A properly aligned smile is a healthy smile! Not only can correcting dental misalignments improve your self-confidence, but it can also make your teeth easier to clean and less prone to cavities as you age. If you have a misalignment or crooked teeth, clear aligners are a top orthodontic treatment to consider. They have several benefits over traditional braces, and they can provide stunning results.
Benefits of Clear Aligners
Gone are the days when orthodontic treatment meant messing with poky wires and awkward brackets. Clear aligners have made the teeth straightening experience so much more comfortable and seamless. Here are a few of the key benefits our patients enjoy:
Low-Profile Appearance
If you’re already a bit self-conscious about your smile, you may not want to call more attention to it with obvious orthodontic appliances. With clear aligners, appearance will be the last thing on your mind. The brand we use, SureSmile®, is stunningly low-profile and virtually invisible when in place.
Coworkers and peers are unlikely to notice that you’re wearing aligners. This can help you maintain self-confidence in professional or academic settings.
Improved Dental Hygiene
If you’ve ever known someone with braces, or if you’ve ever had braces yourself, you know how difficult they are to clean around. You have to take so much time and care when brushing your teeth. Some patients, especially teens, struggle to keep up with their dental hygiene and struggle with bad breath or an increased risk of decay as a result. With clear aligners, you won’t have these concerns.
Clear aligners are removable, so you can take them out before brushing and flossing your teeth. This makes it so much easier to guard against tooth decay, gum disease, and bad breath throughout your treatment period.
Fewer Dietary Restrictions
Don’t want to give up apples and popcorn for a year? With clear aligners, there are virtually no dietary restrictions. Again, this is because you’ll remove the aligners before eating. You will need to be careful to rinse your mouth and clean your teeth after eating and before replacing the aligners. But that’s certainly a lot easier than trying to bite into something like an apple with traditional braces in place.
The lack of dietary restrictions with clear aligners makes them a great choice for anyone who already has to follow a specialized diet due to food allergies, sensitivities, or chronic disease. You won’t have to remove additional foods from your diet for dental comfort. However, it’s always wise to protect your teeth by staying away from very hard or sticky foods.
Safe for Sports
Athletes also love clear aligners. In most cases, we’ll suggest taking the aligners out when playing medium or high-contact sports. This allows you to wear a proper mouthguard, which gives you maximum protection. For lower-contact sports, like running and swimming, your dentist may suggest leaving your aligners in place. You’ll have plenty of time to discuss the best approach for your unique situation with the dentist during your consultation and first appointment.
Shorter Treatment Time
Wearing clear aligners isn’t terribly unpleasant, but you still don’t want to be in treatment for any longer than necessary, right? The good news is that the treatment time with clear aligners tends to be significantly shorter than with other methods. Patients often achieve the desired results about 20% faster than with braces.
How long you need to wear the aligners will depend on your age, the nature of the misalignment, and how your teeth respond. Some patients only need to wear aligners for 6 months, while others benefit from a 12 to 18-month treatment period. Wearing your aligners as advised, and not removing them for any longer than necessary, will help ensure you get results as quickly as possible.
Why We Love SureSmile®
There are several excellent clear aligner systems on the market, but the one we like the best is called SureSmile®. We’ve been using SureSmile® Clear Aligners for many years, and we continue to be impressed not only by the quality of the aligners and results but also by the simplicity of the process.
If we determine you’re a good candidate for aligners, we’ll digitally scan your teeth in our office. This ensures we get the most precise measurements and the most thorough assessment possible. Then, we’ll send the scan results to the SureSmile® Digital Lab, where they’ll work with us to create a customized treatment plan. They’ll send us a custom system of aligners that you will use, in order, to slowly and safely shift your teeth into their ideal positions.
SureSmile® was developed by experts in the dental field, and the company offers several add-ons and supplemental treatments that can enhance your results:
- SureSmile® VPro™ High Frequency Vibration Device: Your dentist may suggest using this device for a few minutes per day. It will vibrate your aligners into place, ensuring the perfect fit, less discomfort, and better results.
- SureSmile® Whitening Kit: Once your treatment is over, the SureSmile Whitening Kit can correct discoloration and make your smile even more beautiful.
- SureSmile® Retainers: After we align your teeth with clear aligners, we may recommend SureSmile® Retainers to keep your teeth in their new positions. Most patients benefit from wearing them for about 12 months.
If you are interested in straightening your teeth with clear aligners, we cannot emphasize this point enough: see your dentist. Dentist-prescribed systems, like SureSmile®, are endlessly safer and more effective than aligners that you order online or through other DIY means. Your smile needs to last a lifetime; alignments should always be handled by trained, experienced professionals like those at Orange City Modern Dentistry.
Are You a Good Candidate?
SureSmile® Clear Aligners work well for most teens and adults who have mild to moderate dental misalignments. Having all your permanent teeth in is a pre-requisite and we may not recommend them for pre-teens or younger teens because of the level of responsibility involved. Some of our patients are adults who have never before had an orthodontic treatment. Others had braces in their youth but now desire a “touch up” for shifted teeth and an even straighter smile.
Every patient is different, and the best way to know whether you’re a candidate for SureSmile® Clear Aligners is to make an appointment with us. We’ll physically examine your teeth and gums, take a scan, and assess your dental alignment to see whether this system can give you the results you desire. The process is painless, and we’re happy to answer any questions you have along the way.
If you dream of straighter teeth, contact us to schedule your consultation. We take a patient-centered, preventative approach, and we’ll work alongside you to find the most comfortable, effective orthodontic treatment for your unique smile.