Clear removable Aligner Braces

Professor Johal uses a range of these and includes Invisalign©, and Smilelign©, which both use a series of clear removable braces to straighten the teeth, in a very gradual and progressive manner.

Such removable clear aligners have been successfully used to treat thousands of patients world-wide. Professor Johal reports these braces offer a very cosmetic solution, being barely visible in their simplest design. However, it is important to recognize they are not suited to all patients and their bites. They can be limited in the type of tooth movements that can be achieved and as a result, most manufacturers now incorporate a number of white attachments, which are glued to the teeth, in order to improve the quality of tooth movement achievable. This has reduced their cosmetic appearance slightly. It is also worth bearing in mind that this type of brace is removable and therefore, patients are inclined to remove them in some instances more than required, which in turn can slow the treatment progression. They are associated with minimal discomfort and rubbing but can affect speech slightly whilst the patient learns to adapt to them [1-5 days].