What Are The Differences?
Traditional metal braces or Invisalign? How do you decide which is the right one for you? Both of which have their strong points, but there are a number of factors that may determine which is the right one for you or your child.
In this post we delve into the differences between traditional metal braces and Invisalign.
Braces
The traditional, old faithful approach. These are constructed from metal, or even ceramic brackets and are bonded onto the front surfaces of your teeth connected to each other with a wire or elastics. At this stage, for very complicated dental issues they are often better and more predictable, but that may change soon!
Braces, as mentioned, are bonded to your teeth for the duration of your treatment, meaning you can’t remove them when you want to eat or drink anything. However, you can customise them with a variety of coloured bands making them somewhat of a fashion statement!
Braces also tend to need a bit more adjustment time and require visits ever 6-8 weeks, which isn’t a bad thing! It means if there are any issues they can be addressed quite quickly and without delay.
Invisalign
Invisalign is a computer-generated and custom-made approach for straightening your teeth. They are composed of a series of clear trays (aligners) that are near invisible, meaning you can smile much more confidently in social situations.
Roughly every 2 weeks these aligners are to be changed to the next one in the sequence, meaning you have to keep tabs on what number aligner you’re on (providing you have been wearing them sufficiently*).
Invisalign tends to feel more comfortable than braces as the aligners tend to “hug” your teeth compared to the brackets which may irritate your mouth. Also unlike braces, Invisalign does not affect your speech to the same degree.
With Invisalign, you can also eat the foods you want to unlike with braces. This is simply due to the fact you can remove the aligners and enjoy all your favourite foods that those with braces miss out on! Comparably, when it comes to cleaning, braces tend to take up more time than with Invisalign since they can be removed from the mouth and the aligners are easily washed.
Invisalign also tends to take a lot shorter time frame than braces do and make seeing the progress of the teeth moving into alignment that much more exciting!
If you’re still unsure about which way to go, just ask the friendly team at 7 Pearls Dental to help you decide and make you happy to smile again!
*Recommended wear time for aligners is 22 hours a day minimum