Orthodontists use braces or Invisalign aligners for straightening your teeth. It’s a painful experience, but eventually, things feel more comfortable.
That being said, life will not be the same after you get traditional metal braces or Invisalign, at least for a while. Here’s how.
Appearance-wise
Braces and Invisalign will give you two entirely different appearances.
Braces are somewhat flashy. That means they will draw attention from others. The metal wires that run across your teeth are hard to miss. So, when you’re talking or eating, people in front of you will take note of them, even if they don’t want to. That’s why self-conscious people about their appearances in public are not too fond of wearing braces.
Invisalign braces, on the other hand, are invisible. No one can tell whether or not you’re wearing aligners over your teeth from a distance. Even up-close people will have trouble seeing the aligners. That’s why self-conscious people prefer Invisalign over traditional braces. To them, these clear aligners are much more convenient.
You’ll find another problem with braces in terms of appearance after you take them off. Since you’ll be wearing them for two or three years, the wires and brackets will stick to your teeth for a long time. That means they’ll leave stains behind when you get rid of them. The stains will disappear, but it’ll take them around a year to completely vanish.
Taking Them On and Off
You can’t take off your braces whenever you want. They’re tied to their respective positions to straighten your teeth. To get them off, you have to visit the orthodontist.
You can easily remove Invisalign aligners by yourself. Simply pull out the structure carefully, and you will have removed it.
One major issue with being able to take them off so easily is that Invisalign might require more time to straighten your teeth. That’s because if you’re regularly taking them off, the straightening procedure gets hampered. So, try to do it as little as possible and avoid tampering with the treatment.
What You Can and Cannot Eat
You can eat almost anything you like if you’re wearing Invisalign. Of course, you won’t be eating any of those with the aligners on. Since it’s easy to take them off, you can do that and then eat whatever you like. That’s why there’s almost no eating restriction when wearing Invisalign clear aligners.
The same is not possible with braces. Hard candy, taffy, popcorn, etc., can damage your braces. They can get stuck between the wires and the teeth. For you to clean them afterward, you’ll have to visit the orthodontist. That’s why they’ll ask you to avoid certain kinds of foods when you have braces on.
You can watch a short but informative video analysis on what it’s like to wear braces or clear aligners on robisonortho.com. The video has a well-animated part dedicated to things you shouldn’t eat. It’ll give you a very good idea of how certain types of foods can damage your braces or misalign them.
Better Results
Both Invisalign and braces will help straighten your teeth and give them a desirable structure. In terms of effectiveness, however, there is a minor difference.
Invisalign can’t deal with complex alignments. For instance, when all the teeth on your lower jaw are at completely different positions or angles, Invisalign can’t do much. These situations require a more complex straightening process that you can only achieve through braces.
What to Expect in Terms of Discomfort and Pain
Invisalign braces are custom-made to fit your teeth perfectly. They hold themselves in place using brackets that you can take off any time you want. Such an arrangement helps limit the discomfort and pain to a great extent when wearing Invisalign braces.
Regular braces, however, will hurt for a while. After the initial treatment, your teeth will feel sore for a couple of weeks at least. Afterward, you’ll eventually grow used to the weird sensation of having metal wires running across your teeth.
The Problems with Realigning
Every time you have to realign your braces, you need to visit your orthodontist. Not only is it time-consuming, but it also gets expensive. On top of that, they also expect you to see them at least once every four to six weeks for regular checkups.
Despite all these changes in your life and routine, you’ll still feel that getting braces or Invisalign was one of the best choices you’ve ever made. That’s because you’ll be very happy with the results, even if it takes them two or three years to be apparent.