5 Cost-Effective Alternatives to Braces

All of us prefer to look beautiful whenever we smile. However, if your teeth are angled, they may affect your self-confidence negatively. That’s where metal braces come in to help straighten your teeth and give you the smile you want. Nevertheless, metal braces might not be the best alternative to go for in some cases. Consequently, we have compiled a list of five cost-effective alternatives to metal braces that can give you the smile you’ve always wished for! They are as follows:

1. Clear Aligners

Clear aligner teeth straightening is one of the best alternatives to conventional metal braces you can get. Clear aligners are fabricated to guide your teeth smoothly into their preferred position. Like metal braces, aligners exert tiny amounts of pressure on your teeth to reposition accordingly. Often, several sets of clear aligners are needed, and each set shifts your teeth incrementally up to the moment when the preferred outcomes are realized.

Clear aligners can help fix various problems resulting from misaligned teeth, including gaps, overbites, overcrowding, overjets, and crossbites. Also, this alternative is popular among patients as they are clear and nearly invisible, making them hard to be noticed by others.

2. Ceramic Veneers

Forbes Magazine indicates that veneers are suitable for individuals with chipped, misaligned, discolored, or gaps. Veneers are fabricated using extremely thin but long-lasting ceramics material and can serve you for over ten years!

For this alternative to metal braces to enhance the appearance of your teeth, a tiny section of your tooth enamel is usually extracted. Then, the customized ceramic veneers are fixed as shell covers of your front teeth. Often, this alternative offers two kinds of dental veneers, namely ceramic porcelain and resin composite. However, it’s recommendable to go for ceramics over resin veneers since the latter has a high tendency of breaking whenever you grind your teeth.

3. Retainers

Retainers usually consist of a detachable dental appliance utilized in positioning your teeth properly before and after treatment with metal braces. Retainers consist of either an unmovable wire fused to the rear of your lower teeth or a detachable dental appliance with one wire on the front. The choice you make between these depends on your preference. Others may not know that you have a retainer fixed on your teeth since it is bonded to the back of your teeth. Nevertheless, permanent retainers can render oral hygiene somehow difficult, meaning you’ll need to take good care of your oral health.

4. Lingual Braces

Lingual braces contain similar components to conventional braces, but they are placed at the rear end of your teeth. This makes them nearly invisible. In a nutshell, lingual braces can rectify similar alignment problems as conventional metal braces. However, this alternative might not be suitable for everyone! For instance, individuals experiencing deep overbites might encounter problems with the brackets popping off regularly. Also, this alternative can be uncomfortable since they are fixed on the interior of your teeth, positioning them near the soft tissue and tongue.

5. Ceramic Braces

The most apparent difference between metallic braces and ceramic braces is their colors. Often, ceramic braces appear and work like metallic braces. However, ceramic braces are designed with tooth-colored wires and brackets. Also, they are not very inconspicuous, but they are also not visible that easily. Ceramic braces are excellent alternatives for grown-ups who require specific treatments that only conventional braces can solve but don’t prefer metal.

Similar to metallic braces, ceramic braces can’t be used to grind certain types of foods. They are made of brittle wires and require careful handling because they can break easily compared to metal wires. Also, you might have to avoid taking fruit juices, tea, and coffee as these drinks can lead to the staining of the wires and brackets.

Wrapping Up

Today, conventional metal braces aren’t the only alternative to give you the smile you want by straightening your teeth. In fact, with several cost-effective alternatives to braces available, you might be overwhelmed when choosing the right one. However, before deciding which alternative to go for, ensure you consult with your dentist. Overly, the five cost-effective alternatives to braces you can choose from include ceramic braces, lingual braces, retainers, and ceramic veneers.