Children and Invisalign

Should my child have a fixed brace or a clear aligner?

Have you ever heard of Clear aligners worn by friends or family?

A clear aligner looks like a transparent suck down mould of your teeth, it is made of clear plastic and it fits snugly over your teeth.
An example of a clear aligner would be Invisalign.

This is a popular approach for achieving the smile you have always dreamed of over fixed braces, there is no clasps brackets and screws of braces involved.

But is this the way forward for your child?

Have you been to see the orthodontist with your child, and had a consultation to be told they need braces to correct the alignment of their teeth and their bite, you may find your child is quite apprehensive about the experience ahead.

We find most children are treated in their teenage years, when they have orthodontic treatment.

The factors to consider of how your teenager is feeling about braces are:

• Self-conscious and worried how they look with braces.
• How they are perceived by their peers.

With these factors in mind you could explore the clear aligner approach to orthodontic treatment.

Pros

• Invisible – The aligners are made from clear plastic that are moulded to the shape of your teeth; they are definitely less visible to the eye so therefore your child might be less self-conscious.
• Eating with an aligner – When wearing fixed braces, certain foods like crunchy food and food with high amount of sugar are to be avoided.
• When wearing a clear aligner this should be removed to eat, which means less restriction on what they can eat, however sugary food is good to avoid in general.
• Tooth care – It is very easy to clean your teeth as normal when using aligners as you would remove the aligner to brush and floss.
• Fixed braces would require more effort and time using different brushes to brush well with a fixed brace attached to your teeth.

Cons

• Discipline – Clear aligners need to be worn 22 out of 24 hours in a day.
• Orthodontic treatment can last up to 2 years; this is a major consideration as discipline is a must.
• The aligners are only removed to brush your teeth to clean the aligner, drink anything except water and to eat.
• Treatment range – Clear aligners unfortunately cannot correct all orthodontic cases, so therefore fixed braces would need to be used.
• Age – We need all adult teeth present to use an aligner, so it is best suited to older children in general.
• Visibility – Some children prefer to have colours on their braces over them being clear and this is done with a fixed brace.

If you would like to explore Invisalign at our practice, please give us a call on 01784 273880 or fill in one of our enquiry forms to find out more.