Teeth-straightening treatment is more convenient than ever. With the advent of teledentistry, many adults are turning away from traditional in-office treatments like braces and Invisalign treatment in favor of companies that deliver clear aligners to their homes.
OrthoFx joined a recent wave of new clear aligner producers in 2019, offering affordable treatment with a unique hybrid model that blends remote monitoring with in-person care. Consider this guide your formal introduction, an overview of everything OrthoFx has to offer, so you can decide if they’re a good fit for you and your smile.
Table of Contents
What is OrthoFx?
The mainstream clear aligner industry started with Invisalign, but it’s come a long way since then. Instead of visiting a dental office for clear aligner treatment, you can now straighten your teeth from the comfort of your own home. At-home clear aligners can deliver shorter treatment times, unparalleled convenience, and much lower prices than traditional treatment options.
OrthoFx started with three Invisalign executives who believed there needed to be more transparency in the clear aligner market. They felt that customers often face a difficult choice between quality, safety, and affordability. They wanted to provide a teeth-straightening option focused on the customers and their health, without sacrificing affordability.
This hybrid clear aligner treatment fuses the benefits of in-office clear aligner options like Invisalign with the convenience and affordability of at-home clear aligners like Byte and SmileDirectClub. You’ll have an in-person appointment with a dentist to get the ball rolling, but depending on your condition, you’ll complete most of your treatment remotely, with intermittent in-person check-ups.
How Does OrthoFx Work?
Treatment with OrthoFx begins with an in-person consultation. You can complete the company’s “Am I a Candidate?” quiz, then use their “Find a Doctor” page to locate a provider near you and schedule an appointment.
At this appointment, they’ll examine and scan your teeth, then develop a custom treatment plan and provide a 3D preview of your post-treatment smile. Once you pay for your treatment, OrthoFx will manufacture your aligners and ship them to your doctor. If the price looks intimidating — don’t worry. There are financing options available.
Your in-person appointments are entirely based on your treatment progress. During treatment, you’ll only go into the office when necessary (usually every 6–8 weeks). In between visits, you’ll complete virtual check-ins.
Average treatment times with OrthoFx can vary depending on your condition. Your treatment can take anywhere from six to 18 months. Severe conditions take longer to correct, so this wide range means OrthoFx can treat a large scope of misalignments, not that their treatment is slow.
Who Is a Good Candidate For OrthoFx Treatment?
Since OrthoFx includes in-person appointments with a dentist or orthodontist, they can treat a wider range of conditions than their fully at-home competitors, including more complicated misalignments. From bite issues like overbite, underbite, open bite and crossbite, to issues of crowding and spacing, it’s likely that OrthoFx can treat you and your unique smile.
They can’t, however, treat anyone with active dental decay, periodontal disease, or missing teeth, so your dentist might suggest taking care of those conditions before getting OrthoFx treatment.
Paying for OrthoFx
OrthoFx combines the convenience of an at-home clear aligner company with the attentiveness of an in-office option like Invisalign — and their prices typically reflect this middle ground. However, your specific bill will depend on your misalignment and dentist.
Treatment Cost
OrthoFx doesn’t have flat-rate prices for their treatment. Instead, your dentist will give you a quote after your initial clinical evaluation, based on the complexity of your treatment. A specific dentist’s rates may also reflect their experience, location, office expenses, preferences, and more.
The good news is that your initial evaluation is free, so getting a quote won’t add to your expenses.
Payment Plans
OrthoFx offers a financing concierge to help you better understand whether you can truly afford treatment. They’ll help you determine if you can receive insurance coverage or enroll in a financing plan to make their prices more manageable.
For their FXPay plans, they’ve partnered with a third-party financial institution to offer financing for as low as $99 per month. They say some plans have down payments as low as $150 and 0% APR, although the details may vary depending on your credit and the price of your treatment.
Insurance
Insurance is a notoriously complicated industry full of dead ends and repetitive on-hold music, but OrthoFx takes this task off your plate and deals with your insurance themselves. If you don’t know whether your insurance covers clear aligner treatment, OrthoFx will find out for you.
Additionally, Orthofx will always have your insurer pay the bill before you do. You won’t have to foot the bill and wait for insurance to pay their share.
FSA/HSA
OrthoFx accepts HSA and FSA funds, so if you’ve been saving up those tax-free dollars, this is a great way to help fund your teeth straightening treatment!
