Healthy Smiles Premier Dental
You may have wanted to have a perfect smile when you were a kid, since you had lots of crooked teeth and a misaligned bite. But you heard about how uncomfortable, even painful, traditional braces were. They also made it really hard to floss and brush, so there were lots of dietary restrictions. And everyone who wore the contraption seemed to be embarrassed by it. Ultimately, of course, after a couple of years they had a much nicer and healthier bite.
The best news in orthodontic history for all the procrastinators is that the Invisalign is here and it’s a revolution for adults, as well as teens (they aren’t designed for children 6-12, since their permanent teeth are still growing in). Invisalign has created an ingenious technology of virtually invisible plastic trays known as aligners, which put pressure on teeth similar to what braces do.
There are, however, many advantages:
- It typically takes just 9-15 months to straighten a full set of teeth.
- The aligners can be removed when you eat or drink, so there is no need for dietary restrictions (those who have braces are advised not to consume any foods that are sticky or hard, like nuts, peanut butter, hard candy, caramel, gum, popcorn, or ice).
- This also means you can brush and floss normally, so that your periodontal health will remain great (those with braces often struggle with this).
- You don’t have to remove them when playing contact sports (braces need to be protected by a mouthguard).
- There are fewer visits to the dentist than are required to adjust braces. At the start, we take photographs and x-rays to send to Invisalign with a treatment plan and they create new aligners to be sent to you on a schedule. Occasionally you will be asked to come into the office so we can check your progress.
- No one has to know that you are having your teeth straightened if you remove and replace the aligners privately. They’ll just think you’re doing a much better job on brushing, flossing, and whitening and gradually your smile really looks beautiful.
You will, of course, need to wear your aligners all the time, except when eating and cleaning your teeth, which includes when you sleep. If you are having one of your teens treated, you will be glad to know that there is a special dot that will show how long they have been wearing the trays, to make sure they stay on course.
Not everyone can qualify for Invisalign. Very complicated cases, such as severe underbites and overbites, cannot be easily corrected with this technology. But set an appointment today to have an examination to find out whether this is the right option to achieve the smile that you have always dreamed about having.