Invisalign – The Patient Friendly Tooth Brace For Ipswich Residents

Using modern orthodontic methods, you can avoid the ‘train track’ smile of old

Anyone who watches American comedies on TV or streaming, will probably be aware that they often humorously reference the British crooked teeth. While this is obviously done for comedic effect and is greatly exaggerated in many cases, it does raise an interesting point. In the US, there is a wider acceptance that wearing braces is necessary to have an attractive smile afterwards.

Whilst people in the UK would naturally also want this, they often decline the option of having orthodontic treatment to achieve it.

Our more senior Ipswich patients will probably be scarred by memories of the bullying at school of some of the children who wore braces, and even where no bullying was present, you could hardly miss the old fashioned braces which were made of a dark metal material and were clearly visible. As a child, we may have had less of a say whether we would wear them or not, but when we come to need our teeth straightened in our adult life, these memories often play a part in the decision not to wear dental braces to attain straighter teeth.

An easier choice

With the wide availability of modern dental braces, patients need no longer be concerned about their appearance while wearing their orthodontics. Not only do these new teeth straightening methods still achieve the desired end result of a straight and even smile, but offer a lot of benefits to those who wear them as well.

There are two types of orthodontic systems that we will discuss here. The use of these will depend upon discussions with your dentist and your own situation. Essentially though, ‘cosmetic braces’ are often used for minor correction whereas the ‘tray’ system, in many cases ‘Invisalign’, are used where treatment is needed over a longer period for more significant correction of misaligned and crooked teeth.

Before we move on to Invisalign and similar orthodontics that we have available at the Foxhall Dental Practice, let us take a look at the ‘cosmetic braces’ that are used for more minor corrections.

‘Social six’ teeth straightening

The social six teeth are those that are most visible when you smile. This treatment is usually undergone when someone wants to improve the appearance of these teeth. While a tooth whitening treatment can brighten up your smile; if one tooth overlaps another a little, for example, this will only be made more obvious with a whiter smile.

In order to correct minor issues like this, we offer braces such as the Quick Straight Teeth system. This continues to use the ‘wire and bracket’ approach of traditional methods but does so using finer and tooth coloured materials for both the wiring and the brackets. Although these may still be visible close up, they are less so from a distance and, as they blend in with your natural teeth, they are generally more discreet.

The other factor of this system is that these braces are usually worn for a relatively short period of time, which could be as little as a few weeks depending on the degree of correction that needs to be carried out.

Invisalign

Invisalign is a revolutionary system which completely does away with the need for wiring and brackets to straighten your teeth. Instead, a series of transparent ‘trays’ that are made from a medical grade plastic are used. These are produced from the scans and x-rays that we take at our dental clinic in Ipswich and these are used to produce your custom trays for the maximum benefit and comfort.

Not only should these trays provide a good degree of comfort once you have become accustomed to them, but they offer other benefits too. One of the most important of these for many patients is their almost ‘invisibility’. When you are wearing the trays, most people won’t even know you are doing so. They are very discreet although you may wish to remove them (more about that in a minute) for situations like a job interview, date or even a photoshoot.  If you do this though, it is essential that you return them to your mouth as quickly as possible. You should not abuse this either as the longer and more often they are removed, the longer your treatment time will become.

As you have probably guessed from the above, the other significant benefit of Invisalign is that they are removable by the patient. This is designed to be done when you are eating and for cleaning your teeth. Although you will need to return them to your mouth once you have finished eating, this option avoids any embarrassment of food becoming trapped, or your inability to eat certain foods that you might really enjoy. The fact that they can be removed for brushing and flossing your teeth not only makes this process easier than with wired braces, but means that you can maintain healthy teeth and gums throughout the straightening process.

You will also need to keep the trays clean but this is a straightforward process and we will explain this to you during our consultation with you.

If you have been deterred from having your teeth straightened by the thought of wearing ‘clunky’ and highly visible braces, worry no more. Come and talk to us about our range of modern and discreet orthodontics. You can arrange to have an initial free consultation with us by calling the Foxhall Dental Practice today on 01473 258396.