Crooked teeth can trigger self-consciousness and social anxiety in many people, making them feel embarrassed to interact or be out in the public. Dental health can affect other organs and systems of our body in unfathomable ways, besides this one. Invisalign provides you with a way to straighten the setting of your teeth with getting pricked or poked by metal brackets and wire. It is a convenient alternative to traditional orthodontic treatment that will not only shoot up our confidence, but will also take care of your oral health.
What is Invisalign?
The maximum part of your oral health is in your hands. It depends on how well your brush and floss your teeth, and clean your tongue. Crowded teeth or crooked teeth often create hard to reach and remote corners inside your mouth, which makes it difficult to clean. These area, when left uncleaned harbor bacteria, tartar and plaque. Brushing twice a day too might not be able to save your from oral health issues and bad breath.
The primary benefit of straightening your teeth is that it will make brushing and flossing comparatively easier. By being able to reach the distant corners of your mouth, you will be able to clean it properly and have a significant improvement in your overall oral health conditions. And, as far as the cosmetic point of view is concerned, it will enhance your self-confidence and reduce the chances of getting your teeth stained.
Additional Benefits of Invisalign
Previously, traditional braces were the only way to straighten the alignment of your teeth, until about 20 years ago. This treatment or practice wasn’t very convenient among the adults. They avoided orthodontic treatments like these to save themselves some embarrassment and the hassle that came from having braces, brackets and wire inside their mouth. The introduction of invisalign opened up a new horizon of possibilities in the domain.
Our dental service expert at Smile Craft will eventually move your teeth and align them properly, with removable trays or aligners. Besides uplifting your confidence and appearance, and improving your dental health conditions, it will also benefit you in multiple ways. They are:
Comfort – Metal braces are infamous for being inconvenient and irritating. Invisalign aligners are comfortable, smooth and thin. They are convenient and don’t hurt the insides of your mouth.
Less treatment time – Braces can usually take up to 18 to 24 months to fix your teeth. This automatically means that you are going to have to wear them for that span of time. On the other hand, invisaligns take about half of that time, which is around 9 to 18 months.
It’s flexible and fits your lifestyle – these aligners have to be worn for about 2- to 22 hours daily, but can be removed for special occasions and events where you wouldn’t want to wear your aligners. These can be easily removed without much hassle.
To summarize, invisalgn should be your go to choice if you want to boost your self-confidence without the prickly pains from metal brackets and braces.
Pros and Cons of Invisalign
The Benefits of Invisalign –
They’re Almost Invisible!
The best part about getting invisalign is that it is almost invisible. It is exactly what it is called (well almost ). For the ones who don’t like to be called ‘metal mouth’ or be stung by metal wires, invisalign serves as the best inviable alternative. Straighten your teeth alignment without anybody necessarily finding out.
As a matter of fact, there are multiple celebrities who wear invisalign to correct their teeth alignment withour anybody finding out about it. The list is huge and it includes big names like:
Justin Bieber
Zac Efron
Oprah Winfrey
Keira Knightley
Khloe Kardashian
Serena Williams
The Duchess Kate Middleton, along with many others.
This list contain celebrity names from all spheres and professions, who have chosen to take care of their teeth without drawing unnecessary attention
No Food or Dietary Restrictions
If you’re someone who has friends with braces, you already know the kind of dietary restrictions they have to follow. The list is long and often inconvenient.
Popcorn
Breads with hard crusts –bagels for instance
Biting into apples
Corn on the cob
Most kinds of hard candy or chewy gum or lozenges
Meanwhile, with Invisalign, you don’t have to care for any such lists. You can simply take them off, have what you like and then put them back after you’re done.
Brushing and Flossing is Easy
Braces and metal wires make it hard for the user to brush and floss their teeth. And that might eventually lead to scary consequences like:
Cavities
Swollen gums
Permanent white scars on your teeth
…and are all the possible results of poor brushing and flossing with braces. Simply put, you might have to compromise on your oral hygiene to fix your alignment.
Flossing with Braces
Flossing with braces can end up a nightmare. On the other hand, with invisalign, there are no brackets or wires it will be more convenient for you to clean the teeth gaps, other parts of your mouth and your overall oral hygiene.
You have to remember that it is not like you can leave out brushing and flossing your teeth from your routine. It will be comparatively easier for you to complete your routine with invisalign, than with braces.
