HOW DO I KNOW IF I QUALIFY FOR ALIGNERS?
HOW DO I KNOW IF I QUALIFY FOR ALIGNERS?
DEFINITION From DIGITAL ORTHODONTICS - Solo Edition by Dr. Bak Nguyen
The right and short answer to that one is to consult a qualified dentist or orthodontist. If your case is about moving teeth alone, both aligners and braces can do. If the issue is more about bones and the alignment of your jaw, that's orthopedic and the solutions are jaw surgery and braces.
As a general rule, braces are more powerful as a tool. I like to compare them to an S.U.V. versus a convertible. You've guessed right, the aligner is that convertible. The difference is the kind of road you are using them on. Off-road, you want your S.U.V. a.k.a, braces. On city streets, you like the sex appeal of a convertible, a.k.a, aligners. The only way to know what your case is, is to consult a qualified doctor.
Unfortunately, looking in the mirror and looking on the internet alone will not be enough to have an idea of your treatment plan or your time of treatment. The best example that comes to my mind, are these cases with only 1 tooth out of place.
I've seen so many patients coming in consultation thinking that if we have made magic aligning all the teeth of their friends, aligning 1 single tooth should be a walk in the park. In other words, it should not take too long. Very wrong!
How do you think that I can align your smile if 1 single tooth is out of place? I will have to move all the rest of the teeth you qualify as straight and realign your smile keeping the face symmetry and the function of your mouth. If you look good today, except for a tooth, and you want to look better, well, I will have to change the complete dynamic and balance of your mouth to give you a new balance, one you want to see.
In short, your treatment is as long as that friend of yours which I have changed his or her life, only now, in your case, I will have to show you the logic of treatment first. What will determine a time treatment are the teeth movement, not how many teeth are out of place.
To a patient with many, many teeth misaligned, the treatment is possible and the moral is often positive. With a patient with only 1 tooth out of place, it might be the same treatment, the same time frame, but now, the moral will be much of a challenge.