Clear Aligners by Mailorder?
You might have heard of Smile Club Direct and other “online aligner” provider.
These online providers offer “mail order” aligners to correct crooked teeth without the need to see a dentist. The only time the customer (not patient) will have some contact with the provider/company is when a 3 d scan is taken. Alternatively the customer receives an impression kit and has to take impressions of his teeth.
There is a major flaw in the concept: adult patients mostly present with light to severe crowding. Meaning there is not enough room in the jaw to accomodate the (mostly) front teeth.
That means IPR is often the correct way of accomodate the front teeth WITHOUT compromising the back teeth and the occlusion.
What is IPR?
It’s actually a simple process that involves smoothing the sides of your teeth very slightly to create space so you can get the very best results from your aligners. Your dentist or orthodontist will use a polishing strip to polish away a tiny amount of enamel from between the teeth, creating a space that is barely noticeable unless you look very closely. This means there is no friction between the teeth and space is created for them to align into.
How it is done?
Your dentist or orthodontist will use a smoothing strip or handpiece to remove a small amount of enamel (0.2mm – 0.5mm) from between your teeth. With some other brands of aligners you may be told that you have 3.5mm of over tooth crowding on your lower teeth, you might be recommend 1mm of IPR (0.2mm removed between your 5 front teeth) to allow 12 aligners to comfortable move and straighten the teeth.
Mail order aligner companies claim that crowded teeth in adults can be aligned WITHOUT IPR!
How?
The company states that the jaw can be “widened”. unfortunately that is NOT possible once you reached adulthood unless you have RME (=Rapid Maxillary Expansion) or surgery.
The aligners can only tip the teeth outwards BUT NOT THE BONE . In a worst case scenario the teeth can literaly be moved through the bone. The bad news: the client will not notice that something isn’t quite right until the situation is either serious or the alignment is shortlived and the teeth will move back very quickly.
Aligner by mail-order: it is NOT possible to widen the jaw of an adult with clear aligner. The aligner will only “tilt” the teeth outwards.
That will change the bite (occlusion) and is also not stable (Relapse very likely).
I have seen more than enough patients (especially younger ones) with TMJ problems and messed up occlusions cause by ovberexpanding the jaw (arch).
Please note: the jaw (upper and lower) cannot be widened once you reached adulthood. In case of the mailorder companies: these aligners will overexpand the arches and MESS up the “bite” (=occlusion). Here one of the more genuine youtube reviews:
There is a reason for the popularity of these providers: clear aligners, especially INVISALIGN, are expensive.
Thanks to digitral technology we can offer aligners at a significantly lower price than invisalign because Atlantic Dental has a 3-d scanner and in-house laboratory including digital printers. We can produce clear aligners using market leading aligner material “Zendura” (= comparable with Invisalign) at a lower price.
Visit our dedicated website for more information:
www.6-months-smile.co.uk
If you are looking for the correction of your misaligned teeth with clear aligner or fixed braces at a reasonable price: call us on 01637852888