Frustrated with Our Orthodontist

I have used the same orthodontist for my other two children. They have all had braces. However, now there is Invisalign. He insists it is not as good as braces and refuses to even consider placing them. I feel like my daughter has a pretty straight forward case. Should we just go to a dentist who does Invisalign and skip the whole orthodontist thing?

Stacey

Dear Stacey,

This may not be the best orthodontist for you. Bear in mind that I have not examined your daughter’s bite and there may be complicating factors that I am unaware of. It used to be that Invisalign could only treat the ideal cases. Now, it has improved to the point that it can even take on many of the more complicated cases. There are still some cases which require braces, but not nearly as many as their used to be. If your daughter’s case is a straight forward as you say then the issue is more likely that your dentist has not embraced the technology and is telling you that it is not as good to keep you from going to a general dentist.

My suggestion is that you still see an orthodontist, however, see one who offers Invisalign. In fact, an orthodontist who does Invisalign, may also do Spark aligners. This is another brand of invisible aligners. It has some advantages over Invisalign, however, they can only be placed by orthodontists with specialized training.

One of the advantages of doing this through an orthodontist is the assurance you have that is something does not go according to plan you are already with a specialist that can make any needed adjustments quickly and keep your child’s treatment on track as safely as possible.

This blog is brought to you by Bee Cave Orthodontist Dr. Alberto Tostado.