Wondering if you should choose Invisalign or mail-order aligners to straighten your teeth? Mail-order aligners run frequent ads on social media with enticing visuals promising a perfect smile at a fraction of the cost of Invisalign. Their goal is to attract customers by offering a DIY solution that’s budget-friendly and simple. This article looks at Invisalign versus mail-order aligners and compares and contrasts the two.

How Invisalign Works

Invisalign uses custom-made transparent, plastic aligners to straighten teeth. Orthodontists design them to sit snugly over your teeth, so that the aligners shift your teeth into the right position.

The process starts with an initial consultation with your orthodontist. Once you discuss your goals, a digital scan and a detailed 3D model of your teeth are created. The 3D model is used to create a series of aligners that you will wear over a period of 12-18 months. Aligners are typically switched out every 6-8 weeks.

When you get Invisalign Vancouver Washington, our orthodontist will oversee your treatment from start to finish. After developing a custom treatment plan, you’ll have regular check-ups to monitor your progress. Our orthodontist’s role is to ensure your treatment is progressing properly.

How Mail-Order Aligners Work

Mail-order aligners are a DIY option that offers an alternative to the traditional Invisalign in-office treatment. The process starts with an online consultation, where you fill out a form that details your dental history as well as your goals. You may also need to upload photos of your teeth.

After your initial consultation, the company will send you an at-home impression kit. This kit includes detailed instructions to help you take molds of your teeth. Once you’ve made the impressions, you simply send them back to the company.

The company then uses these molds to create a series of custom aligners, which are shipped to your home along with instructions on how to wear them.

While mail-order aligners are convenient and not as costly as Invisalign, they lack the in-person professional supervision. This could lead to a higher risk of complications with less-than-ideal results. In addition, the online consultation may not be as thorough as an in-person consultation with an orthodontist. Without digital scans and X-rays, some important issues may go unnoticed.

The Benefits of Professional Invisalign Treatment

When you choose professional Invisalign Vancouver Washington, you will discover quite a few benefits:

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Customized Treatment Plans

Consulting with an orthodontist includes getting a detailed digital scan and a 3D model of your mouth, capturing every detail of your teeth. Along with these scans, our orthodontist will also perform a thorough examination of your dental health. This examination includes your jaw alignment, your teeth, and your bite.

Using this information, our orthodontist will create a customized treatment plan and go over the step-by-step procedure that you will go through. A customized treatment plan is especially beneficial for complex orthodontic cases. Our office can modify your treatment plan to address issues such as extreme gaps, overcrowding, or significant bite problems. This degree of customization is not available if you select mail-order aligners.

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Ongoing Professional Monitoring

Orthodontists recommend a check-up every 6-8 weeks to ensure your teeth are aligning correctly. These in-person appointments give our orthodontist the opportunity to make any needed adjustments to your alignments. They also allow our office to catch unexpected issues that may arise. For example, you may be experiencing extreme discomfort or your teeth may not be shifting correctly. By catching these issues early, our office can readjust the treatment plan, keeping your treatment on track.

Ongoing professional monitoring also allows us to adjust the fit of your new aligners or create new aligners based on how your teeth are shifting. These adjustments may be crucial for ensuring your treatment is effective.

During the check-ups, our orthodontist will also give you your new aligners, making sure they fit properly. If the new aligner doesn’t fit as it should, our office can fix the problem immediately.

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Safety and Effectiveness

Because an orthodontist creates a treatment plan tailored to your needs, there are higher success rates due to professional oversight. The planning and check-ups ensure that each set of aligners moves your teeth properly. Moreover, the continuous monitoring allows our office to address issues promptly, ensuring that your treatment is safe and effective at all stages.

Remember that every patient’s teeth will respond differently, and adjustments are often needed during the treatment stage. Not modifying your treatment based on how your teeth are responding could lead to terrible results. Our orthodontist can also help with discomfort, such as smoothing the edges of an aligner or making modifications to a new aligner to ensure a better fit.

Potential Risks of Mail-Order Aligners

While mail-order aligners offer convenience and affordability, they do come with potential risks. Some risks include:

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Lack of Professional Supervision

Because there are no in-person check-ups with mail-order aligners, this treatment lacks the professional supervision that is needed for a successful treatment plan. As a result, there’s an increased risk that your teeth will not shift into their ideal positions. Worse, your misalignment issues could worsen, and some new ones may develop.

