I have been saving up for Invisalign, but saw an advertisement on Facebook for Smile Care Club. As I looked into it, it appears I could save quite a bit of money going this route. Does it work? I figured, because I live across the country from you and could never actually be a patient, you’d give me a straight answer.
Paul
Dear Paul,
I have looked at this before as a matter of professional interest. Smile Care Club is essentially a “DIY” Invisalign knock-off company. It is significantly cheaper. The bulk of the reason for that is you don’t have the regular care and supervision of a dentist during treatment. Plus, it switches aligners every three weeks instead of every two.
Does it work? It looks like it can if you’re an ideal candidate and nothing goes wrong during the procedure. Here are some considerations before making your final decision.
Considerations before Choosing Smile Care Club
You send an impression and photos to the dentist. I do not feel these are enough of a diagnostic to know whether or not a patient has gum disease. If you do and go forward with treatment, it will aggravate the situation and could cause you to lose teeth. However, if you’re sure your gums are in top shape, that won’t be a problem.
There are a couple of other big concerns I have:
- Shaving Teeth
In cases where patients have crowding to deal with, one solution is shaving the sides of the teeth. This is a very tricky procedure, that even the best cosmetic dentists have to be extraordinarily careful to maintain the proper shape of the teeth while removing the right amount of enamel. They’ll likely send you to one of their contracted dentists to do this. It’s just a simple way for a local dentist to bring in some extra cases. However, this dentist isn’t personally invested in your case because you’re not technically his patient. I’m not sure how careful he or she will be.
- Tooth Rotation
Sometimes teeth have to be rotated during the procedure. With Invisalign, you’re under the continual care of a dentist who has a vested interest in the outcome. During your checkups for treatment, he or she is able to evaluate whether or not the tooth is rotating as it should. Without those checkups, that will get missed and the outcome will not be what you’d hope for.
Bottom line. It’s a gamble, but can work. You’ll just have to determine how much of a risk-taker you are.
This blog is brought to you by San Antonio Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Imam.