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When braces recently gave Toni Holtz a mouthful of metal, two things happened:
She didn't talk or smile as much, and she self-consciously declined invitations to events and affairs where she was once a regular fixture.
She gratefully switched gears when her orthodontist mentioned Invisalign, a new type of invisible braces. Six months later, the Miami-Dade County resident said she's back to her social self.
"Before, I was counting down the days until my braces could come off. This time I haven't even asked when," she said. "When you're an adult, you don't want to feel the way you did when you were 14."
Holtz isn't the only South Floridian wh's wired about Invisalign, a high-tech product that uses a 3-D image to map an orthodontic treatment plan.
And as awareness grows, area dentists and orthodontists are predicting that sales will double or triple as adults - and particularly business people - realize they can straighten their teeth without metal braces.
"The number of adults in my practice has doubled recently," said Dr. Jaime Zambrano, an orthodontist with offices in Miami Beach, Coral Gables and Key Biscayne. "We're seeing many people now who normally wouldn't have been open to wearing braces"
Created by Silicon Valley startup Align Technology (Nasdaq: ALGN), Invisalign uses computer software to create a series of clear, removable, retainer-like molds that move teeth with little...