The complete guide to clear aligners: cost, types, timelines and what to expect. From £3,695 with 0% finance.
Invisalign straightens your teeth with a series of clear, removable aligners instead of fixed metal braces. Most people you pass will never notice you are wearing them. This is our complete guide to how it works, what it costs, how long it takes, and how to tell whether it is right for you. At Aqua Dental Clinic treatment starts from £3,695, and that figure covers everything from your first scan to your final retainers.
Below you will find real pricing, honest timings, and a straight answer to the question most people actually arrive with: is this right for me, and what will it cost. No consultation required to read it. If you already know you want to book locally, we have dedicated pages for Invisalign in Harrow and Invisalign in Stanmore.
Invisalign at Aqua Dental Clinic starts from £3,695. The exact price depends on how much your teeth need to move and which system suits your case, so a mild bit of crowding costs less than a full realignment. Here is how the three options compare.
| Option | Best for | Price from |
|---|---|---|
| Invisalign Lite | Minor crowding or spacing, or a relapse after old braces | £2,500 |
| Invisalign Full | Most cases, from moderate to more complex movement | £3,695 |
| Invisalign Teen | Younger patients, with compliance indicators built in | £3,000 |
Every price is all-inclusive. That means your consultation appointments, the iTero scans, all your aligners, your retainers at the end, and your aftercare are part of the quoted figure. There is no separate bill waiting for you at the finish.
Very few patients pay the whole amount up front. We offer 0% finance with monthly plans over 12 months, and longer repayment terms up to 60 months if you want smaller monthly payments. Applications usually get a decision within about 20 minutes and there is no charge to apply. You can see a full breakdown on our Invisalign cost page, and the practice-wide options on our membership plans and fees pages.
A quick word on the cheap online aligner adverts. Those brands post you a kit and never see your mouth in person. With Invisalign at a real practice, a dentist checks your gums and bite before anything moves, and adjusts the plan as your teeth respond. Your teeth are not really the place to shop on price alone.
Clear aligners handle a wider range of problems than most people expect. Invisalign is a good fit if you recognise any of these.
There are limits. Very complex bite problems, or teeth that need to move a long way or rotate sharply, sometimes do better with fixed braces or a combined approach. That is an honest conversation for your consultation, not something a website can decide. If you want to see the kinds of cases clear aligners handle well, our page on treatable cases walks through several.
Most Invisalign treatments run between 6 and 18 months, with many straightforward cases landing around 9 to 12 months. Simple corrections with Invisalign Lite can finish in as little as 4 to 6 months. You start to see movement within the first few weeks, which is the point most people quietly start enjoying it.
Two things decide your timeline more than anything else: how far your teeth need to travel, and how consistently you wear the aligners. They need to stay in for 20 to 22 hours a day, coming out only to eat and to clean your teeth. Wear them as told and you tend to finish on schedule. Leave them in a drawer and the plan drifts.
There is not one single Invisalign. The right version depends on your teeth and your age.
Fewer aligners, aimed at smaller corrections and mild relapse cases. Lower cost and often a shorter treatment, though only if your case genuinely fits inside its scope.
The workhorse. It has the aligner capacity for moderate through to more involved movement, which is why most adult patients end up here.
Built for growing mouths, with compliance indicators that fade to show the aligners are being worn, plus allowances for teeth still coming through. Reassuring for parents who cannot supervise every hour.
Not sure which applies to you? That is exactly what the assessment is for. You can also read more on our dedicated Invisalign in Harrow page.
The removable part is what wins most people over. You take the aligners out to eat, so nothing is off the menu, no toffee, no corn on the cob, none of the usual metal-brace warnings. You put them back after, and that is roughly the whole discipline.
Cleaning is just as simple. Brush and floss normally when the aligners are out, rinse the trays and give them a gentle brush, and pop them back in. Because there are no wires trapping food against your teeth, a lot of patients find their gums are healthier at the end than at the start.
Speech is worth a mention because people worry about it. You may notice a slight lisp for a day or two as your tongue adjusts to the thin plastic, and then it goes. Most patients forget they are wearing the aligners within a week. The one real habit to build is discipline about the 20 to 22 hours: swimming, a long dinner, an evening you forget to put them back, and the plan quietly slows.
Clear aligners are popular, but they are not the only route, and they are not always the best one for your situation. Here is how they sit against the alternatives we offer.
| Option | Visibility | Removable | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Invisalign | Nearly invisible | Yes | Most mild to moderate cases |
| Spark clear aligners | Nearly invisible | Yes | A clear aligner alternative to Invisalign |
| Six month braces | Tooth-coloured | No | Fast correction of front teeth |
| Fixed braces | Visible | No | Complex movement and difficult bites |
If discretion matters most, aligners win. If your case is complicated, fixed braces sometimes do the job better and faster. Both are on the table when you sit down with us, and we will tell you plainly which we would choose in your shoes.
Your Invisalign care is led by Dr Neera Maini (GDC 71108), who qualified in 1995 and holds a postgraduate diploma in orthodontics from the University of Warwick. The practice has completed more than 300 Invisalign cases. It matters because aligner treatment is only as good as the plan behind it, and planning is where experience shows.
The path is simple to follow.
We are used to anxious patients, so if the dentist makes you tense, say so. Our nervous patients page explains how we make appointments easier.
Aqua Dental is based in Hatch End and draws patients from across the HA postcodes, so you are not trekking into central London for aligners you could have around the corner. If you want the detail for your own area, we have dedicated pages for Invisalign in Harrow and Invisalign in Stanmore, and we also see patients from Pinner, Edgware and Harrow Weald.
That local footing matters more than it sounds. Invisalign involves several check-ins over the months, so a practice near home or work turns each one into a five minute errand rather than half a day out. Patients who started somewhere in town and switched to us usually mention exactly that.
Straightening your teeth is the middle of the story, not the end. Teeth remember where they used to be and will try to drift back, so wearing your retainers as directed is what protects the result for good.
Plenty of patients choose to finish the job while they are at it. Straight teeth show up stains more honestly, so teeth whitening is a natural next step. If a tooth is chipped or slightly the wrong shape, composite bonding can tidy the edges. Both sit within our wider cosmetic dentistry care.
Invisalign at Aqua Dental Clinic starts from £3,695 for a full case, £2,500 for Invisalign Lite, and £3,000 for Invisalign Teen. Every price includes your scans, aligners, retainers and aftercare, and 0% finance is available over up to 60 months.
Invisalign is more comfortable than fixed braces for most people. You feel light pressure for a day or two each time you move to a new set of aligners, which is the teeth shifting and settles quickly.
Rarely. The aligners are clear and fit closely over your teeth, so in normal conversation they are very hard to spot. You take them out to eat and to clean, so there are no food restrictions either.
Teeth begin moving within the first few weeks. Full treatment usually takes 6 to 18 months depending on your case, with many patients finishing in around a year and simple Lite cases sooner.
A dentist supervises Invisalign in person, checking your gums, bite and progress throughout, which mail-order kits cannot do. For a result you keep and a mouth that stays healthy, that supervision is the part worth paying for.
Find out whether Invisalign suits you, see a preview of your straighter smile, and get a clear price with finance options, all in one appointment. We welcome patients from Hatch End, Harrow, Pinner and across North West London.
