A crooked smile can make you feel self-conscious and deliver a blow to your confidence. But dental alignment issues can also negatively impact your oral health. With help from your dentist through clear aligners treatment, you can achieve the straight smile of your dreams.
These translucent plastic trays are custom-made to fit your unique smile. You swap out these aligners every couple of weeks to gradually push your teeth into the desired straight position.
The aligners can address many cosmetic dental problems this way. The length of the treatment may vary depending on your compliance with the treatment and the severity of your dental problems.
However, clear aligners cannot address every type of dental alignment concern. You should schedule a cosmetic dental consultation to determine if this treatment will suit your specific needs. Discover what clear aligners from your dentist can fix and what they cannot when you read on.
Straighten Your Smile with Clear Aligners
Clear aligners are a solution dentists will employ to help patients make their smiles straighter, improving appearance, function, and health. A few of the dental alignment issues that this treatment can address include:
- Crooked teeth: A slight crookedness in the position of the teeth can be highly disruptive to your smile in multiple ways. Clear aligners can make the teeth even and straight according to your smile aesthetic goals.
- Small gaps between teeth: Gaps in your smile can take away from the desired full look of your teeth. Clear aligners can close small gaps, including black triangles.
- Minor dental crowding: If teeth seem crowded and overlap one another in your smile, clear aligners can help the teeth spread out and look straight in some cases.
- Bite problems: You should be able to apply even pressure across your teeth when you close your mouth and bite. An overbite, underbite, crossbite, or open bite can all interfere with this oral function. Clear aligners can address these bite problems so that you do not develop further issues with your teeth or jaw.
When to Seek Alternative Teeth-Straightening Treatment
Clear aligners can amend many bite and dental alignment problems, but some issues may prove too severe for this treatment to fix. For instance, if your teeth are too small or twisted, the aligners cannot move the teeth successfully.
Large gaps between teeth and severe overcrowding of the teeth might need additional dental intervention. The dentist may need to pull a tooth to make room in a small jaw.
If you have existing dental work in your mouth, such as implants to replace missing teeth, then the fixtures might not shift like your natural teeth will during this treatment. Consult with your dentist about straightening your smile before you pursue other restorative dental treatments.
In the case of severe malocclusions, your dentist might refer you to an orthodontist to accomplish your smile goals. Book a consultation with your dentist today to start your teeth-straightening journey.