Explainer: how you can straighten your teeth affordably and without anyone (hardly) noticing.

Blame it on Hollywood, or Instagram, or your best mate who has a flawless smile, but it seems everywhere you look everyone has perfect teeth.

Which means if yours are a little less than straight and shiny you might be considering doing something about it. Except, orthodontics are expensive. Like, European holiday or small car expensive.

Plus braces might not be the look you’re going for, and if you’re anything like me you’ll probably struggle to fit regular dental appointments into your schedule, which is why so often projects like straightening your teeth end up in the I’ll-think-about-it-later basket.

Though much like everything else you can now do from home, getting straight teeth isn’t as complicated or as exorbitantly pricey as it used to be.

It’s called EZ SMILE. It’s the at-home teeth straightening process which is revolutionising the entire dental category, a bit like Uber or Airbnb, but for your teeth.

It’s new to Australia, but is a proven method that has been offered in the USA and Europe for many years with huge success. So what is it exactly?

The product itself is clear, almost-undetectable aligners which straighten your teeth while you live your life. They’re super affordable and don’t involve any trips to the dentist, either. Win!

You start the process by first finding out if you’re a candidate. By answering a few questions online you’ll know quick smart if EZ SMILE is for you, then the next step is to order an Impression Kit, which’ll set you back $99 (or half that with a special offer - more on that later).

When the kit arrives you make moulds of your teeth at home and post them back so your aligners can be custom-made by an orthodontist. Because you don't actually have to go to any appointments it's ace for parents with kids, busy professionals, those who are scared of the dentist or anyone who lives in a remote country town = AKA everyone, really.

After the orthodontists in the EZ SMILE lab have created your 3D teeth straightening plan you’ll receive a video so you can see exactly how your teeth will move, how many sets of aligners you’ll need, and how long it’ll take to straighten your teeth and what they'll look like at the end (the average is four to six months, FYI).

From there you decide if you want to go ahead. If you do, your clear aligners are delivered to you and off you go. Only when you see the plan and you’re happy with it do you pay for the aligners, the rest is covered under the $99 cost.

Easy, huh?

In the short time it has been available in Australia it's been such a success because it's an option that has never been offered before to people with minor to moderate straightening cases.

So I am guessing you want to know how much it’ll cost?

The process is $41.35 per week, or $2149 all up. That’s about 70 percent cheaper than traditional clear aligners and there's currently no other options like it.

You probably also want to know that it’s all proper quality and legit? The EZ SMILE lab has treated over 100,000 cases globally, so your teeth are in excellent hands.

I sat down with my You Beauty co-host Kelly McCarren, who is nearing the end of her treatment, to give us the low-down on what the process has been like.

 

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A post shared by Kelly Lee (@kelly_mccarren) on Dec 12, 2018 at 2:38am PST

 What were your teeth like 'before'?

“My teeth weren't bad, but I was conscious of the wonkiness of one side in particular. I'd do that weird mouth closed 'smize' thing so many of us gals do."

"Basically I was a real rascal when I was a teen and didn't wear my plate after I got my braces off. Which meant that my teeth moved and then got even wonkier when I had my wisdom teeth out at 18.”

What was it like doing the moulds at home?

“Spitty. There was a LOT of saliva. But it's really easy and way better than going to a dentist and having someone shove them roughly into your gob.”

“It only took about 20 to 30 minutes and involved rolling this putty stuff between your hands, pressing into the mould and then holding it on your teeth for a few minutes while it sets. The instructions were super easy to follow and they send you extra in case you stuff the process up. It's actually pretty fun.”

What does wearing the trays feel like?

“When you start wearing the very first set of aligners, you'll probably get a bit of a headache. It will last a few days but power on through as I promise it goes away after your mouth gets used to having something in there, moving your wee chompers around.”

“They hurt a bit when you change to a new tighter set but it goes away in a few hours and I never got a headache from them after those initial few days.”

“You can't eat or drink dark liquids with the aligners in, so it definitely changes your eating and drinking patterns, and for me it meant it helped me stop mindlessly snacking. You get used to all of it really quickly and it's not actually that big of a deal to go rinse or brush your teeth before putting them back in.”

Want to check out more? Head to the EZ SMILE website to have a poke around. When you do you’ll get a 50 percent discount if you decide to order an impression kit, or visit the site any time and chuck in the discount code 'mama50' to save $49.50. We’re nice like that.

*Kelly McCarren received free EZ Smile treatment in return for a review of the product.

**ALWAYS READ THE LABEL. ALWAYS READ THE INSTRUCTIONS FOR USE.