What are the main differences between the orthodontic treatments at Lion Dental Centre?

If you’re thinking about having an orthodontic treatment to straighten your teeth in Stourbridge and you’re researching your options, you may find it helpful to understand a bit more about the orthodontic treatments available here at Lion Dental Centre in Stourbridge, including their main differences.

Fixed braces

As their name would suggest, fixed braces are orthodontic appliances that are fixed to your teeth for the duration of your treatment. They comprise small brackets – usually a ceramic and metal square – attached to each tooth and then tied to an archwire, either using small ligatures (elastic bands) or a ‘self-ligating’ clip on each bracket. It’s the pressure from the arch wire against the brackets that gradually move your teeth from A to B.

Here at Lion Dental Centre, we offer a choice of fixed braces, which means that you can either have metal/silver braces or clear braces that feature ceramic brackets for a more discreet appearance.

During your treatment with fixed braces, you would need to come in for appointments for us to adjust your ligatures and archwire to ensure that your teeth are moving correctly.

Six Month Smiles

Six Month Smiles is a popular self-ligating fixed brace system that features clear brackets and tooth-coloured wires for an incredibly discreet orthodontic treatment aimed at adults who want to keep their treatment as far under the radar as possible.

This system focuses primarily on moving the teeth that show when you smile rather than adjusting the function and alignment of all of your teeth. For this reason, and because Six Month Smiles uses cutting-edge technology, it may be possible to straighten your teeth in as little as six months.

Invisalign

Invisalign is a different type of orthodontic treatment that uses a series of clear, almost invisible aligners to move your teeth into alignment. With Invisalign, we plot the movement of your teeth in advance using dedicated ClinCheck® 3D imaging technology and create custom made aligners that you change approximately once a fortnight.

You would need to wear your Invisalign aligners for at least 22 hours a day for the best results, but the appeal of Invisalign is that, because the aligners are removable, you can take them out to eat, brush your teeth, floss, or for a special occasion. This means that you should be able to eat anything you want without worrying that it might damage your aligners.

If you would like to find out more about orthodontic treatments in Stourbridge at Lion Dental Centre and what option would be best for you, call us on 01384 376 336 to book a consultation or book online.