By this point in your life, you’ve heard more Christmas carols than you can count, including the classic “We Three Kings.”
We three kings of Orient are
Bearing gifts we traverse afar
These “kings” are sometimes known as the wise men, and as the song explains, they came bearing gifts.
We can’t offer you gold, frankincense and myrrh, but we can offer you an orthodontic treatment that will straighten your teeth in a way that is comfortable, convenient, and clear — Invisalign.
With Invisalign plastic aligners from Beaumont Family Dentistry in Lexington, you could have straighter teeth in time for next Christmas. We can’t think of a better gift to give yourself.
Comfort
When you think of orthodontic treatment, comfortable probably isn’t one of the first words that comes to mind.
Traditional braces are effective, but most people understand that wearing them means putting up with some problems for a few years. When you think of the long-term benefits, you figure it’s worth some discomfort along the way.
What if you could get the same results without that discomfort? Many of our patients can, thanks to Invisalign.
Now, we want to be clear that Invisalign will not work for everyone, although it will work on a number of teeth alignment problems. People with crooked teeth, crowded teeth, gaps between their teeth, crossbites, overbites, underbites, and open bites can use Invisalign instead of braces.
The reason Invisalign is more comfortable than braces is how it works.
Braces use brackets, wires, and elastics (tiny rubber bands) to push and pull your teeth into a straight position. Contrast that with Invisalign, which uses clear, plastic aligners to push your teeth slowly into a new position so that you can have a perfectly straight smile.
Ask yourself, would you rather spend the next two years dealing with brackets and wires that may scratch or poke the inside of your mouth, or would you prefer to wear a smooth plastic mouthpiece for 12 months or less?
Convenience
Whether you get Invisalign, traditional braces, or another of our orthodontic treatments, it all starts the same way. First, we have to look at your teeth.
We will take X-rays and examine the health of your teeth and your jawbone. We will take pictures and make impressions. This information will be used to plan and design your orthodontic treatment.
With Invisalign, that means a series of clear plastic aligners that you replace every couple weeks. It’s really that simple.
With braces, you will need to make regular visits to our office for adjustment to tighten the wire that helps move your brackets. And you will feel it each time they get tightened.
With Invisalign, we’ll still want to check on your progress from time to time (including your routine cleanings). But your adjustments amount to taking out your old plastic aligner and putting in a new one every two weeks or so.
This is only one of the ways Invisalign is more convenient than braces, however.
Your braces aren’t coming off until you don’t need them any more. That means no matter how uncomfortable they get at times, you just have to live with it.
Invisalign aligners should be worn 22 hours a day for best results. That also means you can take them out for up to two hours each day.
And what can you do with those two hours? Let’s start with eating.
With Invisalign, when it’s time to eat, you just take out your aligner and dig in.
With braces, you have to be much more careful about what you can eat. This may mean giving up chips, pretzels, nuts, hard cookies, and chewing gum until your treatment is over.
Braces also make your oral hygiene routine more complicated. You should brush every time you eat when you have braces. You don’t want something to get stuck. You will also need to learn a new way to clean between your teeth since flossing isn’t a viable option. (Skipping cleaning between your teeth and gums isn’t an option, either.)
With Invisalign, you take out your plastic aligner, then brush and floss like normal. It’s that simple. You will need to clean your aligner, but that’s pretty easy, too.
Clarity
This is a benefit that you will see … and others won’t.
There is just no way to hide wearing braces. You have pieces of metal attached to your teeth, and you have a wire connecting them.
Ceramic and clear braces do blend in a little better with your teeth, but that doesn’t change the fact that you have a wire running between them.
Invisalign “clear braces” really are clear. When you have your aligner in, you may need a few days to get used to them, but most people won’t notice anything.
When we say the aligners are clear, we mean they aren’t visible. When you talk to people, when you smile, they won’t see anything but your teeth unless you take the aligner out in front of them.
Elite care
Invisalign is a great option for adults and teenagers, and parents may want to ask about the Invisalign Teen service.
We also want you to know that Dr. Takacs is an Invisalign Elite Preferred Provider. This means she is among the top 1 percent of Invisalign providers in the United States. That means that her patients have had a lot of success using the clear, plastic aligners.
If you would like to know more about Invisalign or any of our orthodontic options, call any Beaumont Family Dentistry office in Lexington or use our online form to make an appointment.