Common concerns
Many of us, if not all of us, sometimes wish they could change how their smile looks. Those who have minor misalignments with their teeth generally don’t find that their teeth interrupt their daily lives, or impede them in too drastic a way. The same thing cannot be said, however, for those who have more severely misaligned teeth. This can be the cause of many social and confidence issues for people, as well as potentially leading to further oral health problems. Anyone who believes that the way their teeth are aligned is impacting the way they look and other aspects of their lives, should consider invisible braces as a way of correcting the alignment of their teeth and improving both the way others see them, as well as the way they see themselves.
How are invisible braces different?
If you have teeth which are misaligned or crooked, you have undoubtedly seen (or even had in the past) conventional braces. These – for clarity – consist of fused brackets which are fixed onto the front of a patient’s teeth, and connected via a metal wire. This wire applies pressure to the patient’s teeth, and slowly moves them together. It is an effective form of perfecting dental alignment, although is sometimes thought to be both uncomfortable and impactful on the way that it makes a patient look. Invisible braces, or discreet dental aligners such as Invisalign however let patients achieve a straighter smile with an altogether different method. These discreet orthodontic systems replace conventional tools with a single, removable plastic dental retainer. This retainer is formed from a specialised, unique and patented plastic named SmartTrack, and is considered to be far more comfortable than wearing traditional, fused braces. Built within the structure of every Invisalign retainer, there are specifically placed pressure points. These apply pressure to targeted teeth which need to be shifted into their proper alignment. As every retainer is custom made from a mould of the patient’s tooth shape, and because the material used in the retainer is wafer thin and see-through, when the patient puts it over their teeth it is almost entirely undetectable.
What does the treatment involve?
If you are feeling that invisible retainers such as Invisalign may be the best course of treatment to amend the alignment of your teeth – then the first stage in carrying out treatment would begin with a conversation involving a cosmetic orthodontics specialist. This lets the patients have any queries about the procedure answered, and allows the dental professional to determine the patient’s oral health. The following stage of treatment typically involves taking an imprint of the patient’s tooth shape. This is sometimes carried out physically, but is often through the use of a digital rendering machine such as an iTero Element Scanner. After the impression of the patient’s unique tooth structure and shape has been made, it is then sent to the Invisalign technician who will begin creating the patient’s unique set of dental aligners. After they have been created, the patient is then given the first retainer to take home and carry out treatment at a time which is convenient to them – as the retainer can be removed, unlike most other forms of orthodontics.
