Dentist are providing more specialty care than ever.

Are you looking to expand your practice and bring even more families through your doors? Have you been noticing that patients are more often looking to their dentists to provide things like orthodontics, prosthodontics, or endodontics?

Orthodontics is an expanding field and just happens to be one of our favorites. Here are 7 reasons orthodontics is an excellent choice as a specialty field to add to your practice.

1. Seeing patients more often builds trust. 

You’ve probably been to a new medical clinic as a patient and felt out of place or lost. So you understand that your patients have a pull towards comfortable, familiar surroundings that they are already used to when they need dental work done. Imagine how convenient it would be if they didn’t need to be referred to an external dentist to do their orthodontic care. It’s also a bonus because the more you see them, the stronger the dentist-client relationship gets. 

When you run a multispeciality business, patients will trust that you offer more in-depth, quality general dental services. This, combined with patients being able to have all their dental care in one spot, will help them feel satisfied with the services you provide them. And, of course, we want our patients to be happy and feel well cared for.

2. Your patients value their smile. 

As a general, family, or pediatric dentist, you bring improvements to your patient’s smiles that improve their quality of life and overall health. However, many general dentists refer to an orthodontist when it comes to malocclusion or jaw alignment problems. This is a typical and time-tested workflow. But we’ve found at the American Orthodontic Society that just by taking our Basic Comprehensive Orthodontic course, dentists have the confidence to present cases, address Class I and Class II malocclusions, and keep those patients’ orthodontic cases in-house.

Studies show that orthodontic treatment improves self-esteem in adolescents. There is nothing comparable to watching a kid go from hardly smiling at all to smiling and not being able to stop. Our dentists find that they love being part of this transformation and that it boosts their knowledge of general dentistry at the same time.

3. You and your patients will enjoy watching the results of orthodontics.

Our initial orthodontics course, the Basic Straightwire Course, prepares you to competently treat 70% to 80% of the orthodontic cases you encounter in your general or pediatric practice. You and your patients will be able to enjoy watching a smile clearly change aesthetically and functionally. When you are able to care for your patients’ teeth using orthodontics, you are improving the function and aesthetics of their smile. You are doing far more than just straightening teeth—you are transforming people’s lives. And this is a transformation that you and your patients witness together. 

4. There is a high demand for orthodontics. 

There are some services that are both most needed and most referred out, and orthodontics is one of them. The opportunity for growth is abundant, as the field of orthodontics is continually expanding,

The demand for dentists knowledgeable in orthodontics is expected to go up in the next 10 years. It is the ultimate time to consider training in this specialty.

By taking an orthodontics course and being able to offer these services to your clientele, your practice will be more magnetic. 

“How is that?” you may ask. Your business will be on track to dramatically increase production, because your practice will become multispecialty. Adding orthodontics to your practice offerings will put you one step ahead of the other general and family dentists in your area.

5. There will be an increase in production. 

Many of the dentists who have taken our orthodontics courses discovered that integrating orthodontics into their practice was very profitable. Orthodontics increases production—the average national salary for an orthodontist is $256,491 per year. 

But what about for a general, family, or pediatric dentist? Adding just two orthodontic cases a month adds an estimated $10,000 in revenue. And not only that, because Dr. Brad Williams makes sure you get hands-on practice, you will start likely see a nice increase in production within your first year of orthodontic course training. He also makes himself available to you in the first year to answer questions and help you get started successfully.

6. You’ll have more to offer existing clientele.

Here’s another way to look at it. On average, it costs five times as much money to bring in new clients than to serve ones you already have. By offering orthodontics as part of your regular practice, you will be able to serve your existing patients better. And they will come to you more, as you will have more you can do for them.

As the field of orthodontics is continually expanding, the services you will be able to provide your patients will broaden as well.

7. Orthodontics is a low-stress (and fun!) addition. 

Think back to what drew you to the field of dentistry in the beginning. Was it your chance to transform a person’s smile and watch the undeniably visible change? Orthodontics will only expand the skills you already have. By adding orthodontics to your practice, you are adding a new, enjoyable skill that can rekindle your passion for dentistry. If you’re curious about exploring orthodontics, the American Orthodontic Society is offering a range of in-person and online courses to help you get started. So dive in today.