Braces for adults? Not with Invisalign!
Can adults use braces? Yes. But in most cases, they simply don’t need to, not with Invisalign Berkshire and its clear aligner-based treatment. Let’s find out how it works!
The art and science of altering the position of teeth are long but fundamentally rooted in a very old idea. By continually applying pressure to the teeth, their locations and orientation can be gradually modified over time. 
The central issue in orthodontic treatment has been how to effectively and consistently apply the necessary forces. For more than a generation, braces have been the solution, but that has not always been the case. Before the ubiquitous brace, full headgear was not uncommon, so these tools changing to be more practical and convenient has historical precedent. With the coming of clear aligners, we seem to be seeing a paradigm shift in how the treatment is being provided.
Orthodontic treatment for adults
Teenage or younger patients have very different needs than adults. Most younger patients are treated using NHS orthodontic care, which is focused on clinical needs, resolving misalignments that cause damage or obstruct eating and talking. It focuses on the most severe misalignments and correcting them to the point they are subclinical, not on any aesthetic element.
Adult patients are likely to have less severe misalignments, which are aesthetic goals, and do not have the luxury of wearing a brace, which can cause issues in their professional and personal life. This is particularly acute in working adults whose careers involve face-to-face interactions with clients and are communication-dependent or those actively dating.
Isolated from traditional care, with unmet needs and expendable income to explore options, it was only a matter of time until innovative treatments developed for adult patients.
How invisible aligners meet these needs
Invisalign Berkshire uses clear aligners, which are transparent plastic forms that can be worn over your teeth and intelligently apply pressure to them. Over two weeks, the aligners will begin to feel looser as your teeth start to adopt new positions. That’s the appropriate time to move on to the next aligner in the sequence. The sequence of aligners was developed as an innovative solution to the relatively short distances that each aligner can move teeth, but it had the unforeseen benefit that each aligner only had to deal with two weeks of use, allowing each one to be much lighter than any other orthodontic option.
Approaching the orthodontic problem using clear aligners was not simple. The entire orthodontic process traditionally involves regular assessment and tightening, where the progress of tooth movement is measured. All of this is pre-baked into clear aligners; Invisalign Berkshire did this by simulating each patient’s orthodontic journey digitally, starting with a 3D scan of the patient’s mouth, which be used to calibrate a physiologically accurate digital model. This can then be used to predict the necessary forces and move the teeth into better positions.
Once a force map is generated, it can be used over time to infer the minimum number of aligners necessary. If you want to learn more about invisible aligners, please contact our team at Old Windsor.