Shorter and Fewer Appointments
Braces need a lot more manual work than invisalign, including continuous maintenance. In case of a brace related mishap, it can only be solves by an orthodontist.
It’s almost like maintaining a car. Braces require very frequent “check-ups” and even “repairs” like…
Bonding the brackets
Changing wires
Placing rubber bands
Connecting springs…are some of the things that are on the top of the list. Braces require the longest time to fix and all that hassle can be avoided if you opt for invisalign procedure.
How long does invisalign take?
It takes about 20-40 minutes to get done with an average braces appointment. On the other hand, an average invisalign appointment takes only half of that, which is 10 minutes. Again, it takes much lesser number of appointments to maintain your invisalign, than the braces. To give you a basic overview, braces need to be reexamined every 6-8 weeks, while invisaligns need appointments every 10-12 weeks.
With fewer visits and lesser time investment, you will save a lot of time and effort, and dedicate it to something much important like work or school.
Less Discomfort and Irritation
Braces can be irritating, and can take some time to get used to. Until and unless your facial muscles adapt to the braces and toughen up, you are more likely to find it annoying and uncomfortable with all the metal wires, brackets inside your mouth.
Braces can also cause mouth sores. You might also experience sore teeth during the initial days of wearing your braces. This is a part of the process and almost inevitable. You are going to have to wait and get used to it.
If you take out all the uncomfortable elements out of this equation, what remains behind is invisalign. It does its job, without causing any discomfort and unnecessary hassle to the user. You can align your teeth without the pain.
The greatest benefits of Invisalign, especially when compared to braces, comprise:
Almost true to its name. Being less noticeable (“nearly invisible”)
No food or dietary restrictions
Easy brushing and flossing
Fewer and shorter appointments
Less irritation and discomfort
Potential Drawbacks of Invisalign
Now that we’ve discussed the advantages of invisaligns, you should also know about it cons so that you can make an informed decision on your part.
If You Don’t Wear It Consistently it won’t work
For the invisalign to work, you are going to have to wearn it consistently for the required amount of time every day. This is going to require a lot of discipline and self-motivation on your part, for the whole procedure to become a success.
When the alingers come off that easily, it is possible that you might forget to wear it every day. Should that happen, the procedure won’t work as well as it is expected. The failure or the success of this whole procedure completely depends on you. These aligners need to be worn for around 20-22 hours a day. You can only take it off while brushing your teeth, while eating your meals and while drinking.
Drinking and Eating with Invisalign
Invisalign aligners have to be taken off to eat or drink anything other than water. These aligners might trap food particles and might eventually result in yellow, dirty-looking and discolored aligners, causing gum diseases and cavities.
It is also advisable to brush and floss your teeth, and rinse your mouth thoroughly before placing your aligners back on.
Again, if you like drink your coffee round the clock or like to munch almost every time- it’s possible that aligners will disrupt your routine.
Let these conditions don’t deter you from getting your teeth straightened through invisalign. They will need you to change your habits only temporarily. On the brighter side, these can also help you control your coffee intake and food cravings. And, like everything else, your body will easily get used to not drinking coffee round the clock or munching on something or the other all the time.
Some of the users of invisalign have reported to have shed a few extra pounds by getting their binge eating checked, during the invisalign treatment.
But you are advised to not use this as a diet plan, but as an added benefit of the invisalign.
Speaking with Your Aligners Takes time and needs regular Practice
The first time you put on your aligners, you might face slight difficulties to pronounce certain words, but not for long. Once you get used to it, it will get much easier. Talking to someone or speaking might feel slightly awkward, in the beginning of the process. Most people usually get used to talking with their aligners on within a week. If you face difficulties, we would recommend you to read out loudly from a book, magazine or newspaper. This will help you get used to the whole thing, letting you talk freely without being awkward. This is one of the easiest and the quickest methods to get your tongue to get used to the aligners.
Some Tooth and Bite Problems Are Difficult to Correct With Invisalign
While some of the bite and tooth problem can be better solved with Invisalign, some other problems can be easily solve with braces. Only an orthodontist will be able to determine the best situation for you. A large number of patients with orthodontic dysfunctions can be easily treated with insvisaligns.
To find out if you need braces or invisalign, your orthodontists or dental experts will need to evaluate your teeth top confirm.
So you may be wondering, what happens if you don’t wear your aligners as instructed?
