Clear Aligners Vs Braces: Straightening Your Teeth

If you’re looking to straighten your teeth, you’re probably already aware of today’s more popular options beyond the standard metal train-track brace. The last 15 years has seen clear aligners grow hugely in popularity, led by Invisalign – the original clear aligner brand, which we’re proud to offer our patients here in Solihull.

Clear aligner treatment in Solihull typically starts from around £3,000, with flexible payment plans available. Here at Smile More Solihull, we combine that with over 20 years of experience and a relaxed, family-friendly practice – so let’s look at how clear aligners measure up against metal braces.

Clear Aligners: Pros

Transparency

First and foremost, the most obvious benefit between metal braces and clear aligners is the aesthetic value offered by brands like Invisalign – because they’re totally transparent! This means that they are the more discreet option, and it’s quite often that you won’t even notice that someone is wearing them.

The top benefit of clear aligners being transparent, especially for teens and young adults, is that throughout the many times to let your smile shine, such as potential photo opportunities, celebrations, dating or interviews – your smile won’t be hidden by the tracks, bands or springs that come with metal braces.

Less Discomfort

Unlike metal braces, you won’t have as much discomfort from the surface of the clear aligner on the inside of your lips or tongue, and you won’t get any mouth ulcers. That said, you have to expect that any form of teeth straightening is likely to cause some sensitivity due to the new pressure on nerves as the brace slowly shifts the teeth. This gets easier to handle as time goes on – until you move along to the next aligner in the process.

Discomfort from metal braces is much more common in this sense, as our tongues can be very sensitive to the metal and rough edges, and those tiny wounds take a while to heal when you keep catching them day by day while eating. Clear aligners are much friendlier on the tongue, gums and the inside of your lips and cheeks, because they’re smooth plastic and almost the exact shape of your teeth.

Clear Aligners Can Be Removed

While removing them frequently can increase the length of the process, you’re still encouraged to take them out for a few hours per day while eating, drinking, brushing, flossing and cleaning the aligner. You’re expected to wear them for the remaining 20–22 hours of the day in order to maintain the treatment plan and avoid dragging it out longer than expected.

Less Consultations Required

Clear aligners such as Invisalign require just a couple of primary consultations, and this is where most of the orthodontic process takes place. 3D scans are used and sent to the lab to define the retainers required to make the transition and straighten your teeth – you just receive your most recent set of aligners in the post. The metal brace equivalent involves visiting the practice numerous times a year to have them tightened by the practitioner manually.

Clear Aligners: Cons

While the downsides of aligners are only limited, most patients feel the pros far outweigh the cons – as you’ll see, they’re more down to individual preferences and requirements.

Patients With Aligners Must Be Disciplined

As mentioned before, you need to wear them for at least 20 hours per day to ensure you stay on track, and this means remembering to wear them when you sleep and when you leave the house.

Having To Remove The Aligners

While this is somewhat a positive feature, some of us wouldn’t feel comfortable taking them out at a dinner table or walking down the street – though it’s not hard to find a place to discreetly remove them without anyone seeing.

Qualifying For Aligners

While clear aligners are great for straightening teeth, sometimes the extent of the treatment required is only possible using metal braces, along with all the techniques your orthodontist would use to move your teeth to the desired position. This means that, unfortunately, they aren’t suitable for every patient.

The Time It Takes To Straighten

Metal braces offer a much faster transition compared to aligners because of the methods used, and are a less gradual process – but there is more discomfort to endure throughout.

Are Clear Aligners Right For You?

There are a few factors to take into consideration when deciding on the best option, and we hope we’ve provided enough information for you to understand the main benefits of clear aligners over traditional metal braces.

In summary: other than the pricing involved, the main things to consider are the level of discomfort you’re willing to tolerate and the amount of time you wish to spend on treatment. Beyond that, it comes down to whether you qualify for clear aligners or whether traditional braces are the only option available to you.

Smile More Solihull can be found on Warwick Road, and we’d be delighted to hear from you about any treatment you need – get in touch and we’ll advise you in more detail during a consultation.