Expand your skills and provide added benefits for your patients with orthodontics. 

Your pediatric dental practice is booming, but you want to raise the bar and offer your patients treatment that most other practices don’t have. Incorporating orthodontics into your pediatric dental practice is the number one way you can brand yourself as a comprehensive office. 

There is no question that pediatric dentistry and orthodontics are directly linked and dependent upon each other. Considering pediatric dentists see their patients twice a year (or more), it is the perfect opportunity to monitor the growth and development of young patients and be able to diagnose, treat, and manage their orthodontic needs. 

There are numerous ways orthodontics can benefit your practice and separate your office from neighboring dental practices. When you invest in your career and dental practice by taking advanced dentistry courses, it quickly sets your office apart. 

1. Immediate Increased Production

Your referral patient is already sitting in your chair. There is no time wasted waiting for patients to call since you are already treating the main source of a majority of orthodontic patients: adolescents. You will see your revenue grow as offering orthodontics is a lucrative field with little risk, and your initial investment to offer straight wire treatments will be quickly recouped. Consider this the lowest risk investment you can ever make in your career. 

2. Early Diagnosis of Patients

The American Academy of Orthodontists recommends children be seen for an orthodontic evaluation by age seven. Since you are your patient’s primary dental caregiver, it is the perfect opportunity to identify early malocclusions and bite issues that can affect growth and development. 

The Basic Straight Wire Orthodontics course is your best option to help your patients by learning to diagnose jaw issues like cross bites and bite problems that can affect sleep and eating. Your coursework prepares you to treat your patients’ malocclusions so they don’t go undiagnosed and untreated. Early treatment is essential in providing complete dental care and will only help establish long-term good oral health. 

3. Keep Treatments In-house

Juggling dental appointments for multiple children can be challenging. Then add orthodontics into the mix and a new office with forms, insurance issues, and new doctors. Offering orthodontics will only convenience your patients by skipping all the stress and unnecessary time wasted by going to an outside office. Your patients will greatly appreciate the added benefits that your practice offers and you can be certain you will see an increase in referrals. 

4. Brand Yourself 

Some towns have a dentist on every street corner. How can you set yourself apart and create a unique image and dental practice brand? Having orthodontics as a treatment option in your pediatric practice helps create a personalized brand that differentiates you from the other cookie-cutter offices. It also allows you to market that you provide complete, comprehensive care for young patients since orthodontics is a major component of pediatric dentistry. 

When a pediatric dentist can discuss their background in orthodontic continuing education courses, patients will recognize the confidence and strong commitment you have to your patients. 

5. Appealing to Buyers

Many dentists have a retirement career goal to sell their practice to an associate dentist or possibly even a larger dental corporation. Make your dental practice appealing to buyers by offering treatments like orthodontics that have a high profitability. Dental buyers will be impressed by the added effort and productivity, and your practice will be highly competitive on the market and deliver you the greatest retirement investment. 
Pediatric dental practices should incorporate orthodontics if they have not done so already. Offering orthodontics creates a multi-speciality, multi-disciplinary practice for children and adolescents that parents will appreciate and respect. If you’re looking to add orthodontics to your skill set, start by looking into the American Orthodontic Society’s Straightwire Orthodontics courses.