Clear Aligners Provide a Less Embarrassing Orthodontic Choice for Teens

Clear aligner — Wyoming, MI — Dental South

For decades, traditional braces were the only orthodontic choice for moving misaligned teeth. Although they’re quite effective, they can cause discomfort and, for teens especially, embarrassment due to their noticeable metallic appearance.

In recent years, though, technology has produced an alternative to braces that’s proven effective for many types of patients. Besides being less cumbersome and disruptive to everyday life than braces, clear aligners have another advantage that appeals to teens — they’re much less visible.

Introduced in the late 1990s, clear aligners are a system of individual trays made of nearly invisible polyurethane plastic worn over the upper teeth. The trays are computer-generated based on the patient’s individual mouth structure captured in photographs and x-rays. Each tray in the sequence is incrementally smaller in size; the patient begins wearing the first aligner in the series for about two weeks, 20 to 22 hours a day. They then switch to the next tray in the series for about the same amount of time, and continue in this fashion until they’ve worn each aligner in the series.

Besides their improvement in appearance, aligners also have another advantage: unlike traditional braces, aligners can be removed from the mouth for eating or on a limited basis for rare important social occasions. Brushing and flossing are also much easier with aligners, which don’t pose the same access problems as traditional braces.

Clear aligners were once only effective with select types of orthodontic patients, which didn’t always include teens. Over the last decade, however, significant changes to design and additional implements have widened their application to more patients, especially teens. For example, we can now add tiny “power ridges” to the aligner design that give greater precision over desired tooth movement to create a more controlled and efficient force on the teeth. More recent aligners are also being produced with a thinner, more comfortable material.

A thorough orthodontic exam will tell whether your teen is a good candidate for clear aligners. If so, they’ll benefit from a more comfortable and less embarrassing experience while gaining a new smile for life.

If you would like more information on clear aligners, please contact us or schedule an appointment for a consultation. You can also learn more about this topic by reading the Dear Doctor magazine article “Clear Aligners for Teens.”

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Want to Improve Your Athletic Performance? Try Tuning Up Your Dental Care

By Dental South • January 12, 2021

After a long hiatus, school athletes are gearing up for another sports year. Given the pandemic, they may be modifying some of their usual habits and practices. But one thing probably won't change: These young athletes will be looking for every way possible to improve their sports performance. And a new research study offers one possible, and surprising, avenue—beefing up their oral hygiene practice. That's the conclusion of the study published in BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine , a sister publication of the British Journal of Sports Medicine . Working with a group of about 60 elite athletes, a research group in the U.K. found that improving oral health through better hygiene practices might also boost overall sports performance. Because there's some evidence that over 50% of athletes have some form of tooth decay or gum disease, the study's researchers wanted to know if there was a link between athletes' sports performance and their dental problems caused by neglected oral hygiene. And if so, they wanted to see if better hygiene might improve sports performance as well as oral health. Their first step was to establish an initial baseline for the participants with an oral health screening, finding that only around 1 in 10 of the study's participants regularly brushed with fluoride toothpaste or flossed. They then administered a detailed questionnaire developed by the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center (OSTRC) to gauge the athletes' perception of how their current oral health affected their sports performance. After some basic hygiene training, the athletes were given kits containing a toothbrush, prescription fluoride toothpaste and floss picks. They were then instructed to clean their teeth twice a day. Four months later, researchers found the number of participants who regularly brushed increased to 80%, and flossing more than doubled. What's more, a second OSTRC questionnaire found significant improvement overall in the athletes' perception of their sports performance. As scientific research, these findings still need further testing and validation. But the study does raise the possibility that proper dental care could benefit other areas of your life, including sports participation. Athlete or not, instituting some basic dental care can make a big difference in maintaining a healthy mouth: Brush twice and floss once every day to remove accumulated dental plaque, the main source of dental disease; Get a professional dental cleaning at least twice a year to remove stubborn plaque and tartar; See us if you notice tooth pain or swollen or bleeding gums to stay ahead of developing dental disease. Improving your dental care just might benefit other areas of your life, perhaps even athletic pursuits. We guarantee it will make a healthy difference for your teeth and gums. If you would like more information on how you can improve your dental health, please c ontact us or schedule a consultation. To learn more, read the Dear Doctor magazine article “ Daily Oral Hygiene .”