Going To Straighten Your Teeth? Why You Might Want Some Other Cosmetic Procedures To Go With Braces
Invisalign braces are pop-in, pop-out braces, typically for adults who do not want other adults to know that they are wearing braces. If you have decided as an adult to straighten your teeth with invisible braces, there are a few extra cosmetic procedures you might want to add to invisible braces. Here are those procedures and why you might want to add them.
Whitening
Whitening procedures, such as Zoom whitening, make your teeth their whitest and brightest. Since you are straightening your teeth, more of the surface area of your teeth will eventually become exposed visually when you smile. If those newly exposed areas are discolored, it is very jarring for people who are looking at your smile to see this shift in tooth color. Once your teeth are almost fully straightened and close to the end of the treatment phase, you should fully whiten your teeth so that your smile is all one color and it looks very healthy.
Dental Implants
If you are missing any teeth, straightening what you have is not a good idea. The braces can cause the teeth you have to slip into the empty spaces, causing more problems with too much spacing in your smile. The only time this works in your favor is if you have excessive crowding of your teeth, and the missing teeth will actually help with the uncrowding and straightening process. The rest of the time, your dentist may urge and recommend that you have dental implants placed in the spaces where teeth are missing before you start wearing invisible braces.
Tooth Extraction
If you have a bad tooth, or you have a tooth that has not fully descended, you may need it extracted before you proceed with invisible braces. The bad tooth will not get better, and the undescended tooth will remain caught in the crossfire of moving the other teeth. Your dentist can extract the bad tooth for the overall health of your mouth. He/she can remove the undescended tooth as well, but your dentist might also find a way to help the tooth come down and merge in its rightful position with the rest. Then your invisible braces can effectively move your teeth into just the right places.
Discuss a Package of Procedures with Your Dentist
Discuss with your dentist about these additional procedures. He or she will assess your mouth to see what might be best for you. Then you can get the services together and pay for them as a package deal.