Some of you expressed interest in my experience with clear dental aligners from Smile Direct Club. (Previously known as Smile Care Club.)
I have been using the aligners for 12 weeks now and have had a problem free experience so far. But there are a few notes I'd like to mention if you are considering these for yourself. But first, progress pictures!
Before I started my treatment:
After 12 weeks of the treatment:
The angle of the second photo is slightly different than the first, so that changes the perspective a little, but you can still see the progress, especially with the top teeth.
The treatment plan I believe is about the same for everyone, except for the length of the treatment.
When you first get started, you have to take photos of your teeth from several different angles and submit them online. This feels kind of ridiculous as the faces you make while doing this look insane. I actually cropped the photos so they only showed my mouth.
Once they approve the photos, you buy a $95 evaluation kit. It includes a kit for making an impression of your teeth. They use these impressions to create your aligners. If they decide after receiving the impressions that you don't qualify for the program, they will refund you the $95.
If you are accepted and you decide to proceed, you have to pay $300 up front and then $100 per month for the duration of the treatment plan. I believe my treatment plan lasts 15 months.
When you get your first set of aligners, the first thing you will notice when putting them on is how tight they are. They will probably hurt too. They usually hurt for the first day or so. All of the movement that each set of aligners do is on the first day. After that, the aligners just hold your teeth in place while your jawbone and gums "heal them into place."
You wear each set of aligners for 3 weeks.
The only issues I've had were with the first set of aligners scraping the inside of my mouth slightly. I haven't noticed that being an issue with the subsequent aligners. On the current (5th) set of aligners, I've noticed that as my two front teeth are being pushed closer together, the gum is being squeezed behind them, causing the roof of my mouth to wrinkle. This seems to be going away progressively. This isn't really a big concern for me though.
Smile Direct Club tells you to clean the aligners only with cold water. I actually don't know how I could stand wearing them without actually brushing them with toothpaste. I used toothpaste that is a gel and doesn't have any grit to it.
There have been no issues with the aligners after cleaning them regularly this way.
Anyway, this is about the extent of my experience so far. If you have any questions, please let me know.
I have been using the aligners for 12 weeks now and have had a problem free experience so far. But there are a few notes I'd like to mention if you are considering these for yourself. But first, progress pictures!
Before I started my treatment:
After 12 weeks of the treatment:
The angle of the second photo is slightly different than the first, so that changes the perspective a little, but you can still see the progress, especially with the top teeth.
The treatment plan I believe is about the same for everyone, except for the length of the treatment.
When you first get started, you have to take photos of your teeth from several different angles and submit them online. This feels kind of ridiculous as the faces you make while doing this look insane. I actually cropped the photos so they only showed my mouth.
Once they approve the photos, you buy a $95 evaluation kit. It includes a kit for making an impression of your teeth. They use these impressions to create your aligners. If they decide after receiving the impressions that you don't qualify for the program, they will refund you the $95.
If you are accepted and you decide to proceed, you have to pay $300 up front and then $100 per month for the duration of the treatment plan. I believe my treatment plan lasts 15 months.
When you get your first set of aligners, the first thing you will notice when putting them on is how tight they are. They will probably hurt too. They usually hurt for the first day or so. All of the movement that each set of aligners do is on the first day. After that, the aligners just hold your teeth in place while your jawbone and gums "heal them into place."
You wear each set of aligners for 3 weeks.
The only issues I've had were with the first set of aligners scraping the inside of my mouth slightly. I haven't noticed that being an issue with the subsequent aligners. On the current (5th) set of aligners, I've noticed that as my two front teeth are being pushed closer together, the gum is being squeezed behind them, causing the roof of my mouth to wrinkle. This seems to be going away progressively. This isn't really a big concern for me though.
Smile Direct Club tells you to clean the aligners only with cold water. I actually don't know how I could stand wearing them without actually brushing them with toothpaste. I used toothpaste that is a gel and doesn't have any grit to it.
There have been no issues with the aligners after cleaning them regularly this way.
Anyway, this is about the extent of my experience so far. If you have any questions, please let me know.
1 comment:
Looking good Gabe! ♥ My son wants to try those. After seeing your progress, I think we'll check into them. Thanks for sharing with us!
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