Ortho vs SmileDirectClub vs GP Invisalign

[Flynt]

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I'm only a pre-dent (awaiting the big Dec 1), but I'm aspiring to do ortho. My question is with all the smile direct, as well as general dentist being invisalign certified, is this a field going in the wrong direction for someone with aspirations?

Please don't tell me to get into/out of school first before I start asking questions lol

 

[cacajuate]

There will always be a need for complex ortho. Aligners can't fix serious problems.

 

[free99]

Just be aware that ortho residencies will very likely set you back a couple hundred more in debt, and that as far as I have heard, ortho incomes (as well as dental incomes in general) have been declining over the past decade. In order to get into one of the few residencies with a stipend you have to be extraordinary. One of my classmates in the top 5, super involved in everything, ortho related research -- the whole package -- and only has 1 interview at a program with a stipend. All that said, I'd agree with @cacajuate that there will always be a need for orthodontists (and all specialties for that matter).

 

[FanOfCostco]

Smile direct... more like jack up your smile direct

 

[Flynt]

Ok thanks you guys that's good to hear, guess I'll worry about getting into school for now...I appreciate the insight though!

 

[2TH MVR]

Well ..... Invisalign has been marketing to growing teenagers. Amazing how these trays (essentially retainers with adjustments) can adapt to a growing child's ever-changing skeletal and dento-alveolar growth. Amazing clinical expertise on those treating children with aligners. Things not working right .... lets just order more refinement trays.

Won't be long before you'll see aligners on small children in the mixed dentition.

Whoops. Maybe a little off topic. As for the OP: Orthodontics will be fine.

 

[nuk]

Ortho faculty in my school just mentioned that the school is planning to get all D4 students become "Invisalign certified" before graduate. We are very thrilled when we know this.

 

[2TH MVR]

Ortho faculty in my school just mentioned that the school is planning to get all D4 students become "Invisalign certified" before graduate. We are very thrilled when we know this.

Not surprising.

 

[ncide]

Ortho faculty in my school just mentioned that the school is planning to get all D4 students become "Invisalign certified" before graduate. We are very thrilled when we know this.

It's easy to become Invisalign certified and hardly something to be ecstatic about.

Ortho isn't going anywhere. The more you know, the more you appreciate their knowledge and skill.

 

[Str82th]

It's easy to become Invisalign certified and hardly something to be ecstatic about.

Ortho isn't going anywhere. The more you know, the more you appreciate their knowledge and skill.

The problem is that an Invisalign certification teaches nothing about diagnosis or treatment planning. It gives a false sense of understanding the process.

 

[2TH MVR]

I see certain parallels with the opioid crisis. You have a product (Opioids/Aligners) that are well funded by large, share holder corporations whose ONLY objective is to make MO MONEY. The Corporations make more money by administering more opioids/aligners to as many people as they can. Doctors rely on the maker of the products to ensure they are safe and that they provide an acceptable amount of correction for the problem.

This is where the disconnect lies. Again speaking about aligner tx. Most patients believe that aligner treatment is the SAME or better than conventional orthodontics. My issue is that patients are just happy with straight front teeth and have NO IDEA how lousy their occlusion is post-aligners. In a way people are being misled about the efficacy of aligner treatment. Who loses? The patients. Who wins? Big corporations and those middle people (distributors) who provide these items to an unaware public.

ETA: I'm not making light of the opioid crisis. It is real.