Should I Get Clear Aligners?
Wasn’t middle school the best? Didn’t you feel supremely confident and self assured? Just kidding. It was awkward! Part of many middle schooler’s gawkiness is the mouth full of metal braces. My orthodontist offered different colored bands to personalize your metal mouth. I always got white. But some of my friends chose green and yellow! Not my first choice for teeth colors! I guess they were Packer fans… In any case, getting braces off was a coming of age event for many! Confidence was boosted and physical attractiveness increased.
The problem is, once braces are off, teeth begin to shift. Often this process is slow and can take years before you notice any difference. Usually you’ll have some sort of retainer, whether permanent or removable to be worn at night, and ideally, this is worn for life to prevent teeth from relapsing to a crooked position. If you lost your retainer long ago, your dog ate it, or it just wont fit anymore, we can help! Read more below to learn about why your teeth shift, the consequences, and how we can help you with clear aligner orthodontics!
An example clear aligner tray
Why teeth shift
You may have heard third molars can cause crowding. Especially if wisdom teeth are impacted at an angle, meaning they’re horizontal in your bone instead of vertical, they can push the adjacent teeth forward. As the back teeth push forward, the front teeth have nowhere to go but overlap! Even when wisdom teeth are removed, teeth have a general tendency to migrate toward the center line. This is especially true in the lower jaw, where front tooth crowding is most common.
Chewing patterns and forces can also cause tooth movement. We each tend to subconsciously chew in a specific pattern and our teeth wear down or move accordingly. Some people chew like cows and really grind horizontally, some chew like rabbits up and down, and most somewhere in between. Everyone’s different. But did you know it’s recommended we chew an average of 32 times per bite of food? Multiplied by many bites of food per day, and as years go by its not surprising we see teeth move in response to millions of bites!
Breathing habits also can cause shifts in teeth. Recently there’s been much research on optimal breathing (nasal breathing is best!), but there’s also been some attention paid to breathing posture and facial esthetics. Basically, your resting posture of tongue and cheeks put mild pressure on your teeth and even jaw bones themselves. Over time, this mild pressure forms your jaw bone, and your tongue, lips and cheeks can gradually push your teeth around. You may have heard of “Mewing”, which is a practice named for a British dentist John Mew. Mew’s theory is that by utilizing correct tongue posture and breathing, the natural pressures from tongue and cheeks will push the teeth into alignment. Mewing is a concept within orthotropics, and has tremendous value! But this is most effective as you are still growing. Once you reach adulthood, mewing to shift your teeth or form your jawline is likely to take years before you see any result.
The problems with shifted teeth
Esthetics! If you don’t like the way your teeth look because they aren’t straight, we can help! We’ve had many patients tell us they didn’t ever fully smile because they felt self conscious about their teeth appearance. One of the most life changing experiences you can have is from self consciousness to a big beautiful smile. We’ve seen dramatic improvements in confidence, self esteem, and overall happiness. This is a quality of life issue! A huge part of health is our mentality and confidence. Our doctors have advanced training in clear aligner orthodontics and bite relationship alignment. If necessary we also work with great orthodontists for the most complex cases, and have many options for whitening or restorative dental treatments in addition to Invisalign treatment.
Shifted teeth can also cause tooth wear. Have you ever noticed your front teeth becoming flatter as you age? This is natural to a degree, but often occurs at a rapid pace due to a lack of space between top and bottom front teeth. If there is diminished space, chewing will cause accelerated wear of these teeth. Remember the cow chewers and bunny chewers? Which one are you? Bunnies generally don’t wear as quickly as cows. Clear aligner orthodontics can help create space to stop the wear, and if necessary allow for predictable restoration of natural tooth length and proportion.
Sometimes shifting can cause jaw joint issues. Have you noticed yourself needing to squeeze your jaw muscles to close your back teeth together? Or even that when resting, you have a different bite than when closing all the way together? The muscle action to close teeth together can strain your TMJ, or temporomandibular joint. Temporomandibular disorders, or TMDs, are complex issues with your TMJ, and often aren’t solely the result of misaligned teeth. But without question misaligned teeth are a huge contributor to TMJ diseases.
How Clear Aligners Work
Clear Aligners, often called “Invisalign”, work by gradually pushing your teeth over the course of several weeks. Initially, one of our doctors will do a thorough exam to determine whether you’d be a candidate for clear aligner treatment. If so, we take photos and a digital record of your teeth in their current position. We then digitally plan where your teeth should be moved. Once you agree to the tooth movement plan, we give you a series of clear aligners, usually to be worn for a week or two at a time. Depending on how much the teeth need to be moved, it may take a few months to complete the movement, and we check in on your movement as often as necessary. Once teeth are moved into place, we give you clear retainers to be worn at night to provide stability and prevent future movement.
If you’re wondering whether clear aligners are for you, or have any questions about teeth shifting, call or text us! We will always take great care of you.
