Why Mail-Order Orthodontic Kits Are Not Worth the Risk
Imagine trying to realign your spine from home using a generalized kit sent to you by a doctor you’ve never met, with no possibility of consistent check-ins or customized care from a licensed chiropractor or physician. This sounds like a ridiculous scenario, right? Despite this, some are still taking the risk.
Mail-order orthodontic kits have recently sprung to the scene as a popular alternative to in-person treatment, largely due to their convenience and cost-effectiveness (especially during the economic crisis) – but this is where the advantages end. While kits are delivered directly to your door, these programs don’t provide specialized imaging, digital impressions, customized treatment plans or a doctor to monitor progress, so you’re really taking a gamble on your smile. Orthodontic treatment involves directly realigning and straightening your teeth which changes the way your teeth bite together – processes that should not be taken lightly.
If you want a smile that will change your life, a board-certified orthodontist is a great way to achieve truly customized smile design. Consider these three reasons why:
- Specialized Expertise: A board-certified orthodontist is poised to deliver the most advanced, comfortable and precise treatment plans to their patients. Becoming a Board-Certified Orthodontist takes years of diligent commitment to ensure the latest innovations, tools, and technologies are used to bring your beautiful smile to life. Mail-order kits don’t allow for personalized consultations. They don’t have the adequate information needed to make a proper diagnosis, and they don’t take the time to understand your unique challenges and goals to custom design your smile. Teeth aren’t one size fits all, after all.
- Cutting-Edge Technology: A healthy smile is timeless, but orthodontic technologies are not. The emergence of specialized technological advancements has created a massive transformation in the orthodontics industry. With in-person treatment, an orthodontist creates an entire 3D model of your teeth and gums for more precise diagnoses and treatment plans, which translate to fewer office visits and shorter, more comfortable treatments. Mail-order kits blindly guess which treatment plan or sequence of movements is right for you. How can straight teeth and a healthy bite be guaranteed when it’s not custom-designed to fit your smile? With advanced technology, a board-certified orthodontist can provide a full assessment of your smile, prescribe the proper aligners to move your teeth safely and effectively, and identify any additional health concerns to ensure they’re the perfect fit before you commit. By using a mail-order kit, you could be ignoring larger orthodontic issues, which may require more invasive, costly procedures to correct if not intercepted.
- Affordability: If you or your family needs orthodontic treatment, Dr. Walker and her team at Walker Orthodontics will do everything in our power to customize your experience, and design a flexible financing plan tailor-made to fit any budgetary constraint. A perceived inability to pay should never get in the way of a life-changing smile.
If you’re still debating between a mail-order kit or consulting a board-certified orthodontist, consider the misaligned spine analogy. We want to put our expertise, technology, and care towards delivering your desired results. That means providing flexible and affordable care – when and where you need it most.
What are you waiting for? Let’s transform that smile.
