The Advantages of Having Invisalign Clear Aligners

If you did not have your crooked teeth treated with braces as a child, the good news is that there is a revolutionary alternative that can give you that perfect smile you always dreamed about: Invisalign.

Invisalign is Nearly Invisible

As the name implies, these plastic trays or aligners are nearly invisible, so no one has to even know you are undergoing this type of orthodontic treatment. They may assume that your gradually gleaming smile is just due to brushing with a whitening toothpaste and better dental hygiene habits. This beats walking around with a metal contraption in your mouth and even headgear, which your teen friends hated when you were growing up.

The Treatment is a Custom Process

More important, Invisalign aligners are a series of customized trays that gently push your teeth towards the goal, changed every few weeks to further the progress, so they are much more comfortable than conventional braces after they were tightened on visits to the orthodontist. Braces can also cause pain if the wires and brackets poke the soft tissues of the inside of the mouth, sometimes resulting in medical emergencies.

Even more important than comfort, however, is the lack of dietary restrictions for Invisalign. If you wear braces, however, you cannot eat hard foods that might damage them or sticky ones that would get caught in between the parts. But even if those wearing braces follow those guidelines, trying to clean around them is a challenge, which is why braces often result in patients developing periodontal infections.

A Flexible Orthodontic Experience

Invisalign trays do not require limits on what can be eaten, since they can be removed before meals and put back in afterwards. Likewise, they can be taken out before brushing twice a day for two minutes (usually after breakfast and dinner) and flossing before going to sleep. That means you can eat whatever you want while undergoing treatment.

For many, the fact that Invisalign treatment is usually completed in 6 to 18 months is the biggest advantage of all (the range is three months to two years, depending on the complexity of the case). Conventional braces typically take about two years (for difficult cases 3-4 years). 

Invisalign is not for everyone, especially the most challenging cases. To find out if you have this option, call Garden Grove Dental & Orthodontics today to set an appointment for a full dental exam.