As of: March 23, 2024, 7:53 a.m
By: Michelle Brey, Julia Hanigk
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Clear aligners are designed to result in perfectly aligned teeth.
But is the application really a good idea?
Experts criticize.
Frankfurt – Flawless, white and straight: Teeth are an important beauty issue for many people.
Misaligned teeth become a burden for some people in adulthood.
There are splints – so-called aligners – that make corrections.
Goodbye tooth gaps – but at what cost?
They are available comparatively cheaply on the Internet, but dentists and orthodontists warn of the health consequences.
Clear aligners from the Internet: Use aligners to achieve the perfect smile?
There are several providers of dental splints on the Internet.
They often approach their potential customers via social media platforms and entice them with relatively low prices.
Typically, the process begins with an appointment at a partner's practice, where an orthodontist or dentist creates an impression of the patient's jaw.
However, there are also providers who ask their patients to take impressions themselves and send them in.
This then triggers the following process:
On this basis, a whole set of rails is created.
The background: you usually have to change the splint after seven to 14 days.
To do this, a computer initially calculates how the teeth will continue to shift during the therapy.
The bite position and the course of treatment are often checked using cell phone photos that the patients take themselves.
What are aligners actually?
The term aligner comes from the English language.
The verb “align” can be translated as “to align”.
These are splints that are placed directly on the teeth to correct specific misalignments.
Due to their transparency, they are hardly noticeable visually.
They do not hinder speaking or laughing. They are removed during eating and dental care.
On average, aligners should be worn for around 22 hours per day.
“Completely inadequate”: Criticism of the approach of companies that sell aligners
Prof. Peter Proff, director of the polyclinic for orthodontics at the University Hospital Regensburg and president of the German Society for Orthodontics, expresses concerns.
He criticized the
German Press Agency (dpa)
: “Unfortunately there are companies that offer aligner orders without or with minimal medical support.”
What can dental splints from the Internet do?
(Symbolic image) © Michael Bihlmayer/Bihlmayerfotografie/IMAGO
The Hamburg dentist Dr. shares a similar point of view.
Constantine von Laffert.
The vice president of the German Medical Association criticizes the approach of many commercial providers.
“A crucial task, such as taking an impression of the teeth, cannot be left to a layperson or to the patient themselves,” he says.
But even if a professional takes the print: Controlling treatments via photos “is absolutely inadequate,” he continues.
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Dentist “very critical” of aligners from the Internet
In the ProSieben show “Zervakis & Öpdenhövel” the dentist even goes one step further.
He doesn't think there's a dentist there making the diagnoses.
He is “very critical” about this.
“I do believe that it is possible to trade such things with artificial intelligence.
And you can also see in some of the treatments that went wrong that there was simply a lack of dental knowledge and that something was apparently carried out purely robotically,” he explains his opinion.
However, the companies mentioned in the article claimed to have professional dental technicians, orthodontists or dentists in their ranks.
One person with negative aligner experiences per week – the consequences are massive
In addition to a positive example, “Zervakis & Öpdenhövel” also shows possible negative consequences of a transparent dental splint based on a patient:
Teeth no longer fit together after treatment with the aligner
Certain foods can therefore no longer be eaten.
The teeth are displaced.
It has to be corrected over the years - an expensive matter.
The orthodontist who speaks in the article from 2022 speaks of one injured patient per week who was previously treated by dental splint start-ups.
“In the end, patients are left with the costs for a second or follow-up treatment.”
Prof. Peter Proff, Director of the Polyclinic for Orthodontics at the University Hospital Regensburg and President of the German Society for Orthodontics, told dpa
“Severe damage including tooth loss”: Commercial aligner treatment carries high risks
“The business model can become problematic for you if the treatment does not go as hoped,” consumer advice centers also criticize.
They conducted a market check on commercial aligner providers in 2021.
Von Laffert added to the
dpa
: If teeth have not been examined properly beforehand and no x-rays have been taken, it may have been overlooked that the teeth to be moved could be loosened due to periodontitis.
“The patient therefore risks serious damage and even tooth loss,” he explains.
Caution
The information provided in this article does not replace seeing a doctor.
Only professionals can make the correct diagnosis and initiate appropriate therapy.
However, with proper checks by professionals, aligners can still effectively correct slight tooth misalignment.
Alternatively, there are also fixed braces in the form of brackets.
The editor wrote this article and then used an AI language model for optimization at her own discretion. All information has been carefully checked. Find out more about our AI principles here.