Invisalign vs Smile Direct Club

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Your smile is important, more often than not it is the first thing others will notice about you so it is important to keep your teeth looking as healthy and clean as possible. One way to improve your smile is through alignment treatment, and there are two products that act as an alternative to traditional braces. Both Invisalign and Smile Direct Club are the top contenders for alternative teeth straightener treatments. While both of these products use transparent aligner trays in order to straighten your teeth, they are still quite different in terms of price, treatment time, your involvement with your dentist or orthodontist, and the way in which they are administered. 

Price is a huge concern for almost all people but in the field of orthodontics it is important to keep in mind that while cheaper alternatives may seem enticing, your teeth are important and should be treated with the utmost care. Smile Direct Club offers treatments for close to $2,000, making it the least expensive option in terms of orthodontic treatment. Its competitor, Invisalign, typically comes in around $4,000, but this is because an actual dental professional will be working with you in person, which ensures that your treatment goes as smoothly as possible!

While both companies offer payment plans, Invisalign works with many more insurance providers than Smile Direct, which could definitely cut down the overall cost!

It is important to recognize that there is no definitive treatment time for any orthodontic alignment, as every case is unique to the individual. The average treatment time for Smile Direct Club clocks in at about four to six months. Invisalign usually takes up to six months, and Invisalign claims that with their new SmartTrack technology, treatments can be up to 50% faster and will allow for weekly aligner changes. But even with all this, there is no absolute time for treatment as each case is unique and complex, meaning there is no one size fits all treatment. 

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Having just established how all cases of teeth treatment are unique and complex, it is important to have a trained and professional local orthodontist who's ready to help or make any necessary adjustments. While Smile Direct Club does not offer in-office dental sessions throughout the treatment, they do offer remote checkups using photos sent in by the user, which means there is a pretty wide margin of error for mistakes to be made. With Invisalign aligners, patients have the benefit of being able to go into the office to get an in-person examination.

This is the preferable option, as dentists are able to examine your teeth much more thoroughly, take X-Rays, and look at previous dental work, shaping your plan perfectly for your individual treatment.

Perhaps the biggest difference between Invisalign and Smile Direct Club is their capacity to treat complex cases. Smile Direct Club actually specifically tells their users that if they have complex dental needs or if they have poor oral health, that they should not use their product. This combined with the fact that dental visits are not in person makes Smile Direct Club’s window for effectiveness very thin. Invisalign, on the other hand, is a whole different story, with their direct dentist or orthodontist involvement combined with frequent aligner changes allowing Invisalign to fix even the most complicated misalignment cases. 

Invisalign is recommended by all major professional dental organizations, while Smile Direct Club is not recommended. The American Dental Association has voiced their concerns and discourages all forms of "DIY orthodontics." They have actually filed a complaint specifically against Smile Direct Club. The main reason why Smile Direct Club comes under fire so much more than Invisalign is because of the crucial aspect of in-person dentist visits which Smile Direct Club does not offer. 
 

While Smile Direct Club can be effective at treating basic misalignment issues, almost all cases are entirely unique to the individual and require extensive planning and involvement. Invisalign allows their customers to visit their local dentist or orthodontist in person and get one-on-one treatments from a professional. While it does come at a higher price than Smile Direct Club, the extra cost for Invisalign is totally worth the quality guarantee and peace of mind it will give you. In our professional opinion, Invisalign definitely trumps Smile Direct.
 

Whatever your dental alignment needs, the dental team at Anderson Dental can help you meet them. Give our office a call or schedule an appointment online today at our Royal Palm Beach office or our Lake Worth office to get started on improving your smile!