Will Invisalign in Kallangur Change My Face for a Better smile?

Straighter teeth change how a smile looks, and many people considering clear aligners also wonder whether treatment will change the shape of their face. It is a fair question. The honest answer is that aligners move teeth, not bones, so any change to your face is usually small. For some people, though, a better tooth position alters how the lips and cheeks sit, and that can show up as a softer or more balanced profile.

Clear aligners, often called Invisalign after the brand name, are a series of thin, removable plastic trays made from a 3D scan of your teeth. Each tray is slightly different from the last, and you change to the next one every week or two as your teeth move. The trays are worn for around 20 to 22 hours a day and come out for eating, for drinking anything other than water, and for cleaning. Most treatment takes somewhere between several months and two years, depending on how much movement is needed. You can read more about clear aligner treatment in Kallangur on our treatment page.

When the active stage ends, you have finished with the aligners. Teeth naturally try to drift back, so you then wear a retainer to hold them in their new position. That may be a removable retainer worn at night, a thin wire bonded behind the front teeth, or both. Wearing your retainer as advised is what keeps the result.

Keep reading to learn what decides the shape of your face, and what clear aligners can and cannot change.

What Determines The Shape Of Your Face?

The shape of your face is set mostly by your skeleton: the upper and lower jaws, the cheekbones and the brow. Genetics decide most of that framework, which is why some families tend to have long, narrow faces and others broad, square jaws.

On top of the bone sit muscle, fat and skin, and these change over a lifetime. Weight, age, sun exposure and lifestyle all affect how full or defined a face looks. Your teeth play a smaller but real part. They support the lips and cheeks from behind, so the position of the front teeth affects how far the lips sit forward and how the mouth looks when you smile.

So when people talk about aligners changing their face, they usually mean that last part: the soft tissues of the lips and cheeks responding to teeth in a new position.

Will Invisalign In Kallangur Change Your Face?

For most people, clear aligners make only a subtle change to the face, and sometimes none that anyone else would notice. Here is where a difference can show:

• Protruding front teeth. If your upper front teeth tip forward, bringing them back can let the lips close more easily and sit more naturally.
• Crowding and a narrow smile. Aligning crowded teeth can widen the visible arch slightly, which some people feel fills out the corners of the smile.
• Gaps between teeth. Closing gaps changes how the smile looks, but rarely the shape of the face itself.
• Bite problems. Aligners, sometimes with small elastics, can improve some overbites and underbites that come from the position of the teeth. When a bite problem comes from the size or position of the jaw itself, aligners cannot change the bone. A true skeletal underbite or a markedly set-back lower jaw may need specialist orthodontic treatment, and in some adults jaw surgery, to change the facial profile.

It is also worth knowing that aligners cannot replace missing teeth. If a sunken look around the mouth comes from lost teeth, the answer is replacing those teeth, for example with dental implants or a denture, rather than straightening the ones that remain.

The simplest way to find out what aligners might change for you is a personal consultation at our Kallangur surgery. Your dentist examines your teeth, bite and jaw, takes a digital scan and photographs, and tells you honestly whether you are likely to notice any change to your profile. If your bite needs more than aligners can do, we will say so and explain the options, including referral. Results vary from person to person.

Enhance Your Smile At Kallangur Dental Surgery

Crooked and crowded teeth are harder to clean, which raises the risk of decay and gum disease, and many people simply feel self-conscious about them. Clear aligners straighten teeth without brackets or wires, and you can take them out to eat and brush. Visit Kallangur Dental Surgery to find out whether they suit you.

At Kallangur Dental Surgery, clear aligner treatment starts from $4,500, depending on how much your teeth need to move. You start with a free smile consultation, booked with a $75 deposit that is refunded at your appointment or if you cancel with 48 hours' notice, and you receive a written, itemised quote before deciding anything. Some health funds with orthodontic extras contribute to the cost, and we can claim on the spot through HICAPS.

You can book a dental appointment online with us or call us on (07) 3886 0933.