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I made my own clear plastic tooth aligners and they worked

amosdudley.com

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Re: I made my own clear plastic tooth aligners and they worked

#131

Post by vram22 »

cptvideo2 wrote: post #113
vram22 wrote: post #61

Interesting article. Waterpik is a related product (as in, for teeth and gums) that a dentist recommended. Anyone have experience using it - pros, cons?

I think Waterpiks are better for dental health than toothbrushes and floss combined (although I use ‘em all). They’re basically small-scale pressure washers that obliterate bacterial biofilms, which are the real cause of tooth decay and gum disease and bad breath. Your mouth feels a different kind of clean after 2 minutes with one of these things.

Didn't know about biofilms (bacterial or other) earlier. The basic idea is intuitive (which is why I gargle with salt water regularly), but googled biofilm now and found a lot of info - it is complex. Thanks for mentioning it!

Saw this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biofilm#Biofilms_and_infectiou...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biofilm#Dental_plaque

The article says:

"Biofilms have been found to be involved in a wide variety of microbial infections in the body, by one estimate 80% of all infections"

Re: I made my own clear plastic tooth aligners and they worked

#132

Post by stefanix »

Made my own as well when I was interning at an othodontist.

There is not really much tech required. You can simply cut apart the gypsum model tooth by tooth and align it perfectly with wax and add space for you gum. Finally create a mold and use medical grade silicone to make the tooth straightener.

Silicone also allows for more movement and gives you control of upper and lower teeth in relation to each other.

While this is not rocket science there are considerations about jaw alignment that would be difficult for the amature to get right the first time around in any but simple misalignments.

Re: I made my own clear plastic tooth aligners and they worked

#133

Post by Grishnakh »

ryandrake wrote: post #98
49531 wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to wonder why people avoided dentists, but recently I cracked a molar and had to go to see a dentist. I was recommended a dentist in town, I showed up to a nice office full of nice people, they looked at my tooth and said they might be able to save it. So far, it was a pretty good experience. Then it got weird. They took me to a room with a business person who would discuss my "payment options and treatment pl…

My experience with "dentists these days" matches yours. I go in for a checkup, and instead I'm getting sales pitches for mouth guards and alignment thinggys, and electric toothbrushes and all sorts of obviously high-margin dental accessories. And then there's the "well we usually recommend quarterly visits, but will accept twice a year" when I explicitly tell them my insurance only allows one visit a year. I basicall…

>My experience with "dentists these days" matches yours. I go in for a checkup, and instead I'm getting sales pitches for mouth guards and alignment thinggys, and electric toothbrushes and all sorts of obviously high-margin dental accessories.

I'm going to agree and disagree with this one.

I went a few times to a "dental spa" a couple years ago which was trying to sell me a "night guard" for $900, claiming I was grinding my teeth at night. Their prices for other stuff were pretty high too.

My current dentist pushed me hard to get an electric toothbrush, either from her office or elsewhere. They even gave me a sample brushhead and let me try it out in their office, using some purple pills to show how much cleaner the electric toothbrush made my teeth. Her price actually wasn't that bad compared to Target/Walmart, but I ended up getting a nice Oral-B on Amazon on Black Friday. Guess what? The dentist was right! Now my teeth constantly feel like I just got a polishing at the dentist. I got another Oral-B for my wife on Amazon (it was only $30-35), and she loves it.

Seriously, get an electric toothbrush; it makes a huge difference. You don't need to waste time getting a full polishing when you use one of these daily.

But as for the night guard, my current dentist hasn't tried to sell me one of those. And they recommend twice-a-year visits, which is what my insurance pays for.

It sounds like you need to find a new dentist.

Re: I made my own clear plastic tooth aligners and they worked

#134

Post by Grishnakh »

daveguy wrote: post #81

It looks like the author took into account the safety of the plastic in creating these, which is a good thing. Maybe more so than dentists. You know "silver" fillings aka dental amalgum? They are 50% mercury by weight and are still being used. Supposedly safe because it is inhalation of mercury that is poisonous. Removal of those fillings with a drill can be dangerous. When some guy told me about this and was talking…

The thing about the mercury amalgam fillings is: why even bother any more? Modern resin fillings are mercury-free, plus they look far better and are nearly indistinguishable from real tooth. They're stronger too: I have a resin "filling" that's actually filling in a chip on one of my front teeth, meaning this filling is actually shaped into a sharp biting edge. It's been there for a year now and works fine. You can't make tooth repairs like that with amalgam.

