Mixed Appliance Therapy Now Available

When patients make enquiries about clear braces, the most common request is for clear removable aligners. Although aligners are suitable for a lot of patients, the treatment time for aligners is - on average - longer than for clear FIXED braces.

The choices patients had until Six Month Smiles introduced Mixed Appliance Therapy were:

A) Clear removable aligners with longer treatment times, but less visible.

or

It's called Mixed Appliance Therapy because it is the combination of upper removable ultra clear aligners (called 6MS Invisible Aligners) and lower fixed clear braces, which have been used by Six Month Smiles since the beginning of the company.

The reason for this combination is that in most cases patients have more lower arch crowding that required braces to be worn longer and milder upper arch crowding, which can be treated in a shorter time. By combining the two options patients can often finish the upper arch at a similar time to the lower arch.

Some patients can still be treated with upper and lower aligners (no fixed braces required) and the Six Month Smiles Dentist will present the options to the patient after an assessment, which may involve a careful measurement of the teeth.

Here is an example of a patient I treated with Mixed Appliances and what this treatment looks like.

Figure 1: Patient is wearing Six Month Smiles Invisible Aligners on the top arch and fixed clear braces on the lower arch. This type of treatment is called Six Month Smiles Mixed Appliance. 

author:

Dr. Jan Einfeldt

Six Month Smiles Clinical Instructor

Staplehurst Dental Practice - Staplehurst, UK