Straightening your teeth is a great way of improving the appearance of your smile and improving your dental health at the same time. Speak to us at Epping High Dental and find out how orthodontic treatment can have great benefits for you. Here at Epping High Dental our dentist Lalor is able to offer you Invisalign clear aligners which are an excellent and highly popular alternative to traditional braces for teeth straightening.
Clear aligners are made of medical grade thermoplastic and designed to fit tightly over your teeth and apply enough pressure to push your teeth into a neater formation. Clear aligners such as Invisalign work in a sequence. Different patients require different numbers of aligners. Each aligner moves your teeth by approximately 0.25 mm until your teeth are neatly aligned. Our dentist Lalor will put together an individually tailored treatment plan for you.
Our dentist Lalor will begin by examining your mouth and making sure that there are no underlying conditions which need to be treated. If so this will be done beforehand. Cavities, tooth decay and gum disease are common and if there are any signs of these this needs to be addressed before we can straighten your teeth to prevent any complications. If we are happy that your teeth are healthy and strong, we will advise that you can visit our hygienist and have a professional clean. Your mouth will be free of plaque and tartar and ready for orthodontic treatment.
How does Invisalign work?
To put together your sequence of aligners our dentist will carry out an intraoral scan of your mouth. This creates a digital image which we can manipulate and show you how your teeth will look after teeth straightening. The scan results are used to allow us to measure the position of your teeth and calculate how much they have to move to create a neater formation. We will use these calculations to design a sequence of aligners for you. The aligners may take 2 or 3 weeks to arrive at our practice at which time we will invite you to have them fitted. Small attachments will be placed onto the front surface of your teeth which are almost invisible. These attachments allow better grip for the aligners and also allow better movement of your teeth.
You may feel a slight discomfort or tightness in the mouth when you first wear the aligners, however this can be treated with paracetamol. Most patients report that they become accustomed to the aligners within approximately 12 hours so by the next morning they should feel normal in your mouth. The aligners need to be taken out when you eat or drink anything other than water and so that you can brush your teeth properly. The aligners are easy to clean as well, they simply need to be soaked in the cleaning solution or brushed with an ordinary toothbrush and rinsed with cold water before putting back in your mouth. Within 6 to 18 months you should have a beautiful new smile. Your smile will be more attractive to look at and it will also be easier to maintain, which means you will have cleaner, healthier teeth.
All treatment carries risks. Individual consultation is required with one of our practitioners to ensure that the treatment is right for you.