Amalgam is just plain obsolete, regardless of how safe it may or may not be. So why anyone still uses it, I have no idea; I can only guess they're cheaper than the resin fillings, so they're used for low-income patients, or by shitty (or old-timer) dentists trying to improve their bottom line.

Re: I made my own clear plastic tooth aligners and they worked

#135

Post by pitaa »

ghufran_syed wrote: post #53
dikdik wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Next I need someone to do orthopedic shoe inserts. Mine cost $600 and only fit my running shoes.

I'm a physician, and I used to get custom made ones, until I found these for around $45 in the US: https://www.drscholls.com/productsandbrands/customfitorthoti...

I was having foot pain a few years ago and decided to give those a try before shelling out to see a podiatrist/get custom orthotics. My foot pain was gone within a week and only came back on one occasion; when I bought new shoes and forgot to put them in the new pair.

Still, I've wondered if I'm missing out by not getting custom inserts. It sounds like (at least in your case) there was no major difference?

Re: I made my own clear plastic tooth aligners and they worked

#138

Post by dragons »

vram22 wrote: post #130
vram22 wrote: post #61

Interesting article. Waterpik is a related product (as in, for teeth and gums) that a dentist recommended. Anyone have experience using it - pros, cons?

Thanks for all the replies; useful.

I'm late to this thread, but I will chime in. I started using a waterpik about 2 years ago. My dental hygienist suggested I try it, because the gaps between my gums and teeth were starting to get deeper, about 2-3 mm. When I came back to the hygienist after 6 months, she told me the gaps were mostly 1-2 mm. I can't recall if I told her before she did the measurements that I'd used the waterpik, so I'm not sure if I biased her. In any case, I'm pretty sure I can also see the improvement in the mirror - at least my gums used to look a little inflamed at the gumline, here and there, and they don't anymore. Also it seemed I was bleeding less at my last cleaning (they usually tell me that I bleed more than average).

One more thing: my hygienist said I didn't have to use the waterpik every day, that it's fine to use it just a few times a week. So I'm trying to use it every other day now. I don't know the pros and cons of using it every day. Are there any long term studies which show that the waterpik is in no way harmful? I don't think so.

PS I didn't floss as a kid, so unfortunately I have tons of dental fillings. I started flossing as an adult, and I'm sure it helped a lot. I still floss once a day.

Re: I made my own clear plastic tooth aligners and they worked

#139

Post by vram22 »

dragons wrote: post #138
vram22 wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for all the replies; useful.

I'm late to this thread, but I will chime in. I started using a waterpik about 2 years ago. My dental hygienist suggested I try it, because the gaps between my gums and teeth were starting to get deeper, about 2-3 mm. When I came back to the hygienist after 6 months, she told me the gaps were mostly 1-2 mm. I can't recall if I told her before she did the measurements that I'd used the waterpik, so I'm not sure if I b…

Thanks for chiming in. Good info. Not sure about those studies. I guess every other day is fine.

Re: I made my own clear plastic tooth aligners and they worked

#140

Post by tonyarkles »

Grishnakh wrote: post #134
daveguy wrote: post #81

It looks like the author took into account the safety of the plastic in creating these, which is a good thing. Maybe more so than dentists. You know "silver" fillings aka dental amalgum? They are 50% mercury by weight and are still being used. Supposedly safe because it is inhalation of mercury that is poisonous. Removal of those fillings with a drill can be dangerous. When some guy told me about this and was talking…

The thing about the mercury amalgam fillings is: why even bother any more? Modern resin fillings are mercury-free, plus they look far better and are nearly indistinguishable from real tooth. They're stronger too: I have a resin "filling" that's actually filling in a chip on one of my front teeth, meaning this filling is actually shaped into a sharp biting edge. It's been there for a year now and works fine. You can't…

Price, yes. I got mine when I was a student and had no cash; I had a hole in my tooth and had to get it filled for the lowest cost I could.

If I have to get more... It'll be resin. The amalgam ones I've got have lasted a long time though, and I don't seem to have any new holes now that I've quit drinking so much soda every day :)

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