Clear aligners are vacuum-formed clear thermoplastic sheets that were introduced in the 1980s as retainers. After some time, it became apparent that these ‘retainers’ could actually move teeth into alignment.

Because these thermoplastic sheets are formed so closely around your teeth, you must visit our office to get a high definition scan of your tooth placement so the clear aligner trays will form up to your teeth properly. After that, a series of trays will be created in a sort of ‘digital progression’ where your teeth will move on their way to a final destination.

Clear aligners are just plastic sheets made into trays for your teeth so they are not strong enough to leave in your mouth while eating or chewing. Also, they must be removed and cleaned every day with either soap and cold water or denture cleaning solution.

The biggest negative to the clear aligners is that they do not address the root cause of the teeth misalignment and a retainer must be worn indefinitely to keep the teeth in place.

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