A Modern Alternative To Traditional Dental Braces
Written by Anthony Brooklyn McShane on July 17th, 2009 in Self Development.
Dental braces are not something anyone particularly wants to have but lots of children have them, usually between the ages of 10 and 16. They are available to adults as well but aren’t very popular among adults because they are very much seen as something that young people have. They are usually associated with the unpopular kid at school and so aren’t a particularly desirable accessory.
There is an alternative option to having a mouth full of metal if you want straight teeth, and its called Invisalign. In this article I will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the Invisalign dental aligners. Essentially, the Invisalign aligners are a transparent plastic mould of your teeth that have been carefully designed to push your teeth into the desired position.
Obviously the first advantage of Invisalign is the look. They are clear moulds that sit over your teeth and are very difficult to see and so you can have your teeth straightened naturally using the Invisalign aligners and the chances are nobody would ever know.
Another advantage is that the Invisalign plastic moulds can be taken out at any time unlike a brace, therefore activities like eating and brushing your teeth are not hindered.
So given all of “Invisalign”s benefits when compared to braces, i.e. their transparency, their ease of replacability, as well as many claims that Invisalign aligners are more comfortable to wear than braces, it is clear to see why they are becoming popular among adults because they do not carry the same embarrassment factor as the traditional metal braces.
Strange though it may sound, the disadvantages include one of the advantages. The fact that the person can remove the aligners at their leisure means that their overall result largely depends on the individuals level of dedication. The aligners could easily be misplaced or the person could forget to put them straight back in after eating and so there is no guarantee for results.
Another reason that Invisalign may not be the answer to your dental prayers is that it is fairly pricey and for most people, if they’re serious about straightening their teeth, then the traditional braces might be the best option, at least until the prices drop a bit.
The aligners themselves are not made of simple plastic, it is made of an implantable grade polyurethane and although very rare, this material has been known to induce allergic and toxic reactions such as sore throat and swelling which in some extremely rare cases has passed down to the wind passages. This, as I mentioned, is a very rare occurrence and usually the results of the Invisalign aligners are very straight, nearly perfect teeth, as long as you use them exactly as instructed and don’t mind paying out for them.
