Why You Probably Should Not Use Mail Order Aligners

If you want straight teeth, a healthy bite, and a beautiful smile, Invisalign aligners can get you there in as little as six months. The Invisalign process is supported by about 6 million smiles in its database, 20 years of study, and over 900 patents.

Unfortunately, that means imitators are popping up, which sell clear teeth aligners through the mail but don’t have the same standards of dental excellence as Invisalign. They sell clear braces or trays but don’t send patients to an actual dentist or orthodontist for professional dental care.

Some patients are looking for a lower price and no visits to the dentist’s office, but they don’t know that mail-order aligner brands, such as Candid and Smile Direct Club, could be dangerous and ineffective.

Mail-Order Orthodontics Vs. Invisalign®

You cannot get the best dental results without visiting a dentist. When you start with Invisalign, you’ll be visiting a local dentist and being supported by the team members at a dental clinic. They’ll be personally watching out for your dental health and safety.

In contrast, mail-order clear braces companies don’t encourage you to visit a dental specialist…while offering you dental services. As your teeth are moving for months and months, you will not be supervised by an experienced, caring human being.

At Aliana Family Dental, our patients are our neighbors in this area. When thinking about Invisalign vs. Smile Direct and Candid, here’s what our Invisalign doctor will do that is superior:

  • Discuss your goals with you in a free, in-person consultation.
  • Look through your medical and dental history to identify any potential problems in advance—a major step that mail-orders companies can’t do.
  • Thoroughly check your teeth and mouth for general good health.
  • Examine your gums, because they’re one of the foundations of healthy teeth. And we can clean gums, if there are any infections there.
  • Capture new dental x-rays of your teeth and jawbones, which help us plan the best route for your teeth to move through. Again, mail-order brands don’t always offer this.
  • Note your other orthodontic and general dentistry work to add it to your Invisalign process.
  • Carefully watch your bite movement and plan how to improve it, when necessary. A mail-order company can’t examine your bite in person.
  • Take fast, touchless impressions of your teeth, instantly creating 3D models of your teeth and clear aligners.

What is Invisalign if not a way for your local dentist office in Sugar Land, TX to serve you personally, help you get your dream smile, and watch out for your safety? Plus, we watch for any other ways to keep your teeth safe and catch any problems before they develop too far. We’ve been seeing results from Smile Direct Club in our office and have been happy to fix them, but would rather you avoid them entirely.

Can You Take Impressions Of Your Own Teeth?

Here’s one of the main flaws with mail-order orthodontics: They depend on you taking impressions of your own teeth.

The process of moving your teeth is based on exactly where your teeth start—what positions they were in originally. Aligners push on them based on that. Yet mail-order brands expect patients to take their own dental impressions at home with no experience.

The main foundation for orthodontic work, then, is shaky from the start. Why? A few reasons:

  1. Experienced dentists often need several tries before they get an accurate impression with traditional methods (biting on an impression material).
  2. It takes training to be able to recognize if an impression was made well or not.
  3. Professional impressions are taken in a controlled dental environment, which patients don’t have.
  4. Impressions need to be extremely accurate and detailed in order for clear braces to move teeth to the right positions. But homemade impressions are often a little sloppy, instead.

Unfortunately, customers of mail-order brands won’t be able to evaluate if their own impressions are accurate or flawed. They won’t take multiple attempts. They’ll just send in their first try.

So, why do some patients report that their Smile Direct Club results are good? Those are simply the patients that were happy enough to leave a review. They were lucky to get impressions that worked—and to have minor tooth problems, to begin with. Other patients don’t get that lucky.

Get A Great Smile With Dr. Baratta

Invisalign braces can make your teeth straighter, improve your bite, rotate an individual tooth, and more. Your professional team will watch over you closely and make sure you get the smile of your dreams. Don’t risk a mail-order experience where no personal dentistry is practiced. Call Aliana Family Dental for a FREE Invisalign consultation.

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