Table of Contents
Service Overview
What is Byte?
Byte is a company that creates custom teeth straightening plans, makes the clear teeth aligning trays that are used to straighten the teeth, and delivers them to customers by mail. Their teeth aligners are made of BPA-free plastic and treatment plans are created by licensed orthodontists.
Byte hit the market in Fall 2018. While they are among the newest companies to offer this kind of service, there are key things that make them a compelling option, most notably their customer-first approach, focus on creating a smile just for you and your facial features, use of additional technologies to make treatment go faster, and partnership with orthodontists with advanced training instead of general dentists.
Byte vs Invisalign
Byte is a clear aligner system, just like the more commonly known and trusted Invisalign®. Like Invisalign®, Byte sells clear aligners that are used to move the teeth and create a more aesthetic smile. While these two options are similar in many ways, there are also distinct differences that need to be considered:
Cost
Byte is much more cost-effective because it does not require in-person visits with a dental professional. The total cost of byte is $1,900 (before insurance). In comparison, Invisalign® costs between $4,000 and $8,000 (before insurance).
Convenience
Since byte is sent to you in the mail and does not require in-person visits, it fits a busy lifestyle more easily than Invisalign®.
Effectiveness
For smiles that only need minor to moderate adjustments, byte is just as effective as Invisalign®. Invisalign® shines in cases where the patient is trying to correct a complicated dental problem like a cross-bite, under-bite, over-bite, or diastema (substantial gap between teeth). Invisalign® is a better option for complex cases because the in-person treatment allows a dentist or orthodontist to apply advanced techniques as part of your treatment plan. An Invisalign® treatment plan may include the use of attachments, buttons, and bands – things which cannot be applied without seeing a dental professional in person, but may be required to create the best result for some patients.
Treatment Plan
When a patient signs up to receive Invisalign® treatment from a dentist or orthodontist, the patient’s dentist or orthodontist can either be very involved with the treatment plan, or not involved at all. What does this mean? Let’s say you go in to see your dentist and you opt to begin Invisalign® treatment. After getting images of your teeth (either by scanning them with a laser or making a 3D impression of them using a foam material), those images of your smile are sent to Invisalign®, where a technician (not an orthodontist or dentist) creates a treatment plan for your smile. Your personal, home-town dentist or orthodontist can either make changes to your technician-created plan or make no changes at all.
With byte, you are assigned a personal orthodontist who will create your treatment plan and check in with you throughout the treatment process. There are no middle-men technicians who create treatment plans. Byte’s process ensures that your smile treatment plan is made just for you, by someone who you interact with directly.
[Read more…] about Byte Review: Better than Invisalign and Smile Direct?