Invisible Braces | LINGUAL BRACES
Not all orthodontic braces are planted on the front of your teeth. There are special braces that do their work behind the teeth called lingual braces or aptly called invisible braces. And because they are bonded behind the teeth, you’ll never know if a person uses one or not. Due to this positioning, they’re sometimes called “inside” braces. In comparison, conventional “outside” braces are placed on the side of your teeth which shows.
For the most part, they look like conventional dental braces that are mounted on the backside (lingual, tongue side) of your teeth. This hides them from view, making them unnoticeable to others.
What are lingual braces for?
If you have misaligned, crooked, or badly angled front teeth that make you smile less than flattering, orthodontic braces can solve your condition progressively over, say, 18-36 months, depending on the severity of the condition you want corrected. The traditional route is to get the metal braces around your teeth which corrects the misaligned or irregularities. But you start to look like Iron Man when smiling. A lot of adults get turned off by the idea of traditional metal braces flashing whenever they smile.
Who can have lingual braces?
The best (and only) way to find out if lingual braces can be used in your situation is to have a consultation appointment with an orthodontist. For the most part, however, most adults and adolescents will usually make suitable candidates. Some practitioners may express issues of concern about some aspects of patient selection. However, a lot of this probably just boils down to clinical bias and preference.
Advantages of Lingual Braces
A solution that has more aesthetic and cosmetic appeal is to go for lingual braces. Instead of having metal brackets bonded on your front set of dentures, these metal braces are customized to bond at the back of the teeth so they remain invisible when smiling. They are a cosmetic alternative to those who want their teeth corrected but without the unaesthetic metal look when they smile.
Just to overemphasize its benefits, the obvious advantage of lingual braces is that no one will know you are wearing them. Unless they start looking inside your mouth. Other than that, there is no compelling medical or clinical reason to use lingual braces over regular braces.
The chief advantage of having lingual treatment lies in the fact that your braces are nonvisible.
If someone carefully looks into your mouth they may catch a glimpse of your appliance (especially if you’re wearing them on your lower teeth). But otherwise, they’re not much visible.
If you feel that wearing conventional braces would simply be too embarrassing. This is one of the “invisible” orthodontic methods (see box below) that you might consider.
Advantages of Lingual Braces over INVISALIGN/ CLEAR ALIGNERS
Another “invisible” braces option is wearing clear plastic, removable tooth aligners like Invisalign®.
Lingual braces are generally considered to be the less visible of the two. On close inspection, clear aligners are sometimes visible or may give off a sheen that hints that you are wearing aligners.
Additionally, treatment with aligners often requires the placement of buttons or attachments on the front side of your teeth. The more that are needed, the more noticeable it is that you’re undergoing treatment.
Two really big advantages of using a lingual approach are that it allows the dentist more control over tooth movements. And unlike when you wear removable aligners (or, more importantly, don't wear them), the issue of patient compliance is never a problem.
Disadvantages of Lingual Braces
Don’t expect your family dentist to know how to install a lingual brace for you. Dentists and orthodontists require specialized training to enable them to treat patients opting for lingual braces. Not every orthodontist offers this option. To search for one who does, ask your dentist or Google search for the term lingual braces along with your name, state, or country. Implanting lingual braces may cause serious discomfort for the patient and can be a real challenge for the dentist installing one. The patient would need to lean his head as far back as he can for the dentist to better have a firm handle on the installation process. The dentist would have to lean over more as well.
The lingual brackets hold closer together since the inner arch around the backside of the teeth has a smaller dimension than the arch on the outside. This makes both the installation and the subsequent adjustment visits more difficult. The lingual brackets can also irritate the tongue initially than with regular braces. In addition, because the process is more involved and tedious, orthodontists charge significantly higher for this service compared with ceramic braces which are already more expensive than traditional metal braces.
And, in general, each periodic office appointment you have during your treatment process takes longer than it would with conventional braces.
However, with continued advancements in the design of lingual systems, these points have become less and less of an issue.
Lingual Braces are a better esthetic alternative
If patients want a less conspicuous option for their braces and a more cost-effective solution that exacts less tedium and discomfort for both the patient and the dentist. Using ceramic or clear braces offers a more aesthetically inconspicuous solution than regular metal braces and is considerably easier to install and adjust.
Cost of lingual Braces
The cost of Lingual Braces is higher than traditional metal braces, as one might expect. In India, you can expect that the treatment cost for lingual braces will be at least 4-5 times greater than the cost of traditional metal braces (In the U.S.A. Lingual Braces would cost you around $5000-6000). It still costs a fraction of what the same treatment would cost in the U.S. One of the biggest factors is the cost of the materials for Lingual Braces. The materials that the Orthodontist uses with metal braces, their production, and availability are more. So they are less expensive for orthodontists.
To know more about Lingual braces/Invisible Braces and the cost for the same, meet Dr. Vimal Thareja MDS, at SmileMax Dentistry Dental Clinic, Rani Bagh, Pitampura, or contact us at 8800211141.