Why Mail-In Orthodontic Aligners Can Worsen Your Oral Health
One of the biggest dental fads out there today is mail-in braces. For those trying to protect themselves during the pandemic or who can’t afford to get orthodontic treatment, mail-in braces seem like a perfect solution on the surface due to their relatively low prices and ease of wear. However, there are many underlying risks that come with these types of braces, and while many report success with these treatments, these types of braces are especially dangerous for those who have severely misaligned teeth.
Mail-Order Orthodontics: The Key To A Perfect Smile or Fad?
Adjusting your bite is a highly complex procedure – As your teeth move and adjust, your teeth are subjected to significant amounts of pressure over time to put your teeth in the correct place and alter the bone structure in the process. For orthodontists treating children’s teeth, this process can take years to perform with braces because of how intricate and delicate our mouths are. For growing children, it’s relatively easier to straighten teeth due to the extensive growth and development they go through over the course of their lifetime.
The problems arise when people attempt to take shortcuts for these types of treatments without the knowledge and skill needed to do it safely. Mail-in orthodontic treatments don’t provide the assurance and safety measures necessary to keep your teeth safe from damage and harm and have higher risks of complications as a result. These complications include:
- No Assessments: Dentists don’t just work to correct tooth alignment but also work to address underlying oral health problems that you may not have noticed at first glance. For instance, one of the main ways that misalignment occurs is due to impacted wisdom teeth. As the wisdom teeth attempt to grow in, they often push the teeth inward and cause the teeth to become misaligned, even if they were perfectly straight before. Mail-in braces don’t address these issues and can lead to further consequences as a result of this lack of assessment.
- No Oversight: Our dentists work hard to make sure your teeth are healthy, and with traditional braces, we can keep an eye on how they’re adjusting to make sure that there’s no damage to your jawline or teeth. Mail-in orthodontics comes with huge risks because of the lack of oversight, and while it can produce changes, it doesn’t mean that those changes are healthy for your teeth overall.
- Risk of Damage: Mail-in orthodontics don’t solve every problem and, in fact, can cause even more problems to occur. There’s an increased risk of trauma from fast tooth movement with these types of braces and can cause the teeth to become misaligned even further once fully removed. In some cases, people even experienced tooth loss as a result of these types of braces.
Avoid Mail-In Orthodontics And See A Dentist Instead
If you notice a mail-in website has good reviews for these products, these products are most likely fake. Most positive reviews tend to be showcased on the website for marketing purposes, and any negative reviews are often left suppressed or deleted by the website. If you truly want an unbiased opinion from a professional, your local dentist will be able to tell you the truth about these types of braces and why you should see a pediatric orthodontist instead for treatment.
