Clear Aligners – Weatherford, TX
Straighten Your Smile Without Metal
It’s no surprise that many people prefer their smile to be straight and free of gaps and crowding, but did you know that a straight smile doesn’t only look aesthetically-pleasing? In fact, it also makes it easier to perform basic at-home oral care and keep your health in check! Beacon Dentistry of Weatherford offers clear aligners in Weatherford to shift your teeth into a straighter and more functional position, so don’t wait to give our dental office a call to start your treatment for orthodontics!
Why Choose Beacon Dentistry of Weatherford for Clear Aligners?
- Advanced Training in Six Month Smiles
- Two Highly Experienced Dentists
- Family Dental Practice
How Do Clear Aligners Work?
When you choose to receive clear aligners instead of traditional metal braces, you can expect the process to be more comfortable and convenient. Every two weeks, you’ll advance to a new series of discreet trays that you’ll wear over your teeth. They’ll place a gentle amount of pressure onto them to slowly shift them into their ideal positions. Every six to eight weeks, you’ll return back to our office for a quick progress-check and to pick up the next sets of trays in your treatment until you achieve your final results.
Who Can Clear Aligners Help?
Oftentimes, patients assume that their path to a straight smile involves metal. However, clear aligners are rather versatile. In fact, they can correct several common orthodontic problems, including crossbites. If you are interested in learning more, you can read on. You’re also welcome to give us a call if you’re ready to schedule your consultation!
Crowded Teeth
Overcrowding can make brushing and flossing more difficult by creating additional nooks and crannies for plaque and food debris to hide in. Fortunately, mild to moderate cases can usually be corrected with clear aligners. If that’s the case for you, then we can use a custom series to gradually straighten your teeth, reducing your risk of developing common oral health problems, like gum disease, in the process.
Gaps Between Teeth
While some people embrace the gaps between their teeth, others dream of having a symmetrical, even smile. If you fall into the latter group, then schedule a consultation at our Weatherford dental office. That way, we can determine if you’re a good candidate for clear aligners, and, if you are, close the spaces in your grin. Oftentimes, it only takes 12-18 months to achieve the desired results!
Overbite
Although a slight overbite is normal, a considerable one can lead to several issues, including trouble enunciating clearly. If this sounds all too familiar, then you might be wondering: can clear aligners fix overbites? If your case isn’t too severe, there’s a good chance that the answer is “yes!” So, don’t hesitate to schedule a consultation with us.
Underbite
Unfortunately, even relatively mild underbites can lead to low self-esteem, trouble chewing properly, and chronic jaw pain. That’s why we advise against taking the “wait and see” approach. Instead, schedule an appointment with us so we can determine if you’re a good candidate for clear aligners. If you are, then we can create a healthier bite without any metal at all.
Crossbite
If a few of your upper teeth sit behind your lower ones, you may have a crossbite. There are a few reasons we recommend exploring your treatment options sooner rather than later, including that doing so can reduce your risk or minimize your symptoms of TMJ disorder and help treat bruxism. So, don’t wait – schedule a consultation with us so we can determine if clear aligners are right for you!
Open Bite
As you may have guessed from the name, an open bite is when there is an opening between your upper and lower teeth that prevents you from biting down all the way. Like the other bite problems on this list, even relatively mild cases can lead to serious problems, including premature wear and tear on your teeth. That’s why we encourage patients to schedule a consultation with us sooner rather than later!
Benefits of Clear Aligners
If you’ve been wondering why clear aligner treatment is so popular, there isn’t just one reason – there are several! In this next section, we’re covering a few of the many benefits that patients enjoy with this popular type of braces, starting with how discreet they are.
Basically Invisible Trays
Like many other patients, you may not be thrilled about the idea of wearing traditional braces. Fortunately, clear aligners in Weatherford don’t have any metal components. Instead, common orthodontic problems, like overcrowding, are addressed with clear, barely noticeable aligners. As a result, you never have to worry about showing off your smile – whether you’re at work, going on a first date, or taking a family photo for the holidays.
Shorter Average Treatment Timeline
In short, clear aligners work to shift teeth in less time overall compared to traditional metal braces. In fact, many patients achieve the results they desire in just 12-18 months. So, if you have an important event on the horizon, like your wedding, you shouldn’t hesitate to schedule a consultation with us! That way, we can get an in-depth understanding of your dental history, needs, and goals in order to provide you with a more precise estimate of your treatment timeline.
Hassle-Free Dental Care
With traditional braces, patients often need to dedicate more time to their oral hygiene regimen or buy special tools, like interproximal toothbrushes. With clear aligners, that’s not necessary! All you need to do is take them off, use clean, cool water to rinse them, and place them in their designated case beforehand. Then, you can proceed with your oral hygiene regimen as usual.
