Mail-order aligners promise a straight smile without trips to the orthodontist. They ask patients to make an impression of their teeth using DIY kits and then mail order aligners from that mold.

Incorrect impressions lead to aligners that do not fit properly. Patients have reported serious problems like bite issues, gum disease and even damage to their teeth and lips.

Cost

Many do-it-yourself aligner companies send you an at-home impression kit to make a mold of your teeth, which they then scan. These home-made impressions can easily warp during shipping and may not accurately represent your tooth structure. This lack of detailed insight can lead to mismatched aligners, which may result in ill-fitting trays or potentially damage your teeth and gums.

In addition, mail-order aligner companies often do not use a 3D scanner like the iTero, which provides a highly detailed image of your smile. This allows our orthodontic team to spot cavities, gum disease and other oral health issues that can be difficult to detect with at-home impressions and photos.

Lastly, aligners aren’t a great option for every patient because they don’t provide the same level of precision as metal or clear braces to address more complex and severe bite issues. In these cases, our orthodontists create personalized treatment plans that best fit your needs and goals with or without aligners.

Risks

There are many companies that have sprung up in recent years promising to deliver straighter smiles through aligners sent to your home without ever seeing an orthodontist. Typically, customers will receive an impression kit to make at-home impressions of their teeth and then go through a virtual consultation with the company before having aligners made.

The problem is that these impressions may not be accurate, which can lead to complications throughout the course of treatment. These complications can include an ill-fitting aligner that causes pain or discomfort, as well as more serious issues like a misaligned bite or damage to your gums and teeth.

Plus, these companies do not offer routine checkups to monitor the progress of your dental health during treatment. This lack of supervision can lead to problems like tooth loss, irritated gums, or jaw bone injuries that require more advanced orthodontic procedures to fix. This can add up to more cost and time spent on your smile correction.

Treatment Time

In the early stages of treatment, orthodontists use photographs and 3D scans to assess the health of your teeth and gums. Mail-order companies skip this step, sending patients a kit to make their own impressions at home, which can be inaccurate in any number of ways. This lack of detailed insight means that other health issues, such as cavities and gum disease, can be overlooked.

In addition, without regular check-ins with an orthodontist, the process of moving your teeth can be slower than it should be. Moreover, if your teeth shift in unexpected ways, the company won’t be able to adjust your plan, meaning that they could end up doing more harm than good.

Mail-order aligners can be effective in some cases, but they are not suitable for all patients. Using them for the wrong misalignments can cause irreversible damage, including loose teeth and loss of tooth roots. This is why they need to be used with the supervision of an orthodontist.

Customization

In many cases, mail-order aligners require that you take an impression of your teeth at home or at a non-dental office. These DIY impressions can easily warp during shipping, and they don’t show the full relationship between your teeth, gums, and bite. This translates to ill-fitting aligners and potential damage to your teeth and gums. If these issues aren’t treated, they could result in permanent dental issues that will cost you more money down the road.

At Grayslake Orthodontics, we use an iTero 3D scanner to eliminate the need for messy impressions. These high-quality digital scans provide a detailed image of your teeth and bite, so we can ensure that your aligner trays are accurately fitting and providing the best results.

If you’re considering mail order aligners, talk to our team before making any decisions. We want you to have a safe and successful orthodontic journey that will lead to a healthy smile! Our world-class orthodontists will work with you to find the right treatment plan for your unique needs and goals.