At Preston Commons Dental Care, we treat people every day who want a perfect smile, with beautiful straight white teeth. While white teeth are fairly easy to achieve with a few whitening treatments, crooked teeth are far more difficult to fix.
Traditional braces can look unsightly and draw even more attention to your mouth than the teeth you are trying to correct. They can be uncomfortable and create self-confidence issues in the person wearing them.
Luckily, dental technology has moved on and clear aligners came onto the market, offering the opportunity to gradually straighten your teeth without the pain, embarrassment, or unsightliness of traditional metal braces.
Invisalign became the market leader in clear aligner technology, promising results in as little as six months for less severe cases of crooked teeth.
Generic Invisalign
Inevitably, once the success of Invisalign became established, different brands of clear aligners began to hit the market promising results but without the need for visiting a dentist and at a fraction of the price.
Like almost anything, there are good products and bad out there. You need to be careful about how you choose your aligners.
How They Work
Generic Invisalign, or clear aligners, straighten teeth by gradually moving the teeth into the desired position through wearing a clear set of aligners that have been customized for your teeth. Most people wear them at night and remove them to eat and drink. A new set of aligners are needed at regular intervals (often a few weeks) to accommodate the changing shape of the teeth. Treatment can take anywhere from six months to two years depending on the initial position of your teeth.
Dentist Led Treatment
Invisalign, and some of the more reputable brands of generic aligners, ensure that your treatment is guided by a dental professional who can assess your needs and tailor your treatment accordingly. You will usually receive a 3d scan of your teeth, which is then used to create a computer-generated representation of what your teeth will look like after treatment.
Clearly, there are great advantages to dentist-led treatment as they are better able to assess and predict potential movement of teeth as well as any issues that might occur.
At-Home Treatments
Many aligners are now coming onto the market that claims to work without needing to see a dentist. Usually, you enter your details online, answer a few questions and receive a kit to make an impression of your teeth, the company then produces your aligners and you pay a monthly fee for the duration of the treatment.
This is extremely tempting for people who don’t like dentists or are put off by the cost of traditional braces or branded Invisalign.
However, any dentist would always recommend against trying to straighten your own teeth at home without consulting a professional. You could potentially be doing even more damage to your teeth and cause bite issues and malocclusions.
Seek Professional Advice
At Preston Commons Dental Care, we have years of experience creating the perfect smile through traditional braces and as Invisalign for people all over Dallas, Texas. We can talk you through your treatment options and financial help that may be available to you through your insurance policy or our own schemes.
