Invisalign – the Clear Way to Straighter Teeth
For years, if you weren’t born with a Hollywood smile, your only alternative was a mouthful of metal. But with the advent of a new technology called Invisalign, some patients are able to straighten their teeth and forgo all that metal.Not everyone is a candidate for Invisalign. A properly trained dentist in Frisco can determine if this option is right for you.Invisalign uses a series of clear plastic aligners that are placed over your teeth and can only be used on patients who have obtained all their adult teeth. They’re designed to move your teeth gradually, leaving the patient with the desired result. The aligners are less than one millimeter thick and are considered by most people to be far more aesthetically pleasing than traditional braces. In particular, Invisalign is used for patients with minor problems. Chances are, if you have severe misalignment of your teeth, you may have to opt for traditional braces.Wearing Invisalign reduces the amount of time spent in the dental chair, because instead of requiring a labor intensive process to adjust the braces, the dentist simply gives the patient their next set of aligners. For teens and adults with minor problems, having an alternative to traditional braces can be comforting. Adults in particular may find having braces a bit of an embarrassment because it’s traditionally a procedure done in childhood. Teens, too, can find using the far-less-visible clear “braces” more palpable. In addition, good dental hygiene is easier to obtain with Invisalign because it’s simply easier to brush naked teeth than those covered with bands and wires. Another advantage of Invisalign is that the patient can remove them for eating and brushing teeth, but they must be worn for at least 20 hours per day for good results. Most patients require about 20 to 30 different aligners to get teeth into place, requiring a bit less than a year, depending on how drastic the teeth misalignment is.