Clear Braces: an Attractive Option for Adults

Many people, especially adults, find the idea of wearing traditional braces so unappealing that they would rather live their entire lives with poorly aligned teeth than spend a year or two with a mouth full of metal. This can prove to be problematic, since poorly aligned teeth can lead to more serious dental issues down the road.

Fortunately, modern dental technology now offers an appealing alternative to traditional braces. Clear braces provide you with an opportunity to correct your teeth’s alignment in a way that will hardly be noticeable to others. The most popular clear braces system available today is the Invisalign® system.

Difference Between Invisalign® and Traditional Braces

Traditional braces use brackets, wires, springs, and elastics to apply the force necessary to realign your teeth. Invisalign clear braces use a series of clear, removable molds to apply the force needed to shift your teeth into alignment. They are generally more comfortable than traditional braces since they are made out of a plastic mold and don’t poke, jab, or irritate your teeth.

Am I a Candidate?

Invisalign clear braces are generally ideal for adults with minor-to-moderate tooth misalignments. Teenagers whose adult teeth are not yet fully formed are not candidates for Invisalign.

Invisalign is not for people with:

· Severely rotated teeth

· Severely tipped teeth

· Deep overbites

· Skeletally based malocclusions

· Tooth spacing greater than 6mm per arch

· Insufficient discipline to wear their aligners all the time

Invisalign Process

If your dentist determines that you are a good candidate, he will first take photos, x-rays, impressions and a bite registration of your mouth. These are then digitally manipulated to construct a 3D model of your teeth, which will generate a computerized simulation of your treatment sequence.

Once your dentist approves this treatment sequence, a series of aligners are designed for the various treatment stages of your teeth. You will generally wear each aligner for about two weeks before moving on to the next one. It usually takes between 20-30 aligners to complete the process.

At first, your aligner will fit your teeth poorly. This poor fit will exert pressure on your teeth so that they gradually shift to the desired position. Each aligner will only produce a small shift in your teeth. However, the total effect of all of the aligners will create a substantial shift.

Your aligners should be worn for approximately 20-22 hours a day. You can remove them for eating, drinking, and brushing your teeth. You can also remove them for special occasions, but this is not advisable. The less you wear your aligners, the greater the chance for complications in the realignment process.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Clear Braces

There are many distinct advantages of the Invisalign clear braces system. Some of them are:

· Less noticeable to others

· Removable, which allows for better oral hygiene

· Less irritating to teeth

· Requires less frequent visits to your dentists for adjustments

There are also a few disadvantages to this process. It is not an ideal method of treatment for all misalignment problems. Some of the disadvantages include:

· Interferes with normal speech

· Requires discipline from the patient to wear aligners all the time

· Prohibits any new dental restorations during the process

· More expensive

Related Cosmetic Dentistry San Francisco Videos

Find More Cosmetic Dentistry San Francisco Articles

Loosing Teeth ? Exciting For Kids, Terrifying For Adults

Like almost everything in life, losing your teeth is fun, scary, exciting and simple when you’re a kid. Go to mommy, tell her your tooth is loose, she gets some string, pulls it out and the tooth fairy pays you in exchange for it! Then you grow up, loose a tooth and you have to pay up to get your smile back, bye bye simple exciting fun.

In this case, people usually get Dentures.

Dentures are prosthetic devices made to replace missing teeth that are supported by soft and hard tissue in your mouth. There are complete dentures which people use if they are missing all their upper or lower teeth. Then there are removable partial dentures or fixed partial dentures for people who are missing only a few teeth. People with dentures however are not too happy.

Lower Dentures can become loose fitting because your gum tissue shrinks. This causes mouth irritation, sores and pain. It can also make eating and talking feel different and not in a good way. Upper Dentures fit better because of the suction in the upper palate, but that reduces the taste of food, and like lower dentures gum tissue shrinkage can cause sores and pain. Partial dentures need to anchor to your teeth using a metal clasp which can damage your teeth. These dentures last a lifetime but with age the fit will change and new ones will be needed.

What’s the alternative? Now, at GlamSmile, you can get Dental Crowns. Dental crowns are basically caps for teeth. A porcelain or metal (or combination) cap is made and cemented into place covering the portion of the tooth that lies above the gum line unlike fillings that fill and cover a part of the tooth. Crowns become the new outer surface of the tooth.

A Dental crown is normally placed when a tooth needs protection from breaking because of decay or a crack; to restore a broken or worn down tooth; to cover and support a tooth with a large filling where not much ‘tooth’ is left; it can also support or hold a dental bridge; cover teeth that are misshaped or discoloured or; cover a dental implant.

There are different crowns you choose from, at GlamSmile, as permanent crowns can be made from all metal, porcelain-fused-to-metal, all resin, or all ceramic.

Metals: Mostly gold alloy, other alloys (for example, palladium) or a base-metal alloy (for example, nickel or chromium). This is a good pick for teeth that can’t be easily seen like molars because the metallic colour is not something you want in the front of your mouth. Aside from the colour drawback these crowns are better than others because less tooth structure needs to be removed; they withstand biting and chewing well and probably last the longest in terms of wear down.

Porcelain-fused-to-metal: Metal and porcelain combined so it has the strength of the metal but the colour matches your other teeth and not your jewellery. The wearing down however occurs faster than pure metal crowns and the porcelain part can chip or break off. They look like normal teeth except sometimes around the gum line (more so when the gum recedes) where the metal underlying the crown’s porcelain can show through as a dark line.

All-resin: These are cheaper crowns but they do wear down over time and are more prone to fractures.

All-ceramic or all-porcelain: These crowns provide the best natural colour match but are not as strong. They are good for people with metal allergies and are the preferred option for front teeth.

At GlamSmile you have a choice of getting temporary or permanent crowns, difference for the dentist is just where they are made, and difference for you is if you plan on changing them in the future or not.

What does this mean for you? Simply that the Movie Star smile you have always wanted is possible and all you need to do is take action.

Related Fixed Partial Dentures Videos

CLOSURE OF ANTRAL-ORAL FISTULA – Department of Defense 1961 – PIN 25905 – SURGICAL PRINCIPLES AND PROCEDURES – TECHNIQUE OF THE “BUCKLE-ENVELOPE TYPE OF FLAP” DEMONSTRATED.
Video Rating: 0 / 5

Champion Orthodontics, in Winter Garden, Florida, is owned and operated by Alexis Shrager, DMD. Services include Invisalign fittings, braces, dental retainers and total smile makeovers for children, teens and adults. Video games, Internet access and movies are available, as is a kiddie play area. Visit us www.yellowpages.com

Nearly three fourths of adults have some degree of periodontal disease. Aside from the traditionally discussed dental complications of gum recession, tooth root decay, tooth loss, bite collapse and bad breath, there are now well documented medical complications of periodontal disease, such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and peripheral vascular disease.