Wednesday, March 2, 2011

The New “Six Month Smile” Procedure

The most recent orthodontic development is the new Six Month Smile procedure. This is a similar to the Invisalign line except that it is made by the company Powerprox. The whole concept of “Six Month Smile” is to straighten your front teeth, your “smiling” teeth, in around six months. This procedure can only work if you just have crowding. If you have an overbite or anything more serious this will not work for you at all.

Now if getting your teeth straightened in six months isn’t enough, the makers of “Six Month Smile” have also made the brackets and wires tooth colored so they aren’t visible. This line is mainly targeted for teens, 15 years and older, and adults because it is thought that this age group is more concerned with the cosmetic part of having big bulky metal braces.

How it straightens your teeth in six months:

You will get your brackets and wires which are basically the same as normal ones, except they will be tooth colored and so mostly invisible. Then every month or so, you will go in to your orthodontist and they will tighten the wires. This is about a sixth of the time usually put between tightening so that is why it takes such a short amount of time. Because of these frequent tightenings, your teeth will probably be very sore. Also you will need to wear retainers after you are done with the six month procedure.

Cost of the procedure:

From what we have read, the cost of getting your front teeth straightened is around $2500 or more, which is very close to the cost of Invisalign. Also for the leveling of your arch which is something that adults whose mouths have formed and need to be straightened out might get, that cost is around $5000. Also you will be paying for retainers too so that is an added 90 to 120 dollars. So overall, it is not much cheaper then normal braces and you are paying for the “invisible” part of it. And although it is considered “cosmetic orthodontics”, it might be covered in your insurance so you should check if you plan on getting this.


Basically this will not necessarily fix your teeth. Since it is done so fast your teeth will more than likely migrate back to their original places after it is done. But if you are an adult and you really want a fast, unnoticeable procedure with practically immediate results and a beautiful smile sooner then this is a good option. Teens, we would recommend the tried and true metal braces. Even though they take longer and are noticeable, they will last until your adulthood!

-Amanda and Erik

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