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In sixth grade, I had to take my first trip to the orthodontist. My front two teeth were very crooked and displaced. Not to mention the gaps that were in between each tooth. Of course the cure for both my dental issues was the good ole fashion metal style braces. It wasn't that big of deal, since everyone else going through puberty was wearing them too.

Getting food stuck in between the wires was annoying. So was that special tool to string dental floss through to clean real good in between the teeth. If that didn't work, a water pick was supposed to be the next best thing, but it was hardly useful.

With metal style braces, you could jazz up the brackets with a variety of colored bans. The colored bans would fit over the brackets and would give decoration to the braces. I would usually get colors that either represented my school or dance studio. It was the only fun thing about having braces.
But what if you are an adult and don't want a mouth full of flaring metal? Well, there are some new appliances that work like traditional braces without the unappealing look.

OrthoClear is a new product that allows patients to wear clear aligners made up of medical grade polymers that straighten the teeth. A professional orthodontist will take impressions of the teeth and then send them off to OrthoClear to actually make the personalized aligners. The aligners are worn between 9 to 18 months depending on the severity of treatment. The aligners can be removed to eat and also for brushing a flossing; something traditional braces don't allow. Once the orthodontist feels like your ready to quit wearing them, you just take them out. It's that simple no removing brackets from teeth.

Another product similar to OrthoClear is Invisalign. It is the same set up with the patient changing aligners approximately every 2 weeks. The clear like design is so clear you can't tell that a person is wearing them. They cost just as much as regular braces, but without the hassle. Both these treatments are not for everyone. It depends on what kind of work needs to be done. Both OrthoClear and Invisalign correct crowding, spacing, overbite, under bite, cross bite, and other orthodontic problems.

After I had

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