When it comes to your smile, it’s easy to find yourself hiding your pearly whites if you’re unhappy with the shape of your grin. For teenagers and adults everywhere, few things are more frustrating than being told to “say cheese” for a photo only to feel pressured to keep your lips pursed out of frustration over crooked, misaligned teeth. Although a lot of us have the option of getting fitted for braces, all too many people immediately find themselves picturing metal wired over teeth and suddenly feel that developing that perfect smile might not be for them after all.
Fortunately, dental treatment technology has advanced a great deal in the past decades since metal braces were the only option for crowded teeth and wide gaps between incisors. While once many of us had to spend months or even years wearing traditional braces in order to straighten out our smiles, clear braces have now become a very affordable and approachable substitute. In fact, these days increasingly more men and women are turning to Invisalign as their teeth alignment solution.
What is Invisalign?
One of the most popular teeth-straightening dental treatments around, Invisalign, is a remarkable solution for uneven smiles. Available for teenagers and adults alike, these clear braces are designed to eliminate spacing issues and teeth crowding for patients while simultaneously being nearly invisible to the naked eye. This incredibly popular advancement in dentistry enables active men and women to get the smile they always wanted without the look and feel of traditional metallic braces.
Beyond being transparent enough to be nearly unnoticeable, Invisalign clear aligners also offer wearers a number of benefits over traditional braces. Convenient in its design, Invisalign is custom-made to fit the wearer’s teeth and is removable for both brushing and eating. As such, patients who use these aligners do not have to deal with any of the unpleasant installation or discomfort that traditional braces may cause. With no wires or brackets to worry about, Invisalign wearers are able to go about their daily lives hardly noticing they’re wearing an aligner at all. Indeed, people find that living with Invisalign aligners is both carefree and simple.
These revolutionary aligners are also popular not just for their ease of use but because they offer excellent results, sometimes even more quickly than metal braces. This is due to Invisalign’s patented SmartTrack technology, which allows dentists who measure and fit their patients for the aligners to easily predict teeth movement as smiles gradually straighten. This means that your custom-made Invisalign is fitted to constantly provide the necessary pressure to gently shift teeth into their natural, intended alignment.
Getting Started with Invisalign
Although the design of these clear aligners is complex, the actual process of teeth straightening with Invisalign is quite simple to understand. After consulting the need for braces or alignment options and deciding to move forward with Invisalign, the dentist takes detailed scans of the teeth. Using these records, a treatment plan is developed that establishes a timetable and plan for how long the patient should require aligners.
Once these initial steps are complete, the custom-made aligners are given to the patient for daily use. These aligners remain in the mouth somewhere between twenty to twenty-two hours per day, but are taken out for eating meals as well as brushing and flossing. Due to their comfortable design and near-invisible appearance, patients should not need to remove their aligners beyond daily dental maintenance.
Every week, the patient switches from their current Invisalign design to a new pair as teeth gradually shift. They also check in with their professional dental team every six weeks to monitor progress and make adjustments as necessary.
Is Invisalign the Right Fit for Me?
The beauty behind Invisalign is that it does much more than offer a straight smile. Designed by nature to correct uneven teeth line, overbites, crossbites, and gaps, these clear aligners also help contribute to overall dental health. By correcting misaligned teeth, the patient reduces their risks of continued teeth crowding, gum disease, and decay.
Although Invisalign is incredibly popular and many people do qualify for them, not everyone is a best candidate for the aligners. Those patients who are of at least teen age, do not suffer from gum disease or extensive decay, and are not dealing with any serious orthodontic complications are prime candidates for Invisalign. It should also be noted that interested men and women should be committed to wearing their aligners for the recommend daily period (no less than twenty hours per day) for maximum results.
An Experienced California Dental Practice
At Modern Age Dentistry, we pride ourselves on our ability to provide exceptional dental care with comfort and convenience in mind. Our Atwater Village, Los Angeles, Ojai, and West Hills locations allow California residents to receive all the dental treatment they need to live healthy, happy lives while smiling carefree. If you are interested in Invisalign as your teeth alignment solution of choice, request an appointment with us today!
