Two Kinds Of Clear Dental Braces And How They Work
Posted on: 27 March 2017
There are two kinds of clear dental braces. Usually people who do not want others to notice that they have a mouthful of orthodontia will insist on a clear brace choice. They both work equally well, although one type may be better suited to older teens and adults. Here are the two types of clear dental braces and how they work.
Clear Hard Plastic Braces
Traditional braces involve the use of brackets on each tooth and wires that are looped through the brackets. Clear, hard plastic braces are the same thing, except instead of metal brackets on each tooth, you have a clear plastic bracket. This makes your braces nearly invisible, with the exception of the fine wire used to connect the brackets and make adjustments. Some people use different-colored orthodontic rubber bands around the brackets, but if you are trying to make your braces as invisible as possible, there are clear orthodontic rubber bands now too.
Removable Clear Braces
Removable clear braces are snap-in, custom tray-style braces. Your orthodontist takes a mold of your teeth as they are now, and then makes a set of braces to fit your teeth. They pop in and out so that you can easily clean your teeth, but absolutely no one can tell that you are even wearing these braces. Your teeth tend to be a lot shinier because of the hard, clear resin from which these braces are made, but other than that, they are not noticeable in the least.
How Each Type of Braces Work
Traditional bracket and wire braces with the clear plastic brackets work the same way as braces with metal brackets. Your orthodontist fine-tunes the adjustments of your teeth with each visit, tightening or loosening the wires in your mouth. As these adjustments are made and your teeth slowly shift into the positions that your orthodontist expects, your treatment nears completion. Eventually the brackets and wires are removed, your teeth are polished to remove the bonding agent for the brackets, and you are given a retainer to hold your teeth in place.
Removable braces slowly force the teeth to conform to their custom shape. Every couple of weeks, your orthodontist crafts a new set of braces to force the teeth to move a little bit more. After several months of this, your teeth are finally in the correct positions. You may need to use a final set of removable braces to keep your teeth in their current position until your orthodontist says you can stop. Because you remove these braces regularly to eat and to brush and floss, you never have to worry about removing any bonding agents or polishing the teeth before you get your retainer.
To learn more, contact a clinic like Orthodontic Associates.
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