Too Good to be True?

If you’re anything like me, you’ve undoubtedly had occasion to think “when something's too good to be true; it probably is.”

And what if, after maybe falling asleep in the middle of another USC football Saturday snoozer, you opened your eyes only to see some late-night sales guy promising you straight teeth without your ever even having to see a dentist? Given a selfie and some materials as alien to you as left-handed tennis rackets or dancing with the Dalai Lama, you could do-it-yourself and morph your grill into an all-time SoCal smile. Almost forgot; and you could have it all for up to 60% less (than if trained professionals personally provided the service.) Hmmm. Sometimes, it helps when you repeat a sales pitch right out loud.

I’ve provided Invisalign care ever since GPs were first certified in 2002. My mentor is arguably the top Invisalign educator on the globe; and he does excellent stand-up comedy too (while dental schools still struggle to understand humor is a great learning tool.) Four years ago, I took his 2-day course for the first time; it was an interactive exercise and clinically, a major eye-opener. During the course, if you were lucky enough to generate a correct answer, you won a prize. And aside from being The Word on Invisalign, my mentor stays up late…all the time. And the prizes are all infomercial gems.

So, there's this absorbent towel (that I won't name); I’ve used it to soak up spilt milk...and it works! And I’ve yet to win The Towel but the commercial is awesome and the pitch man is beyond hilarious…and so was the home test when The Word played us the video on Training Day One. In fact, one might say the test even served as a look into a possibly disturbing clear aligner orthodontic future.

And what better ultimate test than pouring red wine onto a white carpet and using The Towel to wash and dry the stain straight into total carpet health? The home video was entertaining; our instructor’s now ex-wife wasn’t so happy. But no one had to make an appointment, wait at home, or pay to hang out while a professional took care of the Cabernet-imposed injury to the innocent thick woven fabric. The quick do-it-yourself fix didn’t work; it was time for the trained professionals.

Unsupervised, remote, do-it-yourself clear aligner orthodontic care is sort of the oral health version of The Towel. But the consequences are arguably more serious than a divorce.

Aligning teeth has a major impact on building complete health. And the clear aligner process is non-invasive and predictable. Invisalign care has a successful track record covering some 20+ years. Continued, exhaustive research has never stopped.

Malaligned crowded arches can be a factor in the onset of chronic oral infection and inflammation (How can you maintain what you can't reach?) And a focus of oral infection is transmissible throughout the mouth and is a factor in managing systemic diseases like heart disease, lung disease, diabetes, cancer, stroke, and low weight premature births. Even dementia has been linked to unchecked chronic oral inflammation and infection.

Effective occlusion provides the structure for an efficient chewing machine; it’s a major factor in dentition longevity. In the U.S., 25% of the over 65-years of age population have no teeth: another 25% have less than half. As it is, less than half of Americans visit the dentist on a regular basis; the consequences are loss of quality of life and even years of life. And remote "teledentistry" is asking for even fewer visits, selling the proposition that staying away from the dentist is somehow a good thing.

Sadly, the very people who would be helped and have legitimate cost objections are being sold a commodity rather than investing in a basic proven component of a complete health approach. And after 2008, dentistry has become far more creative in finding ways to fit necessary care into budgets and lifestyles without sacrificing a high standard of service.

Last month, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law protecting "teledentistry"patients by holding do-it-yourself providers to standards that require sharing so-called remote doctors' names, license numbers and dental board contact information. The law also requires a review of x-rays prior to orthodontic care and a history, examination and treatment plan provided by the dentist. The patients also have recourse to report incidents falling short of accepted standard of care.

And dental do-it-yourself care does legitimately exist; it’s called prevention. Prevention is all about education, toothbrushes, floss, and finding a dental home. Oral health is managed by people…who develop relationships and mutual trust; "care" is the requisite verb, not part of a pitch.

Don’t miss the chance for an oral health scan, an oral cancer exam, and the chance to receive complete care like family, not a remote number; the choice will have an impact on your life, not only your teeth. And the experience should begin with a conversation...where the dentist is doing most of the listening.