I am in my late 60s and want to straighten my teeth. My understanding is that there are now some type of invisible looking braces that teenagers are wearing. Do you have to be a teenager for them or is there an age limit? I’d love to not have to wear a bunch of metal if I don’t need to.
Abigail
Dear Abigail,
How exciting that you are getting to straighten your teeth. The Invisible braces you’ve heard of are very likely to be a procedure called Invisalign. These use clear aligners, such as the ones pictured above. While it is true that teenagers use them a lot now, they were originally designed for adults who still wanted to look professional while getting the smile they wanted.
You are definitely NOT too old to wear Invisalign. In fact, I know of a woman in her 80s who used Invisalign and I have a suspicion she’s not the oldest either.
As we age, our teeth not only shift a bit, they also pick up stains. This leads me to an additional benefit to using this form of orthodontics as well. The aligners can also double as teeth whitening trays. All your dentist would need to provide you is the whitening gel, which you can wear at your convenience. This means you can straighten and whiten your teeth simultaneously for a fraction of what it would cost you to do them separately.
After you are done with your treatment, send us a picture of your beautiful new smile.
This blog is brought to you by Des Moines Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Phelan Thomas.
Click here to learn about complete smile makeovers with porcelain veneers.