More and more people are opting to have their teeth straightened with Invisalign. This treatment is especially popular with adults who did not have the opportunity to get braces as teenagers. Invisalign St John’s Wood provides great results whilst being very subtle as well as easy to wear. This guide is for those considering the treatment, answering many of the questions often asked about how it works and what life is like whilst wearing the braces.
What in Invisalign?
Invisalign is a type of brace that is completely different to the traditional metal wires and brackets that many people picture when they think of orthodontic treatment. It is composed of two trays of soft plastic that are worn over the teeth. The trays are referred to as aligners, and these are a bit like retainers or mouth guards in structure.
Can anyone get these braces?
Most people are suitable candidates for treatment with Invisalign, but there are some exceptions to this. Anyone considering these braces should make an appointment with their dentist or orthodontist to have an assessment of the position of their teeth. If Invisalign is not the best solution, they will be able to recommend a good alternative.
Do people know if someone is wearing aligners?
One of the biggest draws of this treatment is that these braces are invisible. This means that if the patient wants to keep the fact that they are having their teeth straightened to themselves, then it is entirely possible to do so.
Does the patient need lots of appointments?
Getting the teeth straightened using Invisalign usually means that less appointments are required. Traditional braces have to be manually adjusted by the orthodontist at regular intervals, but this is not the case with clear aligners.
There is an initial appointment whereby impressions of the teeth are taken for the creation of the braces, and another one for the patient to get their aligners and learn how to put them in and take care of them during treatment.
After that, although there are occasional appointments needed to check that everything is progressing as it should, the intervention required is minimal. The patient is issued with a new set of aligners every couple of weeks with no manual adjustments needed. In this sense they can save a lot of time and inconvenience when opting to have their teeth straightened with clear braces.
Does it hurt?
Treatment with invisible braces compares very favourably with other types of teeth-straightening devices available. These braces are very comfortable to wear because they are made with an extremely soft type of plastic and because they are custom made. This means that they fit each individual patient perfectly.
Some patients do experience a minor degree of discomfort when they first begin treatment, and when they change to a new set of aligners. However, most find this easy to manage with easily found painkillers such as paracetamol and ibuprofen. In addition, any discomfort is usually very short lived, and does not last more than a day or two.
