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Topic: A Link That Compares Invisalign/Orthoclear

AnneC
Preferred Member

posted 07-13-2006 10:44 PM

Just came across this resource & thought it pretty interesting:

http://www.dentalblogs.com/archives/hedge/invisalign-vs-orthoclear/

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Christine
Junior Member

posted 07-13-2006 11:27 PM

quote:
Originally posted by AnneC:
Just came across this resource & thought it pretty interesting:
http://www.dentalblogs.com/archives/hedge/invisalign-vs-orthoclear/

How very cool! It's great to be able to see both and read commentary about them.

I hope more orthodontists join in on the comments!

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BadBoy
Preferred Member

posted 07-14-2006 12:22 AM

Thanks for the very interesting comparison site link!
Explains the key pros/cons between the two beyond what I had heard of before. Looks like except for one dentist (who appears to be biased since he works as a teacher for orthoclear) that invisalign is preferred due to a far more sophisticated software for the dentist/ortho to use and the delivery of all the aligners instead of only 2 at a time with orthoclear and some getting delays on delivery. I myself couldn't see any noticeable difference in the pictures to make one or the other better from a visible point of view, so it must be so slight that nobody would notice the difference if any, anyway. The other differences mentioned become more important then.

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AnneC
Preferred Member

posted 07-14-2006 09:49 PM

One fairly noticable difference is how much more "invisable" the edges of the Orthoclear trays appear in these comparisons. The Invisalign ones seem to be much thicker at the edges since you can see them much more. Orthoclear may tout this as a "clear" advantage, but I'm guessing the thinner gauge in this area is what causes those trays to tear that much easier (as some here have told us of their problems with that).

One thing I don't understand is why Orthoclear does not number stamp their trays - they don't give a finite number of trays to their clients supposedly because that will depend on the individual's progress, but that must be somewhat confusing. How many tray sets does your ortho give out to you at once with OC - one or two?

Snazzier interface with Invisalign's Clincheck, all right - & snazzier packaging. I see Invisalign is offering free Clinchecks right now as a special to dentists/orthos - likely to kickstart an increase in sales plans. Wonder if that will entice more dentists to consider offering this treatment if they've not yet.

So much is in the marketing, isn't it?

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Christine
Junior Member

posted 07-14-2006 10:26 PM

quote:
Originally posted by AnneC:

One thing I don't understand is why Orthoclear does not number stamp their trays... How many tray sets does your ortho give out to you at once with OC - one or two?

My ortho hates that my OC trays aren't numbered. It can make keeping them in order confusing to say the least. I write the aligner sequence number directly on the packets that my trays come in. I haven't mixed them up yet. Yet!

To answer your question, my ortho gives me 2 OC trays at a time. I wish I could get more at once, but I know they have to do IPRs and other stuff to keep my teeth moving along.

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AnneC
Preferred Member

posted 07-25-2006 11:47 AM

Found a few more interesting articles to compare. The first is an Orthoclear case illustrating how the setup works for the dentist/ortho:

http://www.oc-j.com/june06/OrthoClear.htm

Next are two articles in a series written by Dr. David Paquette regarding the use of Invisalign in comprehensive treatment. In the first there are "training" aligners shown that can be used to bleach teeth while waiting for the "active" trays - huh - now, that would be cool!

http://www.oc-j.com/august05/Invisalign.htm

And Clincheck as a tool for diagnosis:

http://www.oc-j.com/oct05/Invisalign_2.htm

(Also, note there's been an additional comment post to that original article comparing the two systems - VERY interesting!)
Anne

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Christine
Junior Member

posted 07-25-2006 12:02 PM

quote:
Originally posted by AnneC:

(Also, note there's been an additional comment post to that original article comparing the two systems - VERY interesting!)

Hey Anne,

Wow, that is an interesting comment. It's really sad to read that there are those who are more interested in making a buck over what may be better for the patient overall. I know orthos/dentists need to make a living, but the way that "Jake" puts it seems like he's trying to squeeze every last cent from his patients. Yikes!

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Betsy
Preferred Member

posted 07-26-2006 09:47 AM

As always, thanks for the very interesting information. It is really interesting to get an insight into the dentist/ortho's perspective.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by AnneC:
[B]Found a few more interesting articles to compare. The first is an Orthoclear case illustrating how the setup works for the dentist/ortho:

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