Over time your teeth can start to move in their positions within your gum line, this can lead to them looking crooked and misaligned. This can make patients feel self-conscious about their teeth, plus it also allows plaque, tartar and harmful bacteria to build up in areas that you may naturally miss as you brush your teeth.
To solve this a dentist may recommend that you try out Invisalign in Clapham. Here is some background information about this particular treatment and how it can help reshape your smile.
What is it?
For those that are not overly familiar with this particular treatment, it involves using a see-through plastic brace to slowly realign those crooked teeth into a straighter position within your gum line. This is managed through the use of a gentle directed amount of pressure on key points of the teeth that should, over time, start to slowly straighten out again.
On average the treatment time for an Invisalign brace is around 12 to 13 months, but depending on the age of the patient that time may vary.
How are the braces made?
The creation of the brace is where things start to sound high-tech as a dentist will use a specialised scanning device to map out the exact shape and measurements of your teeth. It’s a non-invasive process that uses lasers and LEDs, so there isn’t any dental goop or discomfort involved.
After scanning the data that the dentists gather with the device, it is then converted into a digital model that they can reshape with software, to show patients how they will restore their smile. It’s a unique benefit of this particular treatment as it allows you to get a good look at the end results ahead of time, to see if you are going to be happy with how your smile has been restored.
Is it going to hurt?
Whether there is going to be any pain or not can be quite a major deciding factor for patients seeking dental treatments. In the case of Invisalign braces the only real discomfort you may feel should be a feeling of ‘pressure’ on your teeth, but this tends to appear after you have worn the appliance for a few days. To counter this just use some over-the-counter pain medication when it starts to get a little bit too uncomfortable.
Taking care of your new brace
After a treatment is finished the most important thing patients can do is to just wear the brace as often as possible and keep it clean. Failure to take care of it properly can lead to plaque, tarter and bacteria building up on the surface of the brace, which can then be easily transferred to your teeth where it can cause inflammation, infection or worse.
Lack of cleaning can also cause a yellowing or staining of the brace to appear. But to combat this just give it a gentle scrub at least once every other day with a recommended cleaning solution.
Hopefully these interesting facts about Invisalign have helped to clear up a few things about this particular treatment. The braces are a great way to confidently reshape your smile in a simple and non-invasive process available at your local dental practice.