The thing that bothers me is things like this: "the American Association of Orthodontists, a trade group, warned consumers against moving teeth without an initial exam and continuing supervision by an orthodontist. “Our concern is that patients who don’t see an orthodontist for regular checkups and/or for a complete diagnosis are more likely to be harmed,” said Dr. Rolf Behrents, a spokesman for the association" Ever…
The other reason people don't see these professionals is time, and under the Australian medicare system at least, there's a problematic time/cost tradeoff system. My last visit to a doctor went like something like this (it's been a while, excuse any slight irregularities): 1. Take a day off at your own expense to see the doctor 2. Submit a claim to medicare 3. Get called into medicare office because my medicare card…
The sad thing is that if I hadn't found this dentist I'm sure I wouldn't have gotten the work done. My teeth were in bad shape and needed two crowns (two visits each), two fillings, and I ended up getting four veneers as well (totaling three visits).
All that said, I'm extremely skeptical of the approach outlined in the article. It's going to work safely for the majority of patients and probably cause serious harm in a minority where the lack of one-on-one consultation causes significant dental issues to be overlooked (such as periodontal disease). We need more dentists and orthodontists in general to keep costs down, and in particular we need more who practice when patients are most readily available to see them (i.e., not when their patients are themselves at work), but we don't need DIY kits.