Dentistry: It's More Than Drilling and Filling

Braces are the only way to straighten your teeth, but they do come with some disadvantages. If you've never had braces before and don't know what to expect, then you might be in for an unpleasant surprise with traditional braces. They can have a significant impact on your oral health. Here are some of the difficulties you can expect from traditional braces and the solution that will resolve all these problems.

Wires

One of the biggest problems with traditional braces is the wires that are threaded between each bracket. These wires, while necessary, get in the way of regular dental hygiene. Flossing becomes far more difficult as you have to slide the floss under the wires to floss the upper half of your teeth, while the lower half needs to have the floss on the other side of the wire. So it effectively doubles the amount of time and effort that goes into your daily flossing.

In addition, the wires can get in the way of toothbrush bristles, making it more difficult for them to reach the areas that they need to and to be effective at doing it.

Brackets

If that weren't enough, the brackets attached to the front of your teeth also pose a problem. These brackets are notorious for picking up food and thus developing more plaque than other areas of the teeth. This can potentially trigger cavities while you still have your braces on, which is a huge nuisance because the braces have to be removed before the cavity can be treated.

Even if you don't get cavities, the plaque that develops around the edges of the bracket can cause permanent staining to the teeth that may need to be reversed with the help of a cosmetic dentist after your braces treatment is finished.

The Alternative

Thankfully, these days you don't have to put up with these things if you don't want to. Braces come in different varieties, and invisible braces are one type that doesn't have any of these problems. To clean your teeth, all you need to do is pop the invisible braces off. That's all there is to it. With them off, your teeth will be as easy to keep clean as if you didn't have braces at all. And as the braces start to space out your teeth so that there's no overcrowding, you'll notice that flossing actually becomes easier, not harder like with traditional braces.

To learn more about invisible braces, contact an Invisalign dentist in your area.