If you are one of the millions of people suffering from crooked and crowded teeth you may have heard of treating the problem with a clear aligner, a clear plastic orthodontic device that is worn over your teeth in the same way a sports mouthguard is. They have a lot of advantages over the old metal braces that were so uncomfortable, and frankly unsightly, you can remove them to eat, and the clear plastic makes them practically invisible so most people won’t even realise you are wearing them!
The treatment sounds really great, the perfect way to improve your smile, but you may be wondering how this exciting teeth alignment process actually works. How do clear aligners move your teeth into the correct positions? Well, the science behind the treatment is called biomechanics, and it is used to gradually and comfortably straighten your teeth. Here comes the science bit.
Biomechanics is the study of mechanical functions in living organisms, for example, the way in which the movements of a bird’s wings allow it to fly, or a fish’s fins push and guide it through the water. The science of biomechanics is put to work in the clear aligning treatment by applying a slow, controlled force to your teeth and observing the results as it causes gradual changes in their positioning over a period of time. Unlike the brute force of traditional metal braces, clear aligners use slow, gentle movements of approximately one-third of a millimetre over the course of a few weeks.
You will be given a new set of aligners once the current set has done its work and pushed as far as it can go. Your new set will take up where the old one left off by continuing to gradually nudge your teeth into better position as the surrounding tissues and bones adapt and are slowly reshaped. Every time a customized aligner is worn in your mouth it will exert a sustained force on the teeth that will persuade them to move in the desired direction.
This movement is achieved by applying gentle pressure to one side of the tooth while also exerting tension on the other side causing a natural reaction in the body that will break down the bone around the tooth area under pressure and rebuild it in the area under tension. This results in the bone supporting the tooth undergoing a continuous restructuring process. According to the Beseen wellness website, patients report feeling some tightness in their clear aligners during the planned tooth movement until it’s completed, but it’s never painful.
While that’s going on, the soft tissue joint that holds the tooth root on the alveolar bone, which is called a periodontal ligament, or PDL for short, begins to shift. The combination of compression and stretching causes a remodelling of the PDL, a process that begins to happen within minutes of the aligner applying its force. These opposing forces of tension and pressure make the bone and soft tissue work together to drive the desired tooth movement.
Don’t just live with the embarrassment and health risks of crooked and crowded teeth any more, talk to your orthodontist about teeth alignment today!