Retainers
After your teeth move, their ligaments will want to pull them back, and it’s your job to keep them in place. That’s why retainers are absolutely crucial after you finish your treatment, and you’ll need to replace them every 3–12 months. OrthoFx makes their own retainers, and they include one set for free, then make it easy to replace them by offering three different subscription services.
If you want replacements every three months, they’ll automatically ship them for $99 per set. To get them every six months, it’s $149 per set, and annual replacements are $324.
Refund Policies and Customer Guarantees
OrthoFx offers more generous customer guarantees and refund policies than many of their rivals. If you break an aligner during treatment, the company will replace it for free! Plus, if you decide OrthoFx isn’t right for you at any point during treatment, they’ll provide a prorated refund for your remaining aligners.
Your dentist might also have their own guarantees or refund policies, so check with them before beginning treatment.
What Sets OrthoFx Apart?
Most clear aligner treatments are either fully in-office or fully at-home. OrthoFx is one of just a couple companies that combine hands-on care with remote oversight, giving you the benefits of both. In-person exams with a doctor can help correct more severe misalignments, while virtual check-ins save you a lot of time in between.
OrthoFx also gives you the opportunity to try out an aligner at a lower cost before you dive in with their full aligner package. At $95, their Try It option includes a teeth scan and one set of aligners, so you can see how they feel and consider how you’d incorporate them into your lifestyle. If you decide to proceed, then the $95 you spent on your trial kit will go toward your full treatment.
Plus, OrthoFx says 83% of their patients finish their treatment on time, so there’s a good chance you won’t need any refinements. They provide each dentist with multiple polymer options, so they can use the best ones for your specific dental shifts. And they say their aligners deliver optimal forces “with 40% less pressure on teeth vs other brands,” making them more comfortable — although it’s unclear how they determined that percentage.
Are There Any In-person Locations?
OrthoFx is like Invisalign in that you can receive treatment at pre-existing dental and orthodontic practices, but it doesn’t operate out of its own storefronts. The company is growing fast, and you can use their doctor locator to see if they are currently offering their services at a dental office near you. If not now, they may be soon.
Final Thoughts
Though still a new company, OrthoFx has had a strong and ambitious start in the clear aligner industry. While it’s not perfect for everyone, their hybrid model is an excellent option if you want the intensiveness of in-person treatment with the convenience of remote monitoring.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long will treatment take with OrthoFx?
Because OrthoFx can treat a wider variety of conditions than at-home clear aligner brands, your treatment can take anywhere from six to 18 months. Typically, the milder the misalignment, the less time your treatment will take. You’ll get a better picture of your timeline once you’ve had your teeth scanned.
Does OrthoFx sell retainers?
Yes. OrthoFx offers a subscription service for their retainers, so you don’t have to order more when it’s time to replace them. The price per retainer changes depending on how frequently you choose to replace them. For every three months, each retainer set is $99. For every six months, your retainer set is $149. For every twelve months, each retainer set is $324. These are significantly higher prices than almost all of OrthoFx’s competitors.
Do any other providers offer similar hybrid treatment to OrthoFx?
Yes. Candid also offers a blend of in-person and remote oversight, and quip is currently rolling out a similar treatment style. Candid has 300+ providers so far, and quip’s aligners are limited to patients in New York City right now.
Are there clear aligner providers that provide 100% remote treatment?
Yes! There are a lot, actually. Each company has their own unique approach to treatment, but our top-ranked at-home clear aligner provider is Byte. Their average treatment time is 4–5 months, they put a lifetime guarantee on your results, and they still have pretty competitive prices. If you want to learn more about Byte and other at-home clear aligner companies, check out our guide to the five best home teeth aligners.
How do I know when it’s time to change my retainer?
You’ll typically need to replace your retainers every 6–12 months, but it varies patient to patient. Speak with your OrthoFx provider for their recommendation.
Will I have a lisp during treatment?
You might develop a lisp at the beginning of treatment, but it should disappear quickly once your tongue gets used to its new roommate.
Can I drink coffee and tea while wearing my aligners?
You’ll need to remove your aligners to drink anything other than water. The high temperatures of coffee and tea can warp the plastic of the clear aligners.
Do clear aligners protect my teeth from cavities?
Clear aligners require additional vigilance in your oral hygiene, not less. Since aligners fit snugly around your teeth, if you don’t brush and floss before putting in your aligners, the plaque and bacteria on your teeth can wear through your enamel. Your saliva normally helps clean up leftover plaque, but with the snugly fit aligners, it can’t reach the surfaces of your teeth.
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