Thinking about using "Smile Direct Club" instead of a normal Orthodontist for braces / invisalign. They seem ok, as a hands off service. the Orthodontists we have seen pretty much do the same thing, take molds, work out a plan and charge a whole bunch more…
The 60% cost saving seems to be about right comparing what they charge compared to traditional Orthodontists.
Anyone have any experiences or thoughts
https://www.aso.org.au/news/risks-mail-order-teeth-straighte…
Have a read of this. Am a dentist and that basically summarises most points. My practice does not do orthodontics so I got no horse in this race.
I do some TMD work. I have a horse in this race.
Go horse!
You basically need to have teeth that are barely crooked, and hopefully you have no problems with your wisdom teeth or have had them removed before. Also I hope you've taken care of every cavity and fundamental dental issue first.
Quite often an orthodontist will have little say in how these aligner/retainers are made, as they use someone external to make them anyway. A few times I've had to insist on another impression and retainer being made because I felt excessive strain on particular teeth, which can all come down to how the mould is done at an orthodontist. Most of the time the dental technicians are the ones doing that. If you have issues with gum recession or bleeding, just see an orthodontist while you're using the mail order kit. In many cases they'll just tell you to either get a new mould and send away for replacement, or heat up the retainer/aligner and massage areas pressing on the problem gum areas to reduce the pressure. I usually always opted for the latter.
YEMV.
You get what you pay for.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-22/a-tooth-s…
"As the SmileDirect has grown, however, more customers are saying that their teeth have been compromised. In the last three years to mid-August, consumers had lodged some 1,050 complaints on the Better Business Bureau website … Many described broken and loose teeth and misaligned bites … Some customers have sought refunds. But those who accept must sign a secret agreement to not discuss their experience anywhere and to withdraw any complaints they’ve made to any government agency, including the state dental board."
"Kevin O’Dwyer, a state dental board lawyer, says, “there’s no doubt” SmileDirect violates the law."
I was interested in this but kept reading many people being rejected as they werent a 'perfect fit' for sdc, but if you do it, tell me how it goes.