Loosening, necrosis… Fashionable, aligners to align your teeth yourself (without going to the dentist) can have catastrophic consequences.
On YouTube, Instagram, TikTok… It’s hard to escape the promotion of “miracle” invisible aligners to straighten your teeth without consulting a dentist or paying the amount that goes with them. You buy them in two clicks, they arrive at your home the day or the next day, you wear them for a few hours a day and over time, your teeth align as if by “magic”. That’s what we sell you but in reality, not sure that you will be so satisfied with your purchase upon arrival, warns the magazine 60 million consumers in February. In fact, dentists and orthodontists do not question the use of aligners to align teeth on the condition that they are used with medical supervision from the beginning to the end of the treatment protocol.
Beware of influencers…
What poses a problem for dental specialists is using these 100% remote treatments without knowing if they are really of quality and without having had a dental check-up beforehand. For example, influencers extol the merits of home kits that allow you to make your own dental impression: “Six years of study to learn how to make an impression… but here the patient gets by with a kit whose powder, if inhaled, can pose a vital risk to the patient” denounces Dr David Couchat, member of the French Federation of Orthodontics (FFO) in the magazine. Others dangers if you do not see dentists before aligner placement or during treatment:
- loosening of teeth if the splint is placed while the gums are in poor condition
- tooth necrosis if you put a splint on a devitalized tooth or if you move too quickly or too hard to the next splint
- the fracture of a tooth if you move too quickly or too hard to the next tray
- acceleration of the growth of a cyst already present but not identified
- scaling of the teeth if the trays are not changed even though the teeth have moved
Some brands of aligners like Dr Smile offer that a dental surgeon partner of the brand takes x-rays and takes the necessary impression to make the aligners “but he does not carry out an assessment and does not make a diagnosis” recalls the magazine.
Short-term effectiveness for a not-so-favorable price
Finally, the effectiveness of aligners sold on the Internet does not last long because the treatment often does not offer teeth retention whereas this phase is crucial in orthodontic treatment. Regarding the price, “around 3000 euros for a simple case. And without any Health Insurance coverage for treatments started after 16 years“. So, really interesting or not?