Having crooked teeth can be problematic. Not only can they spoil your appearance but also make it easier for food to get trapped between them, increasing the risk of tooth decay and gum disease. Unfortunately there is no ‘instant fix’ for crooked teeth and any correction has to be done slowly in order to avoid damaging the teeth, or the bone which surrounds them. This means using dental braces of course.
For many people, the idea of having to wear braces is enough for them to decide to leave their teeth crooked rather than having them straightened. This is understandable but many of our Croydon dental patients are probably thinking of braces as we traditionally know them i.e. made from a dark coloured metal that is often fixed in the mouth using wiring. Whilst effective, this is not very appealing and can lead to embarrassment.
Here at Smile Dental Practice Croydon, we have a solution for people who are looking for a more discreet way of having their teeth straightened.
If the idea of having wires and brackets in your mouth for a year or more isn’t for you, we can now offer an alternative that offers many benefits that traditional braces simply can’t. The most obvious of these is that they are not made from a dark coloured metal, but a transparent plastic which makes them much less visible. There are also no wires or brackets used at all in this method.
Instead, following scans and impressions that we will take of your teeth, a series of ‘trays’ that fit directly over the teeth will be produced. Each of these will move your teeth a little towards their end position. You will wear each one for a short time, to be advised by our dentist, which is then removed and replaced with the next in the series. This continues until your teeth are straight again.
The fact that they are much less visible than traditional metal braces isn’t the only benefit though. Regular braces are fixed in the mouth and the wiring can sometimes trap food and make it very difficult to clean the teeth effectively. With transparent aligners, this problem is eliminated. Before you eat, you simply remove the aligners from your mouth and replace them when you have finished eating, having cleaned as much food debris from your mouth as possible.
The same applies for cleaning your teeth. You simply take the aligners out yourself, clean your teeth and gums of course, then rinse the aligners clean and return them to your mouth. The aligners will also need a more comprehensive clean from time to time and we will advise how to do this.
In addition to the above benefits. Most patients find aligners to be comfortable to wear. This is due to the fact that they are made from very accurate digital scans that we take of your own teeth.
Generally speaking, the transparent aligners mentioned above are used where comprehensive straightening is needed, including teeth to the rear of the mouth. This can take a year or more in some cases. They are less commonly used where more minor corrections are needed. In most cases, these involve the ‘social six’ teeth i.e. those that are most visible at the front when we smile.
Because less comprehensive correction is needed, it is more likely that cosmetic braces will be used. We will, of course, thoroughly examine your teeth before making a decision.
Cosmetic dental braces work along the same lines as traditional dental braces, but instead of using dark metals to form the brace, more refined and tooth coloured materials are used. Not only can this be more beneficial from a comfort perspective, but they are less visible too.
The treatment time for these more minor adjustments varies but is usually a lot shorter than for more comprehensive work, with the teeth straightening process taking as little as a few weeks in some situations. Our Croydon tooth straightening dentist will be able to give you an estimated timeframe following your consultation.
Both of these methods are excellent ways of correcting a crooked smile, and will do so in a less visible way than the traditional metal braces that so many people are more familiar with. To complete the transformation once their teeth are straight, many of our patients follow this up with a teeth whitening procedure to get the very best from their new even smile.
If you would like to discuss your crooked teeth with us and find out more about invisible aligners and cosmetic dental braces, please contact us an arrange to have an initial consultation where we can explain this in more detail. To do this, please us today on 020 8649 7911. We look forward to helping you have a much improved smile and renewed confidence.
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