Know All Five Options Before Anyone Picks One for You
You’re looking for alternatives to Invisalign in Beverly Hills or West Hollywood because one brand name isn’t the whole answer. Dr. Jamielynn Hanam-Jahr, DDS, has cared for patients at Beverly Hills Aesthetic Dentistry for over 25 years. She holds California License #46068. Her office offers five separate ways to straighten teeth, and four of them rarely come up. Below you’ll find what each system fixes and who it suits. You’ll also see where aligners stop working and how to check a product’s FDA authorization from home.
The worry behind this search is usually about being sold one product before anyone looks at your bite. That worry is fair. Pick the wrong system and those months don’t come back. Some aligner cases end in braces anyway.
What Are the Alternatives to Invisalign?
Four systems besides Invisalign straighten teeth in this practice: CandidPro clear aligners, ClearCorrect, Six Month Smiles, and traditional braces. Each handles a different range of cases. The right one depends on how far your teeth need to move. It also depends on how much the bite has to change and how faithfully you’ll wear a tray.
Three of the five are clear aligners. You wear a series of removable trays, and each one shifts specific teeth a little further along. Clear aligner treatment differs by brand in software, plastic, and price. Six Month Smiles and braces are fixed appliances instead, bonded to the teeth from the first visit until treatment ends.
Why Do Patients Look Past Invisalign?
Four reasons tend to send people looking past Invisalign, and none of them means Invisalign is a poor product. Cost is one, since aligner brands are priced differently. Case fit is another, because some bites need more force than a tray can deliver. The last two are timing and whether anyone offered a real choice.
Timing matters more than most people expect. A patient with a wedding in eight months has a different problem from someone with no deadline at all. Six Month Smiles targets that situation, working on the front teeth people notice first. Distance still sets the clock.
The fourth reason is the plainest. A practice that carries one brand tends to recommend that brand, which is why this question gets asked at all. Dr. Hanam-Jahr starts with health instead, checking the bite and the gums before naming any system. What she finds gets sorted into urgent, important, and optional. Individual results vary with the starting position of your teeth and how your bite meets.
Which Clear Aligner Systems Work Like Invisalign?
Three aligner systems are available in this office, and they differ more in business model than in biology. The FDA puts wear time at 20 hours a day or more for all three. What changes is who plans the case, what the plastic is made of, and what the full course costs.
- CandidPro aligners, planned with the treating dentist rather than a remote lab
- ClearCorrect, a second clear tray system with its own planning software
- Invisalign, the longest-established of the three
For you, the practical difference is cost and case range, not comfort. All three are prescription devices, so each one requires an exam before a single tray is made. None of them are the mail-order kits advertised online. Those sit in a separate category, with risks covered in the questions at the end of this page.
How Do the Five Options Compare?
Each of the five systems has a range it handles well and a point where it stops. The table below sets out what each is built for. Fixed appliances sit at the bottom. Treat it as a starting map, since only an exam tells you which row is yours.
| System | Type | Generally used for |
| Invisalign | Clear aligner | Mild to moderate crowding, gaps, bite issues |
| CandidPro | Clear aligner | Mild to moderate cases, dentist-planned |
| ClearCorrect | Clear aligner | Mild to moderate cases |
| Six Month Smiles | Fixed, tooth-colored | Front teeth, quicker cosmetic cases |
| Traditional braces | Fixed, metal | Complex movement and severe crowding |
Source: U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Clear Dental Aligners, content current as of 9 September 2026, for the clear aligner rows. Fixed appliance rows reflect the systems offered at this practice.
The FDA says clear aligners treat mild to moderate crowding, gaps, and bite problems, and complex conditions may need braces. That line settles most of the choice. Rotations, deep bites, and back-teeth movement tend to push a case toward the bottom two rows. Nobody can judge how far teeth must travel from a photograph, so the exam comes first.
When Are Braces a Better Choice Than Aligners?
Braces win when teeth need rotation, large movements, or a real change to the bite. They work 24 hours a day because they’re bonded in place. No tray goes back in after lunch. That matters most for severe crowding and for anyone who knows a removable tray will end up in a drawer.
Traditional braces keep the widest range of any option, applying steady force in directions a removable tray can’t reproduce. Six Month Smiles sits between the two. It uses tooth-colored brackets and wires on the front teeth only, aiming at cosmetic alignment rather than full bite correction. The narrower goal is the trade for a quicker course. Treatment length for either one varies by case, and only the exam can estimate it with any honesty.
How Can You Check an Aligner Is FDA-Authorized?
You can confirm any aligner’s FDA authorization yourself in 2 steps, using nothing more than a phone. The FDA reviews clear aligners before they’re sold in the United States. It also draws a line most advertising blurs, because FDA-registered and FDA-authorized are not the same claim.
- Ask your dentist which aligner product is being used, by name
- Search the FDA 510(k) database under product code NXC to confirm authorization
FDA-registered means a company listed its facility and products with the agency, and nothing more. FDA-authorized means the agency reviewed and cleared that specific product. Any practice should name its product without hesitating, and the database lets you check that answer from home. If a product name won’t come up, ask why before you pay anything.
Leave Your Consultation Knowing Which System Fits
Patients reach the office along Santa Monica Boulevard from West Hollywood and Brentwood. The drive passes Beverly Gardens Park on the way in. Most arrive knowing one brand. A consultation in Beverly Hills should tell you which of the five fits your teeth, timeline, and budget. You leave knowing why one was chosen over the other four. Then you start treatment without second-guessing it. Bring any quote you’ve already received, and the comparison gets easier.
Dr. Jamielynn Hanam-Jahr, DDS, California License #46068, reviews your bite and gums first and names a system afterward. Her years as a nurse before dentistry show in the gentle, unhurried pace of every visit. Individual results vary, and every plan follows the exam. To start, call (310) 276-2088 or schedule a consultation online through the practice website. That first step is one visit.
Questions Patients Ask About Invisalign Alternatives
Why do people quit Invisalign?
Most people who quit struggle with wear time, not the trays. The Cleveland Clinic says aligners need at least 22 hours of wear daily, out only for meals and brushing. Missed hours slow tooth movement and push the finish date back. If a removable tray won’t fit your routine, a fixed appliance may suit you better.
Is $6,000 a lot for Invisalign treatment?
Not by national figures, though your own fee depends on how complex the case is. In a 2022 review, Harvard Health put orthodontic treatment for adults at $5,000 to $12,000, depending on location and complexity. Fees vary by system, and some insurance plans pay part of the cost. Compare written estimates after an exam, never phone quotes.
What goes wrong when aligners are used without a dentist?
Reported problems cluster around tooth movement nobody supervised. A study of the FDA’s adverse event database found 104 complaints tied to direct-to-consumer aligners between 2018 and 2020. Bite problems, pain, sensitivity, and gum disease led the list. Some of that damage was irreversible, and fixing the rest can take longer than treating the original case.
Can dental benefits help pay for braces or aligners?
Often they can, though coverage depends entirely on the terms of your plan. The ADA explains that a dental PPO typically covers a percentage of each procedure, up to a yearly benefit limit. An employer Flexible Spending Account can also cover braces needed for dental health. Plans vary, so the office reviews your PPO benefits with you before any treatment starts, line by line.