Important reminder: You need to clean your aligners before you put them back on! Don’t worry – you don’t need any expensive cleaning products for this either. Simply use a damp, soft-bristled toothbrush and clean, mild dishwashing soap.
No Changes to Your Diet
Another considerable benefit of clear aligners: there isn’t a long list of foods that you need to avoid throughout your orthodontic treatment. There’s really only one thing we ask as your Weatherford dental team: don’t overindulge on cavity-causing foods, like ice cream and potato chips. After all, any oral health problems that do develop will bring your treatment plan to a temporary stop.
Quick Follow-Up Visits
Whether you have a demanding job, you’re a new parent, or you just started college, you may have a jam-packed schedule that makes monthly, hour-long appointments difficult to commit to. Fortunately, there aren’t monthly adjustment visits with clear aligners! Instead, you’ll be given several sets of aligners at a time so you can progress through portions of your treatment plan at home. Then, every 6-8 weeks, you’ll return to our office so your cosmetic dentist can make sure your teeth are moving as anticipated. If they are, then you’ll likely be in and out of the treatment chair in less than 30 minutes.
Understanding the Cost of Clear Aligners
The cost of your treatment will depend on a variety of factors that we’ll discuss with you during your initial consultation, including:
- How many aligners you’ll need to achieve your ideal results
- The severity of your orthodontic issues
- Whether you lose or stop wearing your aligners during your treatment
Our team will create a customized treatment plan along with a cost estimate and walk you through it so you have a good idea of what to expect throughout the process. To make straightening your smile easier, we’re happy to file insurance claims on your behalf and offer additional flexible financing through CareCredit. We also offer payment plans through Scratchpay and discounts with our Beacon Dentistry of Weatherford Savings Plan.
Clear Aligners FAQs
Countless patients have enjoyed straighter, healthier smiles thanks to state-of-the-art clear aligner technology, and chances are you can’t wait to get started on your own journey! Even so, you probably still have a few concerns before you’re fully ready to commit to clear aligners in Weatherford, TX. Feel free to ask any question you may have when you visit Beacon Dentistry of Weatherford for a clear aligner consultation. In the interim, we’ve answered a handful of the most frequently asked questions about the treatment below for your convenience.
Do Clear Aligners Hurt?
Traditional braces are notorious for being uncomfortable – when they’re first placed on your teeth, every time they’re adjusted, and when they irritate your cheeks, tongue, gums, or lips. In comparison, clear aligners are quite comfortable and virtually pain-free. Because they’re crafted from smooth plastic, you won’t need to worry about sores in the soft tissues of your mouth or uncomfortable tightenings every few weeks.
You can expect some mild soreness with clear aligners, especially right after you switch to a new set of trays in the series. Your teeth are being moved into unfamiliar positions, after all. Compared to metal braces, though, the discomfort with clear aligners is easily manageable. One way to reduce pain is to take ibuprofen or similar over-the-counter medications as needed or to hold a cold compress to your cheek in ten-minute intervals.
How Long Do Clear Aligners Take?
Every smile is different, so clear aligners don’t come with a universal treatment timeline. Several factors can contribute to the length of time it will take to completely straighten your smile. These include the distance your teeth need to move as well as how often you wear the aligners as directed. Your cosmetic dentist in Weatherford can outline all of these factors during your initial consultation.
On average, it takes somewhere between 12 to 18 months to finish treatment with clear aligners, but you may notice a difference after just a month or two. Although 18 months may seem like a long time, traditional braces often take upwards of two years at minimum to finish straightening the teeth.
Can You Eat with Clear Aligners?
You should always take your aligners out of your mouth before eating or drinking anything other than plain water. If you don’t, you run the risk of damaging, staining, or warping your aligners, which could compromise your treatment and delay your results.
As long as you remove your trays beforehand, though, you should be able to enjoy all of your favorite foods and beverages throughout your treatment with clear aligners. This is a major benefit of clear aligners compared to braces, which come with a laundry list of foods that should be avoided.
Can You Get Clear Aligners If You’ve Already Had Braces?
Possibly! Many of our patients who express interest in clear aligners have already worn traditional braces when they were younger, but their teeth have since reverted to their old positions for a number of reasons. Clear aligners might be an ideal solution in such cases. In fact, braces can more effectively correct severe alignment problems that clear aligners cannot. This means that braces may have fixed the more serious issues in the past, but clear aligners can remedy the milder crookedness that has occurred since then. When you meet with our team to discuss clear aligners, we can go over your orthodontic history and discuss how it will affect your treatment.