Leverage clear aligners for your practice

Modern orthodontic technology is at its zenith with the advent of clear aligners. Their adeptness for discretion and comfort makes transforming smiles easier and more accessible. With recent conflicts in the dental sector including supply chain issues, case backlogs and bottlenecks, rising interest rates, and a debilitating staff shortage, dentists have been through the wringer and could certainly use a break.

Well, your chance to unlock your potential for growth and position your business as a competitive player in the market may finally be here. Reinventing the new normal is like no other with clear aligners. By integrating clear aligner systems into your practice model, you can broaden your target demographic, fill your rota with eager patient schedules, and increase your practice revenue.

Why are clear aligners popular?

Clear aligners have rapidly become the crowd-pleasers regarding orthodontic treatment. Traditionally, straightening teeth was an arduous task, both for the dentist as well as the patient. Classic metal braces brought about nothing more than embarrassment and inconvenience to their wearers. Ever since the rampant popularity of clear aligners, teens and young adults have become the leading customers of these “special” braces. Due to their clear and virtually invisible appearance, patients can smile more comfortably and gain confidence as they embark on their markedly shorter treatment journey.

Not only are clear aligners pleasant to look at but they also require less maintenance and fewer visits to the dental office than do traditional metal braces. They are also removable, which enables patients to remove them at will so that they can eat and drink whatever they want to. Hygiene is also easy to maintain with clear aligners as the patient can clean them simply with a soft brush and some water.

With so many incredible perks, it is no wonder that clear aligners have made for a great novel alternative to metal braces and a shining light towards a more technologically advanced future.

How can you offer clear aligners?

Cultivating a loyal aligner customer base takes dedication. It may not take much influencing to get you to decide to offer aligners at your dental practice. What might take effort, however, is to show you how to start offering them.

There are numerous ways you can offer clear aligners at your clinic. The first way to provide clear aligners is by signing up with a reliable aligner company to become a provider for free. To do so, you should only partner with companies that are doctor-made and doctor-recommended like PlusSmile® aligners that are made with cutting-edge technology. Some aligner companies require you to undergo training to use their aligners after which you can start submitting cases right away.

Alternatively, many dentists also become Certified providers to aligner brands like Invisalign®-certified providers. Align Technology, the brand that overlooks Invisalign, classifies Invisalign-providing dentists by the number of cases they complete each year. There are 5 tiers of Invisalign providers:

• General Provider: To qualify, you must perform at least 10 Invisalign® cases each year.
• Premier Provider: To qualify, you must perform at least 50 total cases each year as well as continue to treat at least 25 cases every six months.
• Preferred Provider: You must treat 100 lifetime cases and 50 cases each year to qualify.
• Elite Provider: You must have treated 300 patients with Invisalign and continue to perform a minimum of 50 cases every six months.
• Top 1%: These dentists must treat 800 lifetime cases and continue to perform 200 cases every year.

Additionally, you must enrol in an Invisalign Fundamentals Course, offered in-person as well as online, to learn the core knowledge and skills for treating Invisalign patients successfully. Strong orthodontic diagnosis and treatment background may also help you pass the certification exam that demonstrates your understanding of the system and treatment protocols.

Once you begin offering clear aligners to your eligible patients, you can then utilize technology to make remote monitoring of your cases easier and ensure long-term success. Apps and software like Premium Monitoring and Mentoring2go, PlusSmile®’s monitoring platform, allow you to manage your cases with ease and to “see your patients” from wherever they are or from wherever you are. Platforms like these integrate a comprehensive orthodontic patient support system to allow you to keep your patients engaged and informed about their treatment at every stage.

Implementing contemporary technology like clear aligners into your dental practice can be daunting at first. But once you get the hang of them, you can ensure a comfortable experience for yourself and your patients. Don’t get caught up in the currents, use clear aligners to smooth sail into an advanced and economically sound future.