Cosmetic

Clear Aligners Perth

Removable trays instead of wires and brackets

Clear aligners straighten teeth with a series of removable trays instead of fixed wires and brackets. Most people will not notice you are wearing them.

They are not right for every case. Some bites still need conventional braces, and the only way to know which you are is an examination and a set of photographs. We will tell you plainly if aligners will not get you there.

Consultations for clear aligners are with Dr Mayuri Gavit. Ask for her by name when you book.

What clear aligners are for

Malocclusion is what happens when your teeth do not meet properly with the jaws closed. It covers crowding, spacing, teeth that have rotated, and bites where the top and bottom sets do not line up. More patients and dentists now choose clear aligners over traditional wires and brackets, for reasons such as:

Nearly invisible appliances
No dietary restrictions, because the trays come out to eat
No obstruction to flossing or brushing
Controlled single-tooth movement, planned before the first tray goes in
Fewer, shorter review appointments than adjustments on fixed braces

There is a practical side to this as well as an appearance one. Crowded surfaces trap plaque where a brush cannot reach, so they collect decay more readily, and teeth that do not meet evenly wear faster than teeth that do.

How the movement actually happens

Each aligner in the series is very slightly different from the one before it, so each applies a small, controlled amount of pressure and the teeth move a fraction at a time. You change to the next tray on a set schedule, and the whole sequence is planned before the first one goes in.

Teeth move because sustained light pressure remodels the bone around the root — bone is resorbed on the side being pushed towards and laid down on the side being pushed away from. That process takes time and it takes continuity, which is why wear time matters so much more than most people expect. Sustained gentle force moves teeth; intermittent heavy force mostly just hurts.

Small tooth-coloured attachments are often bonded to a few teeth to give the tray something to grip, particularly where a tooth needs rotating or uprighting rather than simply tipping. They come off at the end.

What the treatment looks like from your side

Assessment
Examination, photographs, X-rays and a scan or impressions. This is also where we check the things that have to be right first: no active decay, healthy gums, and enough bone support for teeth to be moved safely.
The plan
The sequence is designed and you see the projected movements before you commit. You are told at this point how many trays, roughly how long, and what it will cost — including retainers, which are part of the treatment and not an extra at the end.
Fitting the first trays
Attachments bonded if they are needed, the first aligners fitted and checked, and you are shown how to get them in and out without fighting them.
The middle
Change trays on schedule, wear them 22 hours a day, and come in for short reviews so we can check the teeth are tracking as planned. If a tooth is not keeping up, it is far easier to adjust at review four than at review twelve.
Finishing
Attachments removed and polished off, the bite checked, and any small refinements planned. Refinement trays are common and are not a sign anything went wrong.
Retention
Retainers, permanently. This is the part people skip and the part that decides whether the result holds.

The 22 hours

This is the single thing that decides whether aligner treatment works, and it is entirely in your hands rather than ours.

Aligners are worn 22 hours a day and come out only to eat, to drink anything other than water, and to brush. That leaves about two hours across a whole day, which sounds generous until you count three meals and a coffee. Wearing them twenty hours instead of twenty-two does not slow treatment down by ten per cent — it tends to mean the teeth stop tracking the plan, the trays no longer fit properly, and the sequence has to be re-scanned and restarted.

Put them back in as soon as you have finished eating, not when you next remember.
Water only while they are in. Tea, coffee, juice and soft drink stain the trays and hold sugar and acid against the teeth under a plastic seal.
Change trays at night rather than in the morning, so the tightest hours are spent asleep.
Brush before they go back in. Aligners over unbrushed teeth cause more decay than not wearing them at all.
Keep the previous tray until the new one is settled, and never wrap one in a napkin at a restaurant — that is how most lost aligners are lost.

None of this is difficult. It is simply relentless, for months, and it is worth being honest with yourself about before starting rather than three trays in.

When aligners are not the right answer

Being told plainly is more useful than being sold to.

