My Orthodontia History:
Age 1 - I knock out my front teeth while at daycare.
Age 6 & 7 - My adult front teeth grow in and they are HUGE. My orthodontia journey begins with a sparkly blue retainer. Awful choice
Age 8 - I upgrade my retainer to a glow the dark version. Much better
Age 10 - I get the braces I begged for because I thought they were cool. I was not cool in middle school
Age 12 - I get my braces off and learn how to use a flat iron. Much cooler now
Age 13 - I have a clear retainer that I eventually break in half and a permanent bottom bar that I also break. Unintentionally screwing myself
Age 17 - I get my wisdom teeth out and fail to shoot a funny video afterwards. Viral videos weren't a thing yet
Age 24 - Now… here we are. My teeth have shifted ever so slightly to really annoy me. Maybe it's the OCD
Overview
Most people that see my smile are surprised I care to fix it - "they look straight to me". Yes, if my teeth stayed how they are today I could live it with but the truth is they are shifting every year. I'd rather correct the problem now, at a relatively low cost, instead of kicking myself down the road with a snaggletooth.
As a responsible young adult, I spoke to my dentist about my concerns and he gave me a price quote for Invisalign - a whopping $6,000. "Oh but we will take off a 1k because of our special promotion this week". That brings us to $5,000 which I know to be the average cost since doing my research prior to the appointment. This seems like a ridiculous amount of money for plastic trays but you do have to take into account the multiple office visits required.
So the research continued… and then… an interesting company found me on Pandora - Smile Direct Club. They promise to straighten and whiten your teeth with zero office visits since the trays are shipped directly to you. Here is the kicker - it is the fraction of the cost compared to Invisalign.
Is this too good to be true? Let's find out! I scanned the internet for first-hand experiences. I read through several helpful blogs but in this day and age I only trust what I can actually see. Thank god for YouTube.
After watching several videos I could not find anyone saying that the Smile Direct Club system didn't work or that it messed up their teeth. The only complaints I heard were about customer service or that it was painful - well duh it's painful. I also discovered most people had a similar dental history to my own. They had braces at one point but stupidly stopped wearing, lost or broke their retainer.
I decided to go for it. When all was said and done I opted for the one-time payment of $1,650. They have monthly payment options as well. $1,650 vs $5,000+, not too shabby for a gal on a budget.
My Review (so far..)
- Everything arrived quickly
- I like having the freedom to move without worrying about finding a new dentist/orthodontist
- They offered several discount codes and perks (teeth whitening)
- Aligners are painful but you get used to it
- It's hard to hold yourself accountable - meaning, without the office visits, I've stayed on the same set of aligners longer than I'd like to admit. I guess that could be a good thing though if you hate pain and want to go at a slower pace.
I'll keep you updated. Right now I'm on my 6th set of aligners which is about halfway through my plan.
Let me know if you had any experiences with SDC or Invisalign. What were your pros and cons? Would you try this?
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