The Smile Direct Club promises to straighten your teeth while you sleep or during the day using clear aligners for “up to 60% less than braces.” To anyone who has investigated Invisalign and clear aligners in Calgary, that might sound familiar. After all, Invisalign straightens your teeth at any time you wear your aligners — while you’re awake or while you sleep! (So do traditional wire and metal braces for that matter, but that’s another article.) To state the obvious, clear aligners use transparent aligners so you can have straighter teeth without the stigma of wearing braces. So, what gives? Here’s what you need to know about these two options: Invisalign and Smile Direct?
To help you decide whether mail order Smile Direct or Invisalign with a dentist in Calgary is the better option for straightening your teeth, we’ll give you the straight — pun totally intended — goods on both options as it relates to five different issues. Here’s what you need to know.
Will you consult with a dentist near you?
| Invisalign | Smile Direct Club |
| You won’t start a treatment plan with Invisalign in Calgary without a careful and thorough assessment of your mouth, teeth, gums, and jaw by a real live dentist in person. The dentist will carefully review your medical history and the clinical condition of your teeth, roots, and bone density to consider all risk factors. Finally, your orthodontist in Calgary will show you a 3D projection of your progress and results to know exactly what to expect. | Can you have your teeth straightened without seeing a dentist? Using Smile Direct Club’s clear aligners near you, you won’t consult with a dentist, though one will review your impressions (though you won’t be there). For people who don’t enjoy seeing a dentist, that’s an attractive option, but it means no dentist will examine the condition of your gums, or consider the condition of your jaw except for what shows up in your impressions |
How will impressions get made?
| Invisalign | Smile Direct Club |
| An orthodontist near you will provide Invisalign’s technicians with all the information they need to create your aligners by several processes: double layer impressions; photographs using Invisalign’s imaging system; and dental x-rays. The information will be provided by professionally trained dentists and technicians with years of experience supporting hundreds of patients in achieving their goals. | We know DIY is very on trend right now, but DIY dentistry? Smile Direct sends you an impression kit for you to make your own impressions and return to them. Those DIY impressions will form the basis of all your aligners and your entire treatment process. |
What is the treatment process like?
| Invisalign | Smile Direct Club |
| Invisalign will send your set of aligners to your dentist in Calgary who will meet with you to get you started on your treatment plan. Every six weeks or so, you’ll go to your dentist who will review your progress compared to your treatment plan and projections. The dentist will ensure you’re caring for your aligners and teeth properly, wearing your aligners enough to sustain your treatment plan, and identify the need for any alterations, extensions, or refinement of your plan. | Smile Direct Club will send you your full set of aligners at once, along with a schedule of when to switch from one to the next. In a perfect world, progress will go exactly as planned without hiccups or divergence from your treatment plan, because you’ll never check in with a dentist to confirm. You will be able to contact a call centre by phone, though. |
Are there limitations?
| Invisalign | Smile Direct Club |
| Invisalign can solve crowded and gapped teeth, overbites, underbites, crossbites, and open bites. While Invisalign in Calgary is not appropriate for every situation, the involvement of a dentist means the process can accomplish much more complex transformations. | Smile Direct’s aligners may accomplish straightening results in the simplest of cases that do not require complex or compound movements since there will be no mounts on your teeth to provide leverage or pivot points for treatment. |
What about costs?
| Invisalign | Smile Direct |
| The total cost of Invisalign treatment is very similar to that of traditional braces, though it can be more expensive depending on the extent of treatment required. When you consider how much faster Invisalign can be and how much easier dental appointments will be — while still having the support of a dentist! — the value proposition is clear. | Smile Direct offers specified prices on their website without having specific information about the current condition of your teeth or the steps or time that will be needed to straighten them. |
To determine if Invisalign is right for you, take advantage of one of the clearest distinctions between Invisalign and Smile Direct. Call a dentist and ask. You may be able to schedule a consultation quickly at little or no cost, and a dentist in Calgary will answer all your questions and guide you in the best direction to achieve your goals.