Believe it or not, straightening your teeth doesn't just give you a beautiful smile, but it also improves your dental health. For example, teeth that are oddly spaced or overlapped are more challenging to brush and floss properly, increasing your chances of developing problems like tooth decay or gum disease. On the other hand, when you align your teeth, brushing, flossing, and eating comfortably are easy, and you may feel more confident about your interactions with others.
As an adult, you may not feel comfortable wearing traditional brackets and wires on your teeth for orthodontic treatment. The good news is that invisible braces with Invisalign in Highgate Hill, QLD, can help. Using clear plastic aligners, Invisalign gently moves your teeth into alignment without anyone noticing you're straightening your teeth.
How Traditional Braces Work
Standard orthodontic treatment uses clear, or more commonly, metal brackets and wires to move teeth into their correct position. Your provider carefully glues the brackets to your teeth, and the wire fits through them. After the initial placement of your braces, you'll visit your orthodontist every few weeks to adjust your braces to keep your teeth moving into alignment.
Braces are ideal for helping correct your bite and smile if you struggle with complex bite issues.
How Invisalign Works
With Invisalign treatment, your dentist uses 3-D imaging to create a plan for aligning your teeth. Invisalign makes a series of clear plastic aligners for you to wear and change out every two to three weeks. The aligners are designed to gradually nudge your teeth into correct alignment, and you'll need to wear them for at least 22 hours throughout the day. However, you can remove them for meals, brushing, flossing, and the occasional significant event.
You'll visit your dentist periodically for checkups to ensure your treatment is progressing properly, but you'll also be able to change your aligners out at home, which means less time in the dental chair during your treatment.
Depending on their specific needs, most patients finish treatment with Invisalign in about 12 to 18 months. Since compliance in consistently wearing the aligners is the key to efficient treatment, our dentists typically recommend invisible braces with Invisalign for adults or teens.
After you complete your treatment, you'll wear clear aligners or a retainer at night only to maintain your straight teeth and beautiful smile.
The Advantages of Invisalign Over Traditional Braces
Invisalign in Highgate Hill offers several benefits that our patients love:
- Discretion: Clear aligners are hardly noticeable and don't interfere with your daily activities.
- Efficiency: You won't have as many appointments with your dentist during treatment because you don't need adjustments every few weeks.
- No dietary restrictions: Braces require you to avoid certain foods that could damage or pull them off your teeth. However, since you can remove your clear aligners, you can continue to enjoy all the foods you love during treatment with Invisalign.
- Easy home care routine: Since aligners are removable, you can easily brush and floss your teeth and don't have to worry about cleaning around the wire and in between brackets.
- Comfort: Metal brackets and wires can be uncomfortable when they poke, scratch, or irritate your gums. Clear aligners are smooth, fit snugly, and are comfortable to wear.
- Confidence: You'll wear your aligners with the confidence that no one will ever notice that you're straightening your teeth.
Our patients enjoy the freedom and discretion that invisible braces with Invisalign offer them.
Is Invisalign Right for Me?
Invisalign works well for many patients unless they're dealing with more complicated bite issues.
At Be Well Dental in Highgate Hill, QLD, our dentists are certified Invisalign providers and can determine whether clear aligners are the right treatment for your needs during an evaluation. They will use x-rays, photos, and a thorough examination to evaluate your bite and smile condition, and plan your treatment if it's decided that Invisalign is right for you. Our dentists partner with Invisalign, which makes your aligners based on the treatment plan your dentist creates.
If you're living with crooked teeth and you've considered orthodontic treatment to straighten them, we invite your call to Be Well Dental at (07) 3846-2002 to learn more about how our team can help you achieve your smile goals. We would love to discuss the possibilities for your smile and the advantages that Invisalign in Highgate Hill offers you.