A lot of people in the United States are spending a lot of time and money seeing their local professional orthodontist quite a few times, and there’s a good reason for this (well, let’s review that; I think it’s a good reason, depending on your opinion, it may be a bad reason, or a waste of time, but hey, that’s on you). It’s because no one is as well equipped as your local orthodontist to help you make sure that your teeth are as straight as they can possibly be.
You see, your local professional orthodontist has one task and one task alone to help you with; making sure that your teeth are perfectly straight, and that your smile is perfectly presentable and something that you can be happy with.
Now, there are a variety of ways that they’ll be able to do this, but, in general, they have three main methods they use, and those methods have been used for quite some time with a lot of success. Below, you’ll fin the three best reasons to visit your local orthodontist; the effective and interesting treatment options that they have available to them in order to make sure that your teeth are as straight as they can possibly be.
1. Orthodontic headgear
I don’t want to spend too much time discussing orthodontic headgear, because it isn’t something worth spending too much time on. Basically, it’s the oldest method still in use to realign teeth in the civilized world.
It’s a large piece that is worn on the head and that provides pull (or push) on the teeth, as well as aligning them left to right. It’s only used in a very few situations, mostly when someone has allowed their child to use a bottle or a pacifier for far too long (or to use the nipple for too long, as happens from time to time as well. if you need your teeth pulled away from the back of the mouth and the throat, or if you need them pushed towards the throat, orthodontic headgear is the way for you. If not, there are better ways to treat your teeth, ones that aren’t such an immense hassle.
2. Standard metal braces
The technology that basically replaced the use of orthodontic headgear came about a little bit under fifty years later, and was a huge step up in a lot of ways, especially when it came to comfort and discretion. That technology, of course, is the standard metal braces.
The reason that they took fifty years to come into use is simple enough. Basically, it’s a dental adhesive that held it back. You see, in order for braces to work, they need to be able to sit on the same part of the teeth while applying various forces in order to make sure that the teeth are realigning just right, and without a long-term dental adhesive, this is impossible. Back in twenties to the sixties, the only kind of dental adhesive in common use was used almost entirely for dentures, holding them in place for a few hours at a time, and then wearing off so they could be easily removed.
Braces consist of a series of metal brackets, placed on the teeth and held there with that adhesive I was just talking about. Once that was accomplished, you’d run a long metal wire over the top, through grooves in the brackets, and wrap or hook it around the braces as need in order to apply just the right kind of pressures so that you can realign your teeth just so. This is by no means the most modern way to realign teeth, however.
3. Invisalign discreet braces for adults and teens
Invisalign was first used in the mid to late nineties, right before the turn of the century, although it’s just now becoming more and more common for public use. It’s basically the best way, at least for the end-user, to fix their teeth and realign them into the perfect smile. It is, as the name suggests, invisible, consisting of completely see-through plastic aligners that, once placed on the teeth, are impossible to see save by luck. It’s also a lot more comfortable, what with each set of aligners being form-fitted to the customer’s teeth.
So, if you’re looking to find out what is going on with a slightly misaligned smile, or if your smile is even worse off, go and see your local orthodontist today and see what they can for you to make sure that you have a smile you’re proud to show off to the world. You won’t regret asking about Invisalign, believe me.