Metal braces once offered the only path to straight teeth, but not anymore. Thanks to clear aligner systems like Invisalign and Six Months Smiles, straightening your teeth is no longer an embarrassing or uncomfortable experience!
If you’re one of the one millions of U.S teens or adults in need of braces, you never have to endure metal braces to achieve a more attractive smile. Clear aligners offer a comfortable and nearly invisible way to straighten your teeth without any of the restrictions of metal braces.
Here’s everything you need to know about how to straighten your teeth without braces!
Why Is It Important to Fix Crooked Teeth?
Crooked teeth are unattractive, but there’s more to it. Left untreated, crooked teeth actually damage your oral health.
The most common misalignment issues include crowding, spacing, and poor bite. These problems make it difficult to remove plaque from certain areas, even if you brush and floss diligently.
In other words, crooked teeth give plaque the chance it needs to spread and grow. This triggers gum inflammation and tooth decay, which eventually turns into gingivitis, the early stages of gum disease.
The problems don’t stop here. Untreated gingivitis progresses to full-blown periodontal disease. The most common complications of periodontal disease include severe infection, bone loss, and tooth loss.
So you can see how crooked teeth lead quickly down a slippery slope to oral health complications. Not only does periodontal disease diminish your quality of life and create speaking and chewing problems, but it also forces you to pay thousands of dollars for reconstructive dental work in the future.
It’s so much easier to prevent these problems by straightening your teeth now with a convenient clear aligner system.
What Are Clear Aligners and How Do They Work?
Clear aligners straighten crooked teeth with a series of flexible plastic aligners to shift your teeth into their proper positions. The aligners are thin and clear. They fit snugly over your teeth without causing any obvious changes to your appearance.
Invisalign, for example, is one of the most widely known clear aligner brands. In order to begin the Invisalign treatment process, you’ll work with your dentist to create a digital treatment plan that demonstrates the exact movement of your teeth as they adjust to straighter positions. You’ll soon receive a customized set of clear aligners designed with advanced SmartTrack® thermoplastic material. The aligners work in a specific order to gently shift and push your teeth into an attractive and straight arrangement.
You can expect to swap one aligner for the next every 1 to 2 weeks as long as you wear each set for 20 to 22 hours per day. It’s okay to take out your Invisalign aligners when you brush, floss, eat, and drink, as long as you wear them at all other times. With just a bit of effort, you’ll experience a strategic step-by-step transformation until you reach your beautiful new smile.
What Clear Aligner System is Right For Me?
Clear aligners make a great solution for most teenagers and adults seeking an alternative to braces. Since clear aligner systems use advanced technology proven to fix nearly all common teeth-straightening bit issues, whether simple or complex, chances are that you can improve your smile using these invisible aligners.
If you’re not sure, just ask your dentist for professional advice and work toward a personalized solution. Invisalign and Six Months Smiles are two popular and proven treatment systems to achieve results on any budget.
How Long Will It Take to Fix My Smile With Clear Aligners?
This is just one of the many benefits of choosing Invisalign as your teeth-straightening system! The average treatment time is only 12 to 18 months, and you may even start to notice results in just weeks. Of course, every case is different, so only your dentist can determine your exact treatment protocol based upon your mouth’s specific condition and needs.
Overall, Invisalign tends to work faster than standard braces. Some patients achieve their new, straight smile in just six months! It’s also an affordable system under most insurance coverage plans and Health Savings Accounts (HSAs).
The Six Months Smiles (6MS) system is very similar to Invisalign. It promises straight teeth in an average of six months for adults ages 16 or older with crooked, spaced, or misaligned teeth. The 6MS aligners are manufactured from the world’s most advanced aligner material. This allows them to flex against your teeth and move them gently into place while maintaining comfort.
The Benefits of Using Clear Aligners
Invisalign and other clear aligners offer a comfortable, versatile, and effective treatment. Compared to metal braces, clear aligners help teens and adults alike straighten their teeth without pain or embarrassment. You can expect to enjoy the following benefits when you learn how to straighten your teeth without braces.
Removable and Invisible
Some of the best perks of using Invisalign are the benefits that metal braces can’t offer. Your Invisalign aligners are so thin and clear that nobody will notice you’re even wearing them– you definitely can’t say that about traditional braces!
You can also remove your aligners whenever you eat, drink, brush, and floss to make those tasks easier and more enjoyable. It’s even possible to remove your Invisalign trays for special events like weddings, job interviews, and playing sports.
Faster Results with Less Pain
No teeth straightening procedure is completely painless. Shifting your teeth within your gums is bound to cause an uncomfortable sensation. However, Invisalign creates such a gentle shifting motion that you should only experience slight, subtle discomfort, compared to the intense pain often caused by harsh metal braces.
The slight discomfort you feel during the first few weeks is a good sign that your aligners are doing their job! You’ll quickly adjust to this pressure and enjoy the remainder of the Invisalign process virtually pain-free.
Even better, Invisalign’s gentle treatment process can deliver results faster than normal braces. You may notice changes to your mouth’s alignment in a matter of weeks, with the full treatment process lasting anywhere from six to 18 months. Six Months Smiles, by comparison, treats mild-to-moderate cases of misalignment in an average of six months.
Safe and Reliable
Invisalign and 6MS aligners provide superior quality and time-tested materials.
The clear aligner trays include medical-grade, high molecular weight, thermoplastic polymers. In other words, they’re formed with a material that has a long history of safe use inside the human body. It’s been FDA-approved for use in Invisalign aligners since 1998, so you have more than two decades of proof that this is a reliable treatment option.
Straighten Your Teeth Without Braces in Vista, CA
Not every dentist is qualified to guide patients through the Invisalign process. It’s important to find a dentist with extensive experience with Invisalign treatment and the Six Months Smiles system so that you know you’re trusting your mouth to an expert.
Dr. Yaron Miller and his professional team at Ivory Pointe Dentistry in Vista, CA always make your smile their top priority. If you’re frustrated by misaligned teeth and want to create a smile you feel confident flaunting, call Ivory Pointe Dentistry today to schedule your first appointment.
