Considering investing in your smile with the KiyoClear Orthodontic Aligner System? Great! If so, you’re probably wondering how the heck these clear, lightweight aligners work to straighten your teeth and broaden your smile.
To explain how clear aligners work, let’s first look at the technology behind them. Then, we’ll talk about how the KiyoClear aligner/expander technique gives you an unparalleled experience and awesome results.
What is Aligner Technology?
Aligners use thin, transparent plastic trays to move teeth in small increments when worn consistently.
- Unlike braces that are attached to your teeth, aligners are removable and changed at intervals of 14 to 21 days. This is determined by the age of the patient and the amount of movement built into each aligner. They look like dental bleaching trays or clear retainers.
- Aligners are designed in a computer. A model of your teeth is loaded into CAD software and a new smile is designed. The computer calculates a series of aligner stages to take you from your current smile to your new one. These are manufactured and delivered to your dentist or orthodontist.
- The length of aligner therapy and number of aligners required vary depending on the complexity of your situation and your dentist’s prescription. Most KiyoClear patients finish in 10 aligner stages or less!
The length of treatment depends on how consistently your aligners are worn, and how much resistance to movement your jawbone presents. Every patient is different, but you can help ensure maximum results by following the instructions, wearing your aligners and expanders consistently, and taking good care of them.
Aligners are designed to make small movements at a time by putting gentle pressure on your teeth. Like all orthodontic treatment, your teeth will literally be moved through your jawbone. Putting pressure on a tooth results in bone remodeling. The bone “melts away” in the direction of the pressure and then rebuilds in the space left behind. The changes from aligner to aligner are very small, moving your teeth gradually over time. This makes aligner therapy generally gentle and comfortable.
The KiyoClear System utilizes a patented aligner/expander technique that moves your teeth by creating space with the expanders and guiding the movement with the aligners. When you receive your aligners and expanders, your doctor will give you instructions about how to put them on and take them off, how to keep them (and your teeth) clean during the process, when to switch to the next stage and how to use your expanders.
Like with other systems, you’ll wear your KiyoClear Aligners for at least 22 hours per day, removing them to eat or drink. You will wear your KiyoClear Expanders for 10 hours, only at night.
One benefit of clear aligner systems like the KiyoClear System is that, unlike traditional braces, you can remove your aligners to eat, drink, brush, and floss. You don’t have to worry about food being stuck in your braces, or popping off a bracket if you bite down on something hard. Aligners are easy to clean with your toothbrush, the OAP Aligner Cleaning Foam included in your kit, or aligner cleaning tablets like Retainer Brite.
Advantages of Using Aligners + Expanders Together
The KiyoClear System is unique in that it combines aligners with expanders. The integrated KiyoClear Expanders create space in crowded dental arches so your teeth have somewhere to move. Other aligner systems may require that your doctor remove tooth enamel from between your teeth in order to create space or glue small buttons on to your teeth to help facilitate movement. The KiyoClear System was designed to eliminate this as much as possible.
Our aligner-expander combination expands and moves teeth simultaneously and offers you a more natural approach that preserves your teeth and produces a stellar smile!
You’ll wear your KiyoClear Aligners for 22 hours per day and your KiyoClear Expanders for 10 hours at night. We suggest putting them in right after dinner and keeping them in while you sleep.
Together, the KiyoClear aligner/expander system is a powerful combination that’s gentle on teeth while producing beautiful and lasting results.