Benefits of Clear Aligners like Invisalign Over Traditional Braces

Benefits of Clear Aligners like Invisalign Over Traditional Braces
Posted on 03/17/2021

The field of orthodontics has progressed dramatically from traditional braces, with their classic appearance, occasional discomfort and potential inconveniences, to include a plethora of modern, comfortable and convenient options for a healthy and beautiful smile, like clear aligners. Many people are turning to modern thermoplastic clear aligners like Invisalign, as they straighten teeth in far less intrusive ways than braces.

Here’s How:

Clear aligners like Invisalign, among others, are virtually invisible, and consumer demand is driving manufacturers to compete to produce the product with the best clarity and efficacy. In many cases, the clear aligners aren’t even noticeable to the average person, which is where the aligner brand Invisalign gets its name. The aesthetic benefits alone are more than enough for the overwhelming majority of patients to seek clear aligner treatment over braces, irrespective of the clinical applications. The selling points are quite obvious, as most of us value the ability to attend social functions and events and take memorable photos without worrying about our appearance.

Removable Convenience for Easier Oral Hygiene

Aligners can easily be popped out of your mouth, allowing you the ability to brush the exposed surfaces of your teeth without having a bracket in the way to maneuver around, and floss between, without a wire in the way forcing you to thread the floss over or under. With easier oral hygiene comes lessened risk of decalcifications, staining, cavities, gum disease and inflammation and at worst, tooth loss due to poor oral hygiene in braces.

Which brings up the point of hesitation of some patients and parents to trust themselves and their children with compliance in wearing their aligners. If a patient can’t be trusted with wearing the aligners consistently, they probably won’t maintain the challenging oral hygiene routine required for braces. Remember that with any orthodontic treatment, commitment is a must, and following your orthodontists’ recommendations is imperative for a successful result and a healthy smile.

Go ahead and enjoy the no-no’s of braces, such as apples, popcorn, sticky candies, crunchy crusts…and the freedom list goes on! With aligners, all you have to do is remove them in order to eat whatever you crave.

Simply put, aligners have no metal wires to poke, scrape or cut inside your mouth. Every aligner set, which is worn for about a week or two at the most, exerts a measured amount of force for a predetermined amount of movement gradually, and is designed for an efficient treatment by the certified orthodontist. This is a luxury and a biomechanical advancement not quite available with traditional braces, that may occasionally exert excessive forces causing pain, discomfort or undesired side effects, especially in the first week of activation. Obviously, with aligners you will feel pressure that might be a little uncomfortable since your teeth are moving gradually in the bone, however it’s not going to be as unpleasant as the case may occasionally be with braces. Ultimately, if you’re not feeling anything, nothing is going on.

There are some cases that are easier to treat efficiently and effectively with traditional braces, as in the case of some tooth impactions and some extraction cases, among others. In fact, some orthodontists start with braces to do the heavy lifting, and then get to the final ideal finish with aligners, since it’s easier to precisely plan the final position of the teeth with the digital advancements offered by aligners over traditional braces. Either way, the choice to use aligners, braces or a combination of both, will be a compromise between your lifestyle and the treatment plan developed by your orthodontist.

Clear aligner treatment is planned from the beginning in tedious detail to optimize every tooth’s movement with each aligner set until the final ideal result, requiring fewer and shorter appointments than braces. This means you’ll experience less disruptions to your work, school, and activities schedules.

For folks who have a habit of grinding their teeth, have jaw joint problems, or are involved in rough sports (like martial arts and wrestling) or professions (like law enforcement and military service), aligners will take the hit to protect the teeth from damage due to trauma or natural wear and tear, and in some cases, they can even help comfort jaw joints.

Less Inconvenient Emergencies

With traditional braces there is always the dreaded potential of breakages of brackets and poking wires at the worst and most inconvenient times, like during the weekend, holidays or vacations. For instance, during the quarantine of the COVID-19 pandemic, the risk to patients and staff, even with the proper PPE, was not easily justifiable to just clip a wire.

With clear aligners, the worst-case scenarios are just lost or broken aligners that simply can be ordered online and shipped directly to the patient. If an attachment was lost, it can simply be rebounded at the patient’s earliest convenience. If there was a general fitting issue, a re-scan can be taken to order better fitting aligners to get to the finish line.

To learn more, please call us at (607) 723-9576