Nowadays orthodontic treatment can be carried out unnoticeably with clear aligners.
Traditionally orthodontic treatment has been made with fixed pieces, in other words, with metal brackets fixed to the surface of the teeth and with steel arches attached to the brackets. Now we can perform orthodontic treatment without braces.
With the new almost invisible methods, such as Invisalign and Clear Aligner, the tooth row will be corrected unnoticeably. In these treatments, the teeth are corrected efficiently and pleasantly with clear plastic aligners.
The number of visits to the dentist will be fewer than with fixed braces as the customers themselves will change the aligner to a new one after a week or two as the treatment progresses. The aligners can be easily removed, for example, for meal times and thus the teeth can be easily cleaned.
Dentist Seppo Lindroos, the head of our clinic is the only Finnish dentist who has been certified in esthetic dentistry by the ESCD. You can book a free consultation visit with him directly from our online appointment service by clicking here.
How long does the orthodontic treatment of an adult take?
The timetable for orthodontic treatment is significantly dependent on the starting situation. It is possible to correct small postural errors in the frontal area in a few months.
Extensive treatments concerning the customer’s entire occlusion will take a significantly longer time. The transition of the teeth is determined by the formation pace of the bone surrounding the tooth. Teeth cannot be moved faster than bone cells allow.
It is important that you receive a treatment plan, an estimate of the treatment timetable and the costs of treatment after a careful examination and definition of the treatment.
Will the teeth remain in their new positions?
When the orthodontic treatment has been concluded and the occlusion is correct, the retention phase begins. Teeth have a natural tendency to return to their former positions.
According to newest studies, it will take the fibres attaching the teeth to the jaw bone two and up to seven years to ossify in their new positions. It is impossible to estimate this time in advance and therefore the retention phase is extremely important.
Returning to former positions is prevented by a support wire attached to the side of the tongue or a removable plastic plate. After aligner treatment, an alternative is to use an aligner during the night. The wire is permanent, but the use of the aligner is gradually decreased from nightly use to a couple of nights in a month.
Some patients prefer to wear the aligner each night to ensure they do not forget to use it. In this case, the aligner slightly reminds the use of a night guard by decreasing grinding of the teeth and wear.
Will orthodontic treatment hurt?
In orthodontic treatments a force is applied to the teeth to move them. In treatments with the new removable appliances such as Inman Aligner, Clear Aligner and Invisalign this force is gentle and even.
The patient’s teeth will not become sore, although slight tenderness may sometimes occur during the day following the introduction of a new aligner. In most cases, there will be no pain.
The patient’s mouth must be healthy before orthodontic treatment. The prerequisites for treatment are that the patient’s teeth have no cavities, infections or tartar and that the gums are not infected. If these prerequisites are fulfilled, any patient’s teeth can be straightened.
The teeth of elderly patients can also be straightened, but the dentist must take into account that the connective tissues may not be as supportive as those of younger patients.
Combined orthodontic treatment and laminates
It is also possible to straighten a patient’s teeth quickly with almost invisible clear aligners before more extensive esthetic dentistry like a complete makeover with ceramic laminates.
If the patient’s teeth are worn or discolored and also in an incorrect position, this method is an excellent way to achieve the best possible end result in terms of esthetics.
In addition, in such demanding cases dental tissue is saved in comparison to making laminates without orthodontic treatment which would mean extensive polishing of the teeth.