the movement stage by stage, so your clinician can adjust the sequence, decide which teeth need attachments, and set where any enamel reduction falls before manufacturing is approved. You are usually shown the projected end position at this point, which is a simulation of the approved plan rather than a guarantee of the outcome.

The trays are made from SmartTrack, Align's own thermoplastic, which is designed to deliver a more constant level of force across the wear period than the stiffer materials earlier aligners used, and to seat more closely around attachments. Where a movement needs more grip than a smooth tray gives, the plan specifies SmartForce attachments: composite shapes bonded to particular teeth, with the shape and position chosen in the plan for the movement in question rather than freehand.

Invisalign plans are normally written around changing to the next tray every one to two weeks, and the interval is set by your clinician for your case rather than chosen by you. Reviews are usually spaced several weeks apart, so you typically carry a run of trays forward between appointments and the pace can be slowed if teeth stop tracking to the ClinCheck plan.

The tier on your quote is a process difference, not a clinical one. Go and Lite cover shorter cases, Moderate and Comprehensive cover fuller ones, and First and Teen are aimed at younger patients; what changes between them is how many aligner stages and refinement sets are included, which is why a shorter tier is only offered when a case can realistically finish within its stage limit. Provider labels such as Gold, Platinum and Diamond are separate again — they describe how many Invisalign cases a practice has completed, not a different product.

Private Invisalign in the UK typically runs £2,500 to £5,500, with the tier and case complexity doing most of the work in that range.