Mail-order aligners tend to have a one-size-fits-all approach as there are no professional assessments with X-rays and digital scans. Consequently, the treatment may not address all your needs.

Taking dental impressions by yourself can be challenging, too, and you may make some mistakes. If you have an inaccurate impression, you may end up with mail-order aligners that don’t fit properly. Aligners that don’t fit well may apply the pressure in the wrong places, reducing the effectiveness of the treatment.

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Long-Term Oral Health

One of the important benefits when you get Invisalign treatment is orthodontists can ensure your bite is aligning correctly. With mail-order aligners, you won’t get a dedicated orthodontist to assess your bite. Instead, you’ll get different customer service professionals for every online check-in. This can result in more problems.

Treatment that isn’t thorough from the beginning can also lead to risks like cracking, chipping, or grinding of your teeth. Inadequate treatment may also result in long-term issues that aren’t immediately evident. If you don’t have an orthodontist checking your teeth every 6-8 weeks, you could develop dental health issues.

Besides looking at the progress of your teeth, orthodontists will also examine your gums and your jaw. This kind of detailed examination does not occur with mail-order aligner treatments.

Furthermore, if your teeth shift in a way that they shouldn’t, mail-order aligners can’t address those concerns.

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Quality of Care

Mail-order aligners have a cheaper price tag, which means they may be made from lower-quality materials. This means they may not be as effective when applying pressure to your teeth. In addition, the materials may not be as durable. This could lead to them warping or even breaking. Lower-quality materials can contribute to more discomfort and more irritation as well. In the worst-case scenario, mail-order aligners could even damage your gums. Finally, inferior materials may contain harmful chemicals that could affect your oral health.

Here are some testimonials from people who have used mail-order aligners.

Byte seemed like they would be more straightforward or cost-effective than going to an orthodontist. But my experience did not live up to my expectations. I was provided the service they said they would provide, but it was not more cost-effective or straightforward. They were fairly difficult to work with. I have a connective tissue disorder. I have one spot in my gums where they’ve receded the tiniest, tiniest, little bit. When that was mentioned, they freaked out and told me to stop treatment, and that they needed to have confirmation from my dentist that I was eligible to be in the retainers. – Lorraine

[They do] these check-ins where I take pictures of my teeth, and they either okay it or give me feedback. It’s always a different person who gives me feedback. My front tooth is a bit shorter than the other one, and they would always say, “It looks like there’s a gap and you need to wear the retainer longer. You need to go back to this other step that looks like it’s not fitting.” And even though I would write, “This front tooth is shorter than the other one and don’t call it an air gap,” it would be like starting over anew with a customer service person every time. – C in Ocean Springs, MS

Cost Considerations between Invisalign and Mail-Order Aligners

Initial Costs vs. Long-Term Value

Invisalign treatment costs are, no doubt, more expensive. However, this cost includes a customized treatment plan, X-rays, digital scans, and in-person appointments throughout the treatment. This cost, which ranges between $3,000 to $9,000, involves long-term care, such as continued adjustments and professional supervision. The cost covers any complications that may arise during treatment, too.

Mail-order aligners come at a lower upfront cost, ranging from about $1,000 to $2,200. This lower price reflects the DIY nature of the aligners, where you get an at-home impression kit and all treatment is conducted solely online. There are no in-person appointments where adjustments can be made by an orthodontist, and if complications arise, patients are often on their own – needing to cough up additional dental work after the mail-order aligner treatment is complete.

Financing and Insurance

Patients can pay for Invisalign treatments using a variety of options. Dental insurance typically covers some of the treatment, reducing your out-of-pocket expenses. You can also use a Health Savings Account (HSA) to help pay for the treatment. Some orthodontists have in-house saving plans, like at Ranieu Family Dental. This allows you to set up a payment plan with our office. Finally, there are credit card options. At Ranieu Family Dental, we offer CareCredit and LendingCredit to patients who need financial assistance. These work like a credit card. You would pay the entire sum in full using the card, and then pay back the amount in monthly installments.

