Until just a few years ago, the only dental treatment aimed at correcting our smile was traditional orthodontics, better known among the population as “metal brackets”. However, over the years and thanks to the great advances that technology has made in the dental sector, other variants to the more conventional treatment have appeared that offer all kinds of advantages for those who must undergo orthodontic treatment, no matter what the reason.
Today the two most commonly used orthodontic treatments are traditional orthodontics or brackets and invisible orthodontics or Invisalign. Both options have the function of straightening our teeth to improve their aesthetic appearance and functionality, however, the process the patient must go through to achieve this is very different between the two, which presents us with the following dilemma: which type of orthodontics is better, traditional or invisible?
Next, to help clarify all the doubts about this issue and to get to know better what types of orthodontic treatments I can undergo, we will explain the basic characteristics of both treatments and their main differences.
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Types of dental orthodontics
Traditional Orthodontics
The traditional orthodontics that everyone knows and that is popularly called “brackets” is the first type of orthodontic treatment that was put into practice to correct the incorrect position of the teeth. This treatment is characterized by a complex system of wires, arches and metal brackets that the dental professional will temporarily fix to the tooth enamel of our teeth.
The duration of this treatment could vary depending on the severity of each case, but normally it had a standard duration of between 18 and 24 months. The operation of this type of orthodontics is very complex and tedious since it requires constant supervision by the orthodontist to check their evolution and to tighten or loosen the brackets depending on the progress that our mouth is making.
On the other hand, during the duration of the treatment, the patient must take extreme measures of oral hygiene and watch his or her diet, since wearing the brackets always our mouth will have a greater predisposition to accumulate dental plaque and the risk of fracturing some piece by biting something extremely hard is very high.
However, apart from all these drawbacks, this orthodontics has proven to be really effective and to achieve in 99.9% of the cases the results expected by both the orthodontist and the patient. The people over at www.smilequestdental.com really know what they are doing when it comes to orthodontics.
Invisible Orthodontics
Invisible orthodontics or Invisalign is the most innovative orthodontic treatment of the last decade and that greater percentage of acceptance is having between the most adult population. The reason? Its discretion and comfort. This orthodontic treatment is made up of a set of totally transparent dental covers which will gradually exert pressure on the teeth, with the difference that in this case it will be the patient himself who will have to put on and take off the splints at home without the help of a dentist.
On the other hand, another of the great advantages of invisible orthodontics is that it can be removed both to brush our teeth and to eat, avoiding the appearance of very common problems of traditional orthodontics such as gingivitis, treatment cavities or the fracture of pieces because of having eaten something too hard. Something that has undoubtedly led many people to opt for this treatment option.
Finally, as for the efficiency of this treatment as opposed to the more traditional version, one could say that it is the same, since both have proven to be equally effective and to manage to straighten people’s smile within the same period of time.