Did you know that Smile Direct club was started in 2013 by four businessmen from Nashville, TN? Smile Direct club offers simple orthodontic treatment – limited to the front 6 teeth for mild crowding or spacing. The patient completes an online questionnaire and buys a $95 impression kit. They take their own impression and take 7 photographs of their teeth at different angles. The doctors who are employed by SDC submit the treatment plan to Align technology to make the aligners which are then mailed to the patient. The patient then orders retainers as well which are made by Align. Did you know that Align is the company that makes Invisalign? Here are the issues with SDC treated patients. The patient assumes responsibility for errors in impression taking. It takes a lot of training and practice to be able to take an error free impression. Impressions are less accurate than…
new technology
Advances in Dentistry
Categories: Brace Yourself Blog
Computerization has caused an enormous amount of change in our lives and in the health care industry. Treatment records are now paperless as well as diagnostic records (images that a patient needs to determine treatment). It’s hard to believe that it’s been 17 years since we went paperless in 1999! We now have digital intra-oral scanners in both offices, which help us to upgrade our treatment results from our “impression era” care. Patients enjoy not being “gagged” during their digital image capturing. Align technology has lead the charge with appliances that are 3-D printed from images captured by their digital scanners. Scan times are as short as 5 minutes, delivering appliances that are extremely precise. Our doctors deliver treatment instructions to computer technicians who dial in tooth movements that are exactly what we order. In many cases, our Invisalign treatments are superior to what we could achieve with braces. The…
New Technology — Acceledent
Categories: Brace Yourself Blog
Fast and efficient. Isn’t that what we want in today’s world? There is a new technology that is now available which can reduce orthodontic treatment times by up to 50%. Acceledent® Aura speeds up the movement of your teeth resulting in less time in braces or other orthodontic treatments, including Invisalign. Patients also report reduced pain and discomfort with Acceledent® Aura. The small, lightweight device provides gentle micro pulses to the teeth which speed up the bone remodeling process. Acceledent® Aura has been featured on The Doctors and multiple media outlets nationwide. Here are a few reports that you can review and even one from CNN saying that Acceledent® is the newest product for 2014. http://youtu.be/iZVT3FfKeFk?t=1s We want to offer all of the most up to date treatment options for our wonderful patients!