Are Clear Aligners Right for Your Teeth?

The vast majority of people suffer from crooked, misaligned, or crowded teeth. As a quirk of evolution paired with our modern diets, teeth often don’t have enough room to sit comfortably in our jaws. While braces are a common solution for children, they’re less appealing in adulthood. They’re impossible to hide, unprofessional, and must be worn for years to see meaningful results. That’s where clear aligners or clear braces come in. They’re an excellent option for adults who want a straight, beautiful smile without the hassle of braces. But what are the clear aligners’ pros and cons, and are they right for you?

How Effective are Clear Braces?

The first thing to consider about clear aligners’ pros and cons is their effectiveness. Unlike braces, clear aligners may not be the right choice for all patients and require more responsibility to achieve the best results. To understand clear aligners’ effectiveness, it helps to know how they work. 

Clear aligners are trays you wear to slowly change your teeth’s position. After taking a mold of your teeth, your technician will create a clear cast to slide over your teeth which will subtly adjust their placement. Because clear aligners fit over your teeth, you must remove them during mealtimes. When used correctly, clear aligners’ pros and cons are clear: they can be highly effective in moving wayward teeth back into place. For extremely crooked or misaligned teeth, however, they might not be the best or fastest way to achieve a straighter smile.

Clear Aligners Pros and Cons

Clear aligners’ pros and cons are relatively straightforward. The pros are that they can be an easy, elegant way to straighten crooked teeth as an adult without dealing with braces. Because clear aligners can be removed, they allow you to show your natural smile in certain situations. Overall they’re flexible, look great, and can help you get a beautifully straight smile.

There are a few things to consider when it comes to the cons. Firstly, clear aligners for kids aren’t always a good option. They work best for people who already have all of their adult teeth, as it’s hard to know how tooth placement can change as new teeth grow in. Also, the effectiveness of clear aligners depends on how diligently the patient uses them. Most aligners need a certain number of hours per day to properly straighten teeth–for some people, that can mean wearing them all the time except for eating. If you take the aligners out too frequently or forget to wear them as often as you should, you may find that your treatment is less effective. Lastly, while wearing clear aligners, jaw pain is a definite possibility. Once your jaw adjusts to the treatment, the pain will usually go away, but getting used to it in the early stages can be uncomfortable. 

If you’re curious about the clear aligners’ cost and whether they’re the right choice for you, the best option is to talk to your dentist. This office provides SureSmile Clear Aligners which has been shown to be very effective for our patients. The team at Pinnacle Dental Associates would love to discuss clear aligners’ pros and cons. Give us a call any time at [practicePhoneNumber]!