A Smile Lasts Forever
Smilelign aligners work with many different cases, varying in levels of difficulty. For certain cases, the treatment process is simple and straightforward, yet for others the journey may not be as simple, but we almost always have a solution to your misalignment issues.
The more complicated case can include ‘attachments’ onto your teeth guiding the tooth to its desired position, through a process of pushing, or pulling. There’s also a process of filing down teeth through minuscule amounts (IPR), which sounds much more scary than it is. The purpose of this is to create more space, and therefore encourage more movement, as your teeth have more space to move into. All of which contribute to your end result and for your smile to reach that dream smile you’ve been waiting for.
No case is the same, so everyone’s experience will be slightly different somewhere along the line of treatment. Whether that be the number of aligners, or the time it takes until completion.
Types of tooth misalignment explained:
Crowding - This is when there is a lack of space for the teeth to move into, normally resulting in the alignment of teeth being incorrect as there are too many teeth settling a space that isn’t big enough to host them all.
Spacing - This misalignment speaks for itself, and is pretty much having gaps between your teeth. This could be between any teeth, and varying in space size.
Mid-line discrepancies - Cases of mid-line discrepancies will notice the front two teeth don’t line up with the centre of your nose, being the easiest asset to measure alongside of. To put it simply, the teeth will be a little off-centre.
Over jet - Over jet teeth, often known as ‘buck teeth’ due to the way the top teeth are positioned over the bottom teeth, leaving a horizontal gap between the two sets of front teeth. This particular issue can make it difficult to touch lips depending on the severity, it can also make biting more difficult and to some cause jaw pain.
Overbite - Overbites are often misconstrued with ‘Over jets’ but they’re in fact two different issues. An overbite is an overlap, causing the front top teeth to cover over the bottom front teeth. A proper bite would normally have a slight overbite, anything over around 2 mm to be needed to solve.
Open bite - An open bite occurs when the front, top and bottom teeth don't come into contact when your back teeth touch. This creates a space between the top and bottom teeth, of course where the term ‘open bite’ comes from.
Smilelign aligners are made to fit your specific tooth shape, this of course means it can work with a variety of different malocclusion (misaligned teeth when you bite). Some cases are easier to work with than others as mentioned before. On rare occasions there will be a case which may need more than our aligners, this may be a call for a fixed retainer case, which again can be clear and discrete if this is something that is make or break for you.
It Doesn’t End There
It’s important to know that once your aligners have reached the final stage of movement, your journey is far from over. Keeping your teeth in their new position doesn’t happen without retention, which is a process that needs to continue for life. Teeth have a tendency to move back to their original place without the correct treatment afterwards, which is of course what needs to be avoided.
The simple solution is retainers. By wearing the retainers every night for a year, it allows your teeth to stay in the position you just worked so hard to achieve. After a year this can be phased to every other night, however this must continue for life. The process is super simple and affects you in no way as the retainers are worn whilst you sleep, hence going unnoticed.
The best and most durable retainer for post treatment is DURATAIN the ultra-strength retainer is more resistant against forces and can withhold more ware, therefore will last longer. Of course after your treatment is complete you move straight onto the DURATAIN you shouldn’t notice a difference, as you will already be used to having an appliance in your mouth.