Invisible aligners: Can they be used as an alternative to metal braces? There is more than one way to straighten teeth. And although traditional metal braces have been used in clinics around the world for more than 100 years, it is no longer the only game in town, with aligners becoming more and more common. So, how does Invisalign London stand up against the traditional brace?
The Foundations Of Orthodontic Treatment
Costs And Value
Exactly what different people want and what course of treatment they accept is going to be fairly subjective, but an investment in your own health is really a good idea.
The question is how great an investment do you want to make and is it entirely in money, time, or both?Not to mention how important the results are for you.
Having a purely aesthetic goal should not be seen as any less significant; an increase in confidence and self-esteem can reap very tangible benefits that really bring into question whether an aesthetic treatment is far more than might meet the eye.
Children vs Adults
There is a significant difference between when care is delivered to patients that are either children or adults, but it may not be based on the reasons that you are thinking.
There are no physiological biases that make orthodontistry particularly useful in adolescence; adult teeth do need to be present and natural teeth have to be present but apart from that, the age range where a patient can benefit from treatment is unrestricted.
What does change between younger people compared to adult patients is the demands of their lives. Adult patients have professional and personal responsibilities that can be disrupted by wearing braces, a similar level of disruption to an adolescent may be very unwelcome but is unlikely to obtain packed issues like mortgage payments or promotion.
These complications add a further dimension of cost and a degree of risk to engaging in adult orthodontic work. Thankfully, there has been an improvement in treatment options allowing low-impact orthodontic care in adults to become a very real option and growing in popularity. Allowing treatment missed earlier in life to be caught up on, or aesthetic goals to be reached.
Invisible Aligners: An Alternative to Metal Braces?
Role Of The Clear Aligners
The role of clear aligners is not to make a traditional metal brace redundant, but instead, to provide a low visual impact alternative for correcting mild-to-moderate misalignments on the front teeth.
What makes them so different from braces is that instead of returning to the clinic every 6-weeks for adjustments, all of the necessary adjustments throughout the entire course of the treatment are pre-designed into the sequence of aligners.
So swapping from one to the next ( approximately every two weeks) is the equivalent of an adjustment. These adjustments occurring more regularly can be less extreme than those done with a fitted brace, making them far more durable and less uncomfortable.
The total quantity of force that any particular aligner can exert onto your teeth is quite limited; this is because tension is stored in the material itself, rather than the archwire. Hence, the use of a sequence rather than a single aligner for the course of the treatment.
Conclusion
We hope you have found this post about invisible aligners and whether they are a suitable alternative to metal braces helpful. To conclude, their role is not to replace metal braces entirely, but instead offer an eye-pleasing alternative for addressing mild to moderate misalignments on the front teeth. For the right situations, they offer a more convenient and affordable solution. It also saves you the inconvenience of visiting a dentist every six weeks for adjustments.