Dental Brace Guide

Have you seen a photo of a relative who had braces a long time ago? If yes, then you may have seen a picture of a person with a mouth full of metal.

Dental Braces today still have metal, but they are less noticeable. You can even get some clear braces or the one that has the same color as your teeth. Not only that, there are also some braces that can go behind your teeth where no one can see them!

The wires today are much smaller and better. It is now made of a space-age material that can straighten our teeth easier and faster. We also have assorted colors of elastics to choose from!

Gone are the days when braces are the butt of jokes – well who wouldn’t laugh then, when having braces meant looking like some weird science experiment? And while braces have gotten more convenient and less weird-looking through the years, another revolutionary breakthrough has arrived – invisible braces.

Well, of course, not in the sense that they’re completely invisible, it’s just that they sport a clear, transparent look, and people will probably not immediately notice that you have braces on.

This new dental technology is courtesy of Invisalign, which is a custom made aligner that is tailor made to fit your teeth only it’s also more comfortable and less invasive than the customary braces. They’re also more comfortable, owing to the computer scanning technology that makes sure that your invisible braces are just the right size for your teeth without compromising the alignment process.

As the market for clear braces boomed, in-fighting between manufacturers follows as they try to maintain their monopoly of the market. Invisible braces, namely Invisalign and ClearCorrect, are fighting over the market in terms of patent infringements and other proprietary technological implementation. The technology relies on heat sensitive plastic that is designed to slowly coax misaligned teeth back in place with ever so smaller adjustments as each dental visit. A far cry from the metal-mouth look of yesteryear when you looked more like an alien from another world that was not only ugly but uncomfortable.
Both manufacturers produce invisible braces which have allowed adults and teens alike to gain better teeth alignment without the use of traditional metal braces. Metal braces of past included extractions and painful realignment with the use of wires that pulled the teeth together using heat sensitive wires pulling them into alignment.

That is a question that many ask to those who have them for they can go either way, on one side for beauty on the other for more serious health reasons such as poorly aligned teeth that may have resulted from disease or poor care early in life. Dental braces used to be associated more with teens in years gone by but today, statistics show that more than 30% of all users are adults. They are a form of dental care that makes teeth better looking and perform better eliminating gaps in the bite and many other problems that may result from lack of care.
Dental braces began their life in the early 1900’s and it has evolved in time into smaller and smaller appliances that can be removable for minor treatment to more permanent ones attached to the teeth or gums for more serious corrections. The area of orthodontics is more associated with cosmetic surgery but as said, it can have some health related benefits. Poor alignment can result in pain and dietary deficiencies that with proper treatment are easily corrected. As with any treatment, there are several alternatives and treatment varies from one patient to the other so proper analysis and consultation is in order for the best possible treatment possible.