The advancement of modern dental technology gives you the opportunity to choose among more options than ever for straightening your teeth and creating a beautiful, healthy smile. If you’re considering Invisalign, you should absolutely see an orthodontist. However, it wouldn’t surprise us if you were considering other options as well.
Because of Jones & DeShon Orthodontics’ extensive expertise in Invisalign, we’ve become acquainted with several clear-aligner alternatives, and we wanted to share our experiences with you. After reading, we think you’ll agree that seeing a seasoned orthodontist with a large portfolio of Invisalign cases is the way to go for straightening your teeth without braces.
We encourage you to research all your options when it comes to orthodontic treatment with Invisalign. These are two you may come across while you’re looking.
Resorting to Direct-to-Consumer Treatments
If you’ve done any reading about using clear aligners for orthodontic treatment, you’ve no doubt come across direct-to-consumer (DTC) treatments.
With this method, the DTC provider will send you an in-home impression kit. You will receive instructions to take at-home impressions of your teeth and mail back the kit. A dentist or technician will analyze your impressions to determine whether you are a suitable candidate to wear aligners. If you are, the technician or dentist will create your aligners based on the impressions you sent. Your aligners will be mailed to your home with instructions on how to wear them.
But remember: While DTC providers may attract you with lower prices than in-office care from an orthodontist, you get what you pay for. Using DTC aligners will not produce orthodontist-quality results and may potentially cause unwanted side effects, leading to serious oral-health issues. Here’s why:
Overall oral health assessment
In addition to moving teeth, orthodontic treatment involves re-forming ligaments and bone tissue that hold your teeth in place. When you begin treatment with Jones & DeShon, we will assess your dental health to ensure your teeth and gums are healthy enough to undergo those processes. If you have untreated cavities, old dental work that’s sustained damage, or gum disease, we will advise you about resolving those issues before starting any tooth movement.
Unfortunately, cavities, gum disease and other related problems cannot be seen on impressions or a few photos. Starting treatment on top of these dental problems will ultimately lead to more extensive, potentially irreversible, dental problems and deliver very poor orthodontic results.
Precise treatment planning
An orthodontist is capable of treatment planning that is far more precise and accurate in comparison to mail-order orthodontic treatments.
Instead of manual impressions, Dr. J and Dr. D use an iTero scanner to create a digital scan in minutes of your teeth. As we’re going over your treatment plan, we can use the scan to illustrate how your teeth will shift into position. If needed, we can make lightning fast adjustments that will further optimize your treatment.
Case supervision
Many potential candidates for orthodontic treatment like the idea of DTC aligners because they won’t have to visit the orthodontist every four to eight weeks for checkups. But there’s a high price for this “convenience.”
Periodic visits during your orthodontic treatment give us a chance to see how your teeth are moving and make adjustments if necessary. An improperly fitted aligner can cause irritation, pain, and tooth movement that proceeds incorrectly or at the wrong pace. Without an orthodontist to catch these issues if they arise, you can actually do harm to your bite that requires more extensive orthodontic work to correct.
Suitable treatment time
You will never visit an orthodontist’s website and find guarantees about perfect smiles in six months. Drs. Jones and DeShon are more concerned with achieving the best results for your teeth than rushing the process.
Exact treatment time can vary widely from patient to patient. The length of your own treatment period will depend on the type and severity of the orthodontic issues that you have as well as your compliance with hygiene and appliance instructions.
In comparison, DTC providers often promise a swift timeline even before they’ve actually seen your teeth. While you may indeed finish their treatment in this abbreviated time period, you will not get ideal results and you may require further treatment to finish the job.
Are they really cheaper?
The truth is that most orthodontists, including Jones & DeShon, have created payment options to help patients make treatment affordable. As a result, we are able to compete with the cost of other treatments, especially if you consider the potential for additional needed treatment down the line.
Seeing a Dentist Instead of an Orthodontist
First, let us get this out of the way: There are many excellent dentists in our area. We work with them every day to provide orthodontic treatment to their patients and consult with them when patients need dental work before or during their treatment with us.
Many dentists have started offering Invisalign as part of their suite of services. On the surface, the teeth straightening services of dentists may seem nearly identical to that of orthodontists.
The key thing to keep in mind when deciding between a dentist and an orthodontist for Invisalign treatment is that orthodontists have had, at minimum, two years of specialized training in the development, growth and alignment of the teeth and jaws on top of their dental training.
Drs. Jones and DeShon studied at two of the top orthodontics programs in the country. They are experts in their fields who make their decisions based on the highest-quality orthodontics research and training available. And because they are Diamond Plus Top 1% Invisalign Providers, you can rest easy knowing that between them, they’ve created thousands of beautiful Invisalign smiles.
Contact Us Today and Schedule a Free Consultation
No matter what you ultimately decide, we want the very best orthodontic results for you, and we encourage you to investigate your options. That’s why we offer a free consultation to every patient before beginning treatment.
To find out if Invisalign is the treatment for you, contact us today or use our appointment request form to schedule a visit.