Lots of people ask us if clear aligners, that’s what they call Invisalign, really works just as well as regular old braces. Truth is, it can be a bit tough at first to wrap your head around the idea that your teeth can be straightened up without any metal on them. But Invisalign is a tried and tested treatment that has already helped millions of people get a straighter smile. We’ve seen it work its magic on our patients here at Dentistry on the Pines too. Cosmetic dentistry improves the appearance of your smile through treatments designed to enhance tooth color, shape, alignment, and overall aesthetics.

The way Invisalign works is by using a series of see-through plastic appliances that’s custom-made to fit your teeth. Each one is slightly different and that’s what makes the magic happen. They keep applying gentle but steady pressure on your teeth as you wear them. The bone around your roots starts to change shape in response to this pressure, breaking down on one side and growing back on another. It’s similar to how regular old metal braces work but without the metal, of course. Before we even get started we need to get super-accurate 3D images of your teeth, which then lets us make a blueprint for the whole straightening process from start to finish. The software then lets us work out exactly where your teeth are now and exactly where you want them to end up. Then each new set of aligners gets made up to show just a small step in our plan. People usually change their aligners every one to two weeks but your dentist will tell you when it’s time. Dental fillings are used to repair cavities and restore damaged teeth by sealing the affected area and protecting the tooth from further decay.

Using teeny little bumps that match the color of your teeth, we can make Invisalign work even better. These are like little stickers that we glue to some of your teeth so the aligner can grab hold of them. This gives us more options when we need to do more complicated moves like turning a tooth or making it move forward or back. Some people might need these but not everyone has to.

To be honest though, for Invisalign to really work you do need to wear them for at least 20 hours a day. If you don’t stick to this, progress slows right down because the pressure on your teeth just isn’t steady enough for the bone to do its thing. We need all our patients to be willing to commit to wearing them as directed. Lots of our patients in Vaughan love that they can just pop them out at meal times or when they’re brushing and flossing. We also check in with them pretty regularly to make sure things are moving as planned. When we first start using a retainer after treatment is over, most people are relieved to get their teeth straightened without having to deal with the metal and wires forever. It’s kinda like the teeth want to go back to where they used to be and the retainer just stops them from doing that while the bone gets a chance to settle in its new position.

If you’re from Vaughan and want to know if Invisalign is for you, we can have a chat about how it might work in your case.