Sleep is incredibly restorative, both mentally and physically. It allows your body and your brain to process the day and devotes their efforts to healing which often isn’t possible while you are awake because there are too many other things that they need to do. In recent years, the popularity of at-home teeth alignment has grown; however, wearing them all of the time can be pretty cumbersome, and they are easy to lose hence nighttime aligners. So, let’s get into it.
Nighttime Aligners Explained
Realistically, nighttime aligners should be pretty self-explanatory; they are simply aligners that you can wear at night, like the ones from ALIGNERCO. Aligners themselves offer an alternative to the traditional train track braces that used to be more prevalent. Aligners are removable and can be ordered remotely, and often, the treatment time is shorter too. Usually, aligners would still need to be worn most of the time. We’re talking upwards of twenty hours a day.
Nighttime aligners, on the other hand, only need to be worn for around ten hours a day; this means a little before you go to bed, while you sleep and maybe an hour after you wake up. Nighttime aligners have to be worn continually throughout their prescribed time. You cannot remove them to eat or drink, although you should have to. Lastly, the treatment is likely to take longer than it would if you were wearing them more. Nighttime aligners tend to be made from a thicker plastic than other aligners, which is what helps to make them more effective during their limited hours of treatment.
Pros & Cons
Clear aligners are already designed to be more subtle and less cumbersome than traditional braces. However, it is easy to still feel self-conscious when wearing them during the day because they can affect your speech, and they need to be removed when eating or drinking to avoid damage and staining. Therefore, the biggest pro of nighttime aligners is simply that you only have to wear them at night, and most of that time will be when you are sleeping anyway. They are much more convenient in that respect.
However, because the wear is more limited, the treatment time is typically longer, although usually only by a few months. They are also probably only suited to those with mild misalignment issues, as anything more severe is going to require a more involved treatment plan. Once the treatment time is up, you are still likely to need to wear the retainers regularly to stop the teeth from moving back to their original position.
Are Nighttime Aligners the Right Choice for Me?
There are several factors to consider when trying to work out whether or not nighttime aligners would make sense for you personally. The biggest factor is going to be the severity of your misalignment and the orientation of your teeth. If you only suffer from mild to moderate misalignment, then nighttime aligners are a great option for you; if your misalignment is more severe than that, then they probably aren’t even an option for you to consider.
If you qualify for nighttime aligners, but you still aren’t sure, then think about your lifestyle – would having traditional aligners be compatible? If your job involves speaking a lot, then traditional aligners might not be ideal because they can create a lisp or a speech impediment which can be frustrating and embarrassing. If you are worried about losing them or having to take them every time you want to eat or drink something, then again, nighttime aligners remove this obstacle.
Think about the practicalities. If you are more clumsy or forgetful and you are likely to lose other aligners when you have to take them out to eat or drink, then they probably aren’t for you. These only need to be worn during the night and can be kept by your bed, minimizing your chances of misplacing or losing them.
Lastly, you will also need to factor in your budget. Aligners can be more expensive than traditional braces; however, going through a company rather than your dentist can help to save you some money. In terms of daytime aligners versus nighttime aligners, there can be a discrepancy in price. Nighttime aligners are thicker and require a longer treatment plan which can increase their price, although this often isn’t by a whole lot.
To Conclude
At home, aligners have transformed the teeth straightening game. You can now get straighter teeth from the comfort of your own home, which is already incredibly convenient, and nighttime aligners simply increase this convenience. As mentioned above, not everyone will qualify for nighttime aligners, which is something that you will need to bear in mind. Generally, the course of treatment also takes longer, so if you want quick results, then traditional aligners or other forms of braces might help you to achieve the results that you want more quickly.
