I understand that 99.9999% of orthodontists and dentists are against the idea of direct to consumer aligners and tele-dentistry and I understand that my words will not change your mind, but I’m stubborn. I want you to see that more access to care is always a good thing and that even though in person treatment at an orthodontist’s office is preferable and better, that’s just not a realistic option for the vast majority of Americans. SmileDirectClub is filling a need that traditional dentistry cannot or will not address and direct to consumer aligners will work on a massive scale despite what dentists and orthodontists believe.
Click this link to read more: Better is better.
REALLY??!! “More access to care is a better thing” is your argument? More access to POOR care is NOT a better thing. In an age when we have the ability to expand our profession’s influence on healthcare through new areas and approaches it would be better to inform patients and let them make their own decisions by offering free consultations and subsequent quality treatment for those who can’t afford it rather than contribute to attaining a peak of mediocricy, or worse. For 30 years I treated Medicaid patients with complete care to the end to the best Orthodontic finish I could, kept each patient on retention beyond accepted protocol with any state aid or pro-bono patient and lost money doing it. This is a parasitic pariah. Even then name “SmileDirectClub” is designed to be deceptive to the public. It should be “SmileIndirectlyOnlyThroughOURCertifiedDoctorsClub”. This is truly a deceptive practice. Like the 19 year old practicing medicine in Florida without a license, anyone can rationalize a greedy goal by waving the “more access to care is a better thing” flag. “Better” for whom?
Thanks for sharing. I’m sure most orthodontists agree with you but that doesn’t make your circular logic and self serving assumptions correct. I’d be interested in discussing how you lost money for 30 years in detail. I’d also be happy to discuss how you think moving teeth with plastic trays is equivalent to practicing medicine. We aren’t real doctors and this isn’t real medicine. You seem pretty worked up about this issue. Let’s take it easy and discuss it rationally. Thanks so much.
You make an interesting argument in favor of more access for those that can not afford care. This is true and our profession needs to face this issue. Thank you for raising it. However, to me your solution is troubling. Is better better if a tooth is moved into traumatic occlusion? Is better better without a dental exam prior to tooth movement? Is seems we have a problem, limited access to care and we need a solution. I’m not sure bypassing the profession is the answer. BTW, to the interest of being transparent, do you receive any compensation from the Smile Direct Club?
I receive the same pay as any other SDC provider does for doing cases. As to your point about traumatic occlusion, the case is diagnosed, treatment planned and then monitored to see how the progress goes. If there is traumatic occlusion and I can’t improve it or if I think I’ll create it then I don’t treat the case. If it occurs during treatment unexpectedly then we address it. You can get traumatic occlusion from any form of treatment if you don’t pay attention to what you’re doing. This is no different.