Mail-order aligners have a lower initial cost, which can make them an attractive option for many people. However, this initial cost may increase if complications arise during treatment. Not many insurance companies cover mail-order aligners. This lack of coverage means you will be paying for the full cost yourself. Companies that offer mail-order aligners do not typically offer financing options, so if you are unable to pay the entire cost upfront, you may need to rely on credit cards.

Making an Informed Decision

Checklist for Choosing the Right Treatment

When choosing the right treatment, there are important questions you should ask yourself.

  • What are my goals when I get my teeth strengthened? Is it purely aesthetic or do I need to address additional issues, like my bite?
  • Do I prefer in-person visits with an orthodontist or am I okay with a hands-off approach?
  • What budget do I have for a dental brace Vancouver Washington? How much will insurance cover, and do I have access to other financing options?
  • What are my preferences when it comes to convenience? Am I able to make in-person appointments every 6-8 weeks or is the convenience of mail-order aligners more appealing?
  • Do my teeth just require a mild adjustment and therefore a quicker treatment time? Or do I need a more comprehensive treatment plan to adjust more than one issue?
  • What are the potential risks of each option?

Key Factors to Consider

After creating a list of questions, think about these key factors.

  • Professional Supervision From an Orthodontist: When you get regular check-ups from our orthodontist, you can have peace of mind that your Invisalign treatment is progressing as it should.
  • Effective Treatment: Getting effective treatment is crucial. Professional Invisalign treatments provide a higher success rate due to their tailored treatment plans.
  • Safety: Invisalign treatments use high-quality, FDA-approved materials that can ensure the safety of your teeth and gums. Mail-order aligners may use low-quality materials and may contain harmful chemicals.
  • Cost: Invisalign treatments cost more upfront, while mail-in aligners tend to attract those seeking less expensive procedures.
  • Convenience: Think about your lifestyle and how easily you can incorporate in-person visits to an orthodontist every 6-8 weeks.
  • Long-Term Value: Professional Invisalign treatments typically provide better long-term outcomes. This can save you from having to pay additional costs to correct issues further down the line.

Testimonials and Case Studies

For those who have used both mail-order aligners and Invisalign, here is what one person had to say:

Cheaper isn’t always better and you definitely get what you pay for. These are your teeth; don’t cheap out on this. I originally used Clear Correct because my dentist said it was the same technology as Invisalign and was cheaper. It ended up messing up my teeth and was such a pain to wear. I just got Invisalign about 2 years after I quick CC. The difference is night and day. Also, I looked at SDC before anything else. Did the molds and they kept [rejecting] them. No one called me to talk about what they needed or what I needed to do differently. It was only communicated through email. Please make an informed decision before you spend money. If you do spend money and don’t get what you want, is it worth it? You’ll spend even more in the long run trying to fix things. Trust me.

– Windlygilbert

Take $1000 Off Invisalign With Ranieu

 

If you don’t have dental insurance and you’re paying in cash, consider our in-house dental savings plan. For a single plan, it costs $299 a year. This gives you $1,000 off towards your Invisalign treatment in addition to these amazing benefits:

  • 1 annual exam
  • 1 full mouth x-rays
  • 1 emergency visit
  • 2 6-month cleanings

You’ll also get these discounts:

  • 15-20% off additional dental work
  • $425 Zoom Whitening Treatment

Learn more about our in-house dental savings plan here >>>

 

Updated 2024 Ranieu's Dental Savings Plan Flyer

Top- Rated Invisalign Treatment in Vancouver, WA

When deciding between Invisalign Vancouver Washington and mail-order aligners, create a checklist. Then weigh several factors, such as professional supervision, effectiveness of the treatment, cost, safety, convenience, and the value you’ll be getting long-term.

If you need a dental brace in Vancouver Washington, consult with our professional orthodontist before making a decision. Our office can give you detailed pros and cons of each option.

You can also schedule a consultation for Invisalign at Ranieu Family Dental or reach out with any questions. Email us at ranieufamilydental@gmail.com or call us directly at (360) 735-9422. We would love to talk with you about your orthodontic needs.

Additional Resources
[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7391059/
[2] https://www.goodrx.com/conditions/dental-care/invisalign-vs-smile-direct
[3] https://aaoinfo.org/resources/at-home-orthodontics