Modern society has doubled down on aligners with new companies offering the service almost daily. There are many benefits to consider when it comes to these smile changing devices. They offer a clear solution that is non-invasive and minimally painful for the teeth straightening process.
Many orthodontists are beginning to offer the service of prescribing and managing aligners to help alter smiles on many different faces. That doesn’t mean that every smile can experience the same impressive benefits aligners offer. Some people still need traditional braces to get the smiles they really desire.
How Long Have Braces Been Around?
In their crudest forms, the first braces can be dated back to ancient Egypt. While they’ve been around for millennia at this point, little has been changed from earlier renditions over time. It’s like the mousetrap. It’s difficult to improve upon perfection, once discovered.
While there have been changes made as far as different methods used to get braces to work in specific ways (correcting over or underbites with headgear, and other changes along the way), the way braces work in general, changed very little until the early 20thcentury when Edward Angle invented a variety of tools that have since become mainstays in modern orthodontia, including the metal arch wire and the metal brackets so widely used in braces today. These inventions advanced the practice of straightening teeth and have been essential tools for crafting straight smiles for more than a century at this point.
How Orthodontia is Changing
The new century is bringing new changes to the field or orthodontia. Along with those changes is new hope that people can enjoy less obtrusive methods of straightening teeth that may be difficult for the casual observer to even notice. That would be the tooth aligner. These teeth straightening wonders are outstanding options for some dental patients, they are not the best choice for everyone.
Braces are applied to the tooth and cannot be removed by the patient. This is not the case with aligners. That means that people who aren’t diligent in following instructions and complying with wearing their aligners the required hours daily will require longer treatment or experience ineffective treatment altogether.
There are also some conditions aligners cannot correct. This includes things like severe over or underbites and other advanced problems. Work with your dentist to learn more about braces, aligners, and other options and to determine which is the better choice for you.