There is a series of things that can happen if you don’t wear your aligners every day, and none of those things are going to benefit you in any way. This list includes:
Your teeth and your facial muscles won’t be able to keep up or adapt to the aligners, which automatically means that the process is going to take much longer than it should.
This will bring in more discomfort because you’re going to have to deal with gum sore and teeth sore for a longer time, as bas a braces sometimes.
If you don’t wear it for the complete time span on the regular basis, it will not yield the expected result. On top of that you’re going to have to pay the same amount of money. It is wiser to wear it properly, if you have to pay for it anyway.
Some of the problems concerning your tooth and bite cannot necessarily be fixed if you don’t wear like you’ve been prescribed to. Again, not wearing them properly might also lead you to wearing braces in the future.
When considering the pros and cons of Invisalign, this is the big question to consider…Will I (or will my child) stick with this process until completion?
Some of us don’t have what it needs to keep wearing the invisaligns for the whole time…and that’s okay!
The first step towards anything that needs serious commitment is to know yourself (or your child). If you really think that you might forget to wear your aligners back after you take it off, it is wise to choose braces over aligners, for your sake! At least that way you will wear it all the time and the way in which you’ve been prescribed to.
The good news is, most of the adults and children and everybody else wear their invisalgners appropriately. They obey the program and get their desired results.
Is Invisalign The Best Choice For You or Your Child?
This question can be best answered by your orthodontist or your dentist, upon evaluating your teeth.
What Invisalign Treats and Doesn’t Treat
Invisalign has been popular with adults and teens alike and other people who don’t want to be seen wearing metal braces, and the discomfort that follows. Previously it was only used to correct minor cosmetic issues. Now it is being significantly used to correct under bite, overbite, gapped teeth and overcrowding.
There are other problems that might be related to the alignment or positioning of the teeth. Problems like severely rotated tooth and similar issues cannot be taken care of by an aligner. Braces have been used for a long time now, and has undergone multiple upgradations and developments to address severe dental alignment issues. Aligners haven’t evolved that much yet.
Invisalign Facts
Here are 14 facts about Invisalign that you need to know in order to make an informed decision about your orthodontic treatment
Fact #1-Invisalign braces usually cost more than normal metal braces. This is because the laboratory fees for these aligners are slightly more expensive than the regular braces. This fees goes directly to the manufacturers of the invisalign aligners.
Fact #2– Despite undergoing constant upgradation, there are severe dental issues that cannot be fixed without the help of regular braces. These complex and severe orthodontic problems are not suited for aligners.
Fact #3- these aligners might seem slightly uncomfortable. This is lesser than the regular braces. This happens because these aligners put constant pressure on the teeth to maximize the movement and its effect on the teeth.
Fact #4- The time taken by the aligners or the braces largely depends on you and your efficiency in obeying the prescribed procedure.
Fact #5- these aligners are designed to straighten the alignment of your teeth. They are not designed to diagnose dental issues. So the diagnosis depends on the expertise of your dentist or orthodontist.
Fact #6- The success or failure of the process also depends on the experience and the expertise of the orthodontist.
.Fact #7- The number of patients who have been successfully treated by these aligners is increasing on a daily basis. More than 1000000 patients have been treated worldwide.
Fact #8- These aligner trays can be removed anytime, allowing you to eat and drink as you please. It also helps you to maintain your dental care routine normally, without interfering with the process like braces would.
Fact #9- these aligners don’t need any wire or metal brackets. These save you a lot of time and effort that you would have otherwise needed to spend at the orthodontist’s office. Invisaligns don’t need frequent adjustments, unlike traditional braces.
Fact #10– it’s a systemic process and moves only a number of teeth at a time. This treatment plan is completely dependent and made by your orthodontist.
Fact #11-
These aligner trays are made of thermoplastic material and look like the teeth whitening trays. It is usually custom made and is meant to move your teeth in the sequence determined by your orthodontist.
Fact #12– Do your own research and opt for the alignment procedure based on your convenience and comfort.
Fact #13- Many patients need the support of the retainers after Invisalign treatment in order to keep the teeth from shifting back to their pre-treatment positions, and ruining the whole process.
Fact #14- Invisalign aligners need changing around every 2 weeks. Complex movements require 3 weeks of wear and less complex movements require 10 days of wear, completely depending on your dental condition and your efficiency.