CLEAR BRACES

Pros

• Clear braces offer an inconspicuous alternative to traditional braces, with no metal brackets or rubber bands required to achieve straight teeth. 
• You can remove the clear trays to clean them regularly, unlike braces with metal wires. There’s no concern about food getting trapped or wires getting in the way of flossing, so your teeth stay cleaner than they would with traditional metal braces.
• Most providers can show you a preview of your post-treatment smile, which can boost motivation to wear your aligners as often as possible. 
• Treatment time may be shorter than with conventional braces, depending on the amount of straightening that’s needed. That’s because aligners apply pressure to all of the teeth together, as opposed to each individual tooth, as traditional braces do. 
• Compared to traditional braces, clear braces reduce the number and duration of dental appointments and require fewer visits for things like fixing a popped wire or broken bracket.

Cons

• During the first few weeks of wearing them, you might have difficulty talking or produce more or less saliva than you normally would.  
• Each set of aligner trays can feel uncomfortable for the first few days, since the pressure against the teeth is more significant. The discomfort is almost always mild and temporary. 
• You’ll have to remove them when you’re eating or drinking anything other than clear, cold liquids and put them back in right after you’re done. If you keep them in, clear aligners can be stained easily by food and drink. 
• Most people will also require the use of buttons and attachments—small brackets and tooth-colored dots—to get the straight smile they want, which can make these braces more visible.
• This option usually isn't recommended for more complex types of orthodontic cases, including large overbites or severe misalignment. A board-certified orthodontist or dentist will be able to determine whether you’re a good candidate. 
• After you’ve finished treatment, you’ll still need to wear a retainer at night forever, to keep your teeth from moving back. 
• They're typically more expensive than traditional braces.

Related: Are DIY Invisible Aligners Disrupting the Dental Industry or Destroying Your Teeth? The Answer Is Not So Clear

Your price will depend on your location, your dentist’s experience, the extent of your orthodontic treatment needs, and the type of clear aligners you choose. See our Invisalign cost guide.

Some dental insurance companies cover the cost of clear braces the same way they cover traditional braces, and most companies also offer their own payment plans. 

Depending on which brand you choose, your total cost may include your dental impressions, lab fees, the aligners themselves, and dental appointments to monitor your progress.

Your orthodontist or dentist starts by taking a mold of your mouth and teeth. Most Invisalign providers offer a digital experience with an intraoral scanner for the mold-taking process, while other companies, such as SmileDirectClub, send you an impression kit in the mail so you can make a mold from home. With this option, you receive the majority of your treatment, including the aligners, by mail. 

If you’re working directly with your dentist or orthodontist, they will likely create a digital visualization of your post-treatment smile and develop a treatment plan for reaching your goal. 

Pittsburgh cosmetic dentist Dr. Andy Shieh urges anyone considering treatment by mail to ask themselves one question: "Do you want a licensed dentist or orthodontist guiding and supporting your treatment journey?”  

Experts agree that even if you’re going with a mail-order solution, you should still have your dental health evaluated beforehand, and then have regular orthodontic or dental appointments, to monitor your progress.

Each set of aligners applies a small amount of pressure to the teeth, creating gradual tooth movement. For the first few days after you switch to a new set (usually every two weeks), they may feel uncomfortable, like your teeth are being squeezed. 

Over time, the pressure lessens, meaning your mouth is ready for a new set. Changing trays is like tightening braces: It needs to be done to make sure your teeth keep moving.

It’s important to wear your clear aligners as much as possible. Dentists recommend wearing them for at least 20 hours per day—ideally, 22 hours. You can take them out to eat, drink or brush your teeth, but the more you wear the aligners, the better and quicker results you’ll see. 

Light, continuous force is most effective when moving teeth, so an interruption in wear will disturb the natural progression in movement and cause your teeth to shift back to their original position. Dentists on RealSelf report that patients who tried to wear their aligners for just 10–15 hours a day experienced slow, unpredictable tooth movement. 

Be careful not to wear them while eating or drinking anything other than water or other cool, clear liquids. Food and colored drinks can stain the aligners and may stain your teeth. You’ll also need to regularly clean your aligners, using a special cleanser and gentle toothbrush.

If you have several teeth that need repositioning, misalignment in your bite, or not enough space to move your teeth, you might need a longer treatment period, with arch widening or tooth filing to create more space.