Aligners handle crowding, spacing, rotations and mild to moderate bite problems well. They are less suited to large vertical movements, to teeth that need substantial rotation, to significant skeletal discrepancies where the jaws rather than the teeth are the problem, and to cases needing extractions and large space closures. Fixed braces are still better at some of those, and some cases need an orthodontist rather than a general dentist.

Gum health decides a great deal of it too. Moving teeth through bone that has already been lost to periodontal disease makes the situation worse, so gum treatment comes first and sometimes rules aligners out altogether.

Book a consultation and we will examine your teeth, take photographs, and tell you whether you are a suitable candidate. If aligners will not get you where you want to be, we will say so and refer you to somebody who can.

Retainers are not optional

Teeth move for the whole of your life. They were drifting before treatment and they will drift after it, and the fibres around a tooth that has been rotated have a particularly long memory. Relapse in the first year is the commonest disappointment in orthodontics, and it is almost entirely preventable.

Retention is usually a clear retainer worn at night indefinitely, sometimes with a fine wire bonded behind the lower front teeth. Nightly at first, and for most people nightly forever — a few nights a week is often enough after a year or two, but stopping altogether is not.

Retainers wear out, crack and get lost. Replacing one costs a fraction of redoing treatment, so tell us early rather than leaving a broken retainer in a drawer for six months.

Common questions

Clear Aligners: your questions answered

How long does treatment take?: It depends entirely on how far the teeth have to move — some cases run a few months, others most of a year, and a small number longer. You are given a projected number of trays and a projected timeline at the planning stage rather than a guess at the first appointment. Wear time is the biggest single variable, and it is yours rather than ours.
Do they hurt?: Not sharply. Each new tray brings a couple of days of pressure and tenderness when biting, which is the feeling of teeth actually moving, and it fades. Changing trays in the evening puts the worst of it into the night. Ordinary pain relief covers it if you need it, and most people stop needing it after the first few changes.
Will it affect how I speak?: For a few days, slightly, in the way any new appliance does — usually a mild lisp on 's' sounds. It goes as the tongue adapts, and reading aloud for ten minutes a day for the first week speeds that up noticeably. By the second week most people forget they are in.
Can I take them out for a wedding or a presentation?: For an hour or two, occasionally, yes. That is one of the genuine advantages over fixed braces. Doing it regularly is a different matter, because the hours come out of the 22 and the teeth notice. If there is an event coming up, tell us and we can plan the tray changes around it.
What if I lose a tray?: Ring us the same day. Depending on where you are in the sequence, the answer is usually to go back to the previous tray or forward to the next one, and we would rather make that call than have you guess. Do not simply leave them out until the next review — that is how a lost tray turns into a re-scan.
Can I whiten my teeth at the same time?: Usually towards the end rather than during, and often using the final aligners or the retainers as trays, which is convenient. Whitening while attachments are bonded to the teeth leaves patches, so it waits until they come off.
I had braces as a teenager and my teeth have moved back.: Very common, and it is what happens when retainers stop. Aligners are frequently a good answer for exactly this, because the movements needed are usually small. Come in with any old records if you still have them.
How do aligners compare with the mail-order ones?: The trays themselves are not the issue. What is missing from a remote service is the examination that finds the decay and the gum disease before teeth are moved, the X-rays that show whether there is enough bone to move them through, the attachments that make difficult movements possible, and somebody looking in your mouth when a tooth stops tracking. Moving teeth is a clinical procedure with real risks; the plastic is the easy part.
Do you have to be an adult?: No, though timing matters for younger patients because the jaw is still growing and some problems are better treated at a particular stage. For teenagers, wear time is the honest thing to weigh up — a removable appliance only works if it is worn. We will give you a frank view at the assessment.

All frequently asked questions

Booking

Book a consultation

Come and talk to us about clear aligners. We will go through the options, what each costs, and what your health fund covers, before anything begins.

Call (08) 9306 2755

Which system do you use?

Which system do you use?

Clear Aligners Perth

Which system do you use?

What clear aligners are for

How the movement actually happens

What the treatment looks like from your side

The 22 hours

When aligners are not the right answer

Retainers are not optional

Clear Aligners: your questions answered

Book a consultation

Which system do you use?

Which system do you use?