At Harley Street Dental Clinic, we are proud to be at the forefront of adult orthodontics. And we can offer you clear braces W1, or Invisalign, to help you straighten your smile. Let’s look at a brief guide about what wearing this aligner entails.
Initial consultation
At your initial clear braces W1 consultation, we will assess the severity of your misalignment to see if these aligners will be of benefit to you. If you are suitable to have them, we will take an intraoral scan of your mouth and this will then be sent to a dental laboratory to have the aligners printed.
Wearing
The aligners that you will be given need to be worn for about 22 hours a day; that means they will need to be worn in bed and throughout the day.
If you do not wear your aligners for the prescribed time, your teeth may be slower to move and can even revert to their former positions.
Wearing your aligners should not cause extensive discomfort, but the sensation of pressure is likely; remember, they have to move your teeth and the first few days of wearing a new aligner will probably be the most uncomfortable.
Care
Each aligner you wear will need to be worn for around 14 days. That means that, while their lifespan isn’t overly long, they are powerful and will need to be taken care of to work.
One way you can care for your aligners is to keep them clean; remove debris from them using cold water and a toothbrush. Never clean them with hot water, as it can cause them to warp.
You will also need to keep them in the carry cases provided, and shouldn’t drop them into a bag or pocket when you aren’t wearing them, as it can cause them to become damaged.
If you lose an aligner, please let us know and we will aim to order a replacement as soon as possible.
Retainer
When you finish wearing the aligners, our team will likely suggest that you wear a retainer.
This is to ensure that your teeth don’t move back into their former positions.
It will be custom-fitted but, depending on how likely reversion is (your teeth moving back), we will provide you with an individual prescription time.
You will need to wear the retainer until your teeth settle in place, which will take between 3-5 months. If you have any discomfort with your retainers, please let us know.
Potential complications
There are few serious issues that can occur when you are wearing invisible aligners.
But, if you smoke cigarettes, you run the risk of not only staining the aligners, but may inadvertently heighten the chance of developing gum disease. In turn, this can cause your teeth to become loose and fall out, so our dentist will always advise against this when you are undertaking orthodontic treatments.
Similarly, you will also need to keep an eye open for signs of gum disease when you are wearing aligners, such as bleeding gums, tooth movement or bad breath. If you notice any of these signs while wearing an aligner (or at any other time), please call us right away!
If you would like more information about clear braces W1, then please contact the team at our practice today.