Dr. Megan Shelton, a dentist in Carlsbad, California, explains that “sometimes, it’s necessary to ‘file’ or slim a tooth or teeth to create space to rotate or align the teeth, which is called interproximal reduction [IPR]. The reason for doing this is that the teeth are larger than the space allotted for them, so space needs to be created by making the teeth slimmer or broadening your arch.”

If you have back tooth problems, require tooth rotation or vertical movement of teeth, or have existing bridgework, this may not even be an option.

Some people start noticing a difference within just two weeks of treatment, while others need up to six months to start seeing results. 

The full treatment period for clear braces is 12–18 months on average, while treatment with metal braces typically takes two and a half years.

Every patient is different, and the length of your treatment will be determined by your provider. If you need a significant amount of work done, you’ll probably require more extended treatment. 

In cases that don’t require tooth extraction, treatment with clear braces might be faster, but traditional braces are faster for more complex cases, according to one analysis. If you’ve had braces in the past but your teeth have moved slightly, you may require as few as 10 weeks of treatment. 

“With the advancement of technology, all clear aligner companies use digital simulation to track patients' treatment progress and results. Some company’s technology and outcome-simulation tools are more robust and reliable than others,” notes Dr. Shieh.

Once your teeth are straight, your dentist or orthodontist should provide you with a retainer to wear post-treatment. Your results will last as long as you wear your retainer every night, which should keep your teeth from moving back to their original position.

You’re never too old to have straight teeth. As long as the gum and bone structure around your teeth are healthy enough to support tooth movement, there’s no age limit for orthodontics, including clear braces. 

Bonus: “When you’re finished with treatment and you have had the worn edges of your upper teeth smoothed and the corners rounded (which a good orthodontist will probably do as part of your treatment), your smile—and thus the lower half of your face—will look much younger," says Dr. John McDonald, an orthodontist in Salem, Oregon, in a RealSelf Q&A.

Some studies have been done on staining and discoloration. Depending on the composition of your aligners, drinking coffee will stain them, and there’s also the concern that the heat could warp or degrade the plastic. 

That’s why it’s best to remove clear aligners when you’re eating or drinking anything but water. Dr. Shieh warns his patients, “If they eat or drink with their clear aligners in, the aligners will stain and patients will end up with a stained smile and bad breath.”

If you're not wearing them, you can eat or drink anything.

These are three of the most well-known clear braces brands out there today, but one 2015 study noted there were 27 different clear aligner systems on the market at that time. 

Dr. Shieh explains that “both ClearCorrect and Invisalign treatments are backed and supervised by a dentist or an orthodontist, while SmileDirectClub offers a more ‘DIY’ treatment philosophy.” Out of these options, RealSelf members give Invisalign the highest Worth It Rating by far. 

Having a trained dental provider guiding you through the process and monitoring your progress is important to ensure the best result. 

“The number one disadvantage with any mail-order or online clear aligner treatments is the lack of a trained dental professional overseeing and supporting patients’ treatments to ensure success,” says Dr. Shieh. In addition to the disappointment of having undesirable results, you may end up needing to pay a dental professional anyway, to fix errors.

Ceramic braces, which are also sometimes called invisible braces, are more similar to metal and self-ligating braces than clear braces. They’re the same size and shape as metal braces but offer a more discreet appearance due to their clear brackets. In some cases, they move teeth much faster than clear aligners.

Beyond traditional braces, you could consider these other options for straightening your teeth. 

• Lingual braces (aka invisible braces and hidden braces) have brackets and wires on the back of your teeth. (Incognito braces are a type of lingual braces.) They’re even less noticeable than clear aligners, and you don’t have to remove them when you eat or drink. The downsides? They can have a much higher cost (more than $7,000 on average), and treatment can take anywhere from 18 months to three years. 
• Porcelain veneers can be attached to the front of your teeth, correcting minor alignment issues as well as gaps, chips, and discoloration. They’re more expensive than clear braces and not everyone is a candidate, but they instantly create a straight, bright smile.

Liu, Chen-Lu, et al. “Colour Stabilities of Three Types of Orthodontic Clear Aligners Exposed to Staining Agents.” International Journal of Oral Science, Nature Publishing Group, 16 Dec. 2016.

Papadimitriou, Aikaterini, et al. "Clinical effectiveness of Invisalign orthodontic treatment: a systematic review." Prog Orthod. 2018.

Tamer, İpek, et al. “Orthodontic Treatment with Clear Aligners and The Scientific Reality Behind Their Marketing: A Literature Review.” Turkish Journal of Orthodontics, Turkish Orthodontic Society, 1 Dec. 2019.