GRANDVILLE, Mich. — We see the ads pop up all over social media for DIY orthodontics kits that promise to straighten your teeth and give you the perfect smile all while doing it from home.
While this sounds simple, a local dentist is saying it could potentially put you in the position to lose teeth or make an existing problem you aren’t aware of worse.
Local dentist Jared Van Ittersum of Infinity Dental Partners created a website to inform the public of two class-action lawsuits against some of these big name companies because they’re causing some patients permanent damage.
“When you come in and you have an orthodontist or general dentist do orthodontist, move teeth for you with clear liner therapy the first thing we do is take x-rays, a gum screening exam, we do an exam of your teeth and what we’re looking for is impacted teeth and tooth decay. What we’re finding when you do the DIY orthodontics is that’s not being done, you’re generally just saying yep i’ve got a clean bill of health, yep I went to the dentist. The problem is people aren’t doing that stage first so they don’t even know what the foundation is,” says Van Ittersum.
However, if you have just minor teeth movements and you still want to try a DIY kit out, Dr. Van Ittersum is still willing to help with a free exam, x-ray and screening so you know that it's safe to try it or not.
For more information on the class-actions lawsuits and free screenings at Dr. Van Ittersum's three locations CLICK HERE.
We did reach out to SmileDirectClub, one of the companies named in a complaint filed on behalf of the American Dental Association with the Federal Trade Commission.
SmileDirectClub provided the following statement:
“Every member that SmileDirectClub serves is treated by a dentist or orthodontist who is held to the same standards of care for providing treatment as dentists who treat their patients in a traditional brick and mortar dental practice. The narrative that this is “DIY dentistry” is completely false. The affiliated network of dentists and orthodontists who use our platform to treat patients take their commitment to patient care very seriously, as do we. With any successful innovation there is pushback from those who are being forced to adapt to change. We are proud to have the support of hundreds of dentists and orthodontists across the country, and we will not let this false narrative stop us in our mission to bring access and convenience to a better smile to our customers.” - SmileDirectClub
