Tips for Adding Orthodontic Services in Your Practice

You spend years sharpening your skills as a general dentist. Then, you decide to enroll in orthodontics courses for general dentist practitioners (GDPs) to challenge yourself and offer something else to your patients. 

After all, adding orthodontics at your practice has many benefits, such as offering your patients comprehensive treatment. But how do you upgrade your practice into an advanced office offering specialty services?

While there’s no cut-and-dry approach, the first step in adding these services is to take comprehensive orthodontics courses.

This blog is the last of a three-part series about how to prepare for learning a new skill. Read part 1 and part 2 to ensure you’re fully prepared and to minimize the challenges of integrating orthodontics into your practice.

Best Practices for Integration

Incorporating your new skills after attending general dentist orthodontics courses is a profitable addition. However, you must plan well to maximize the profit. Managing chair time and time spent in operational planning for this side of your new offerings is crucial.

When you complete one of the many orthodontics courses available in-person and online, you’ll have the skills necessary to manage most cases that walk through your door. However, you must decide which cases you want to focus on.

Choose which treatment plans fit your office and which complex cases are better suited to continue referring to a specialist. Identifying and sticking to your decided scope will help you ensure successful treatment outcomes for your patients.

Starting with less complicated treatment is one way to help you ease yourself into delivering new services and convince your patients to accept getting braces at your general practice. As your confidence and skills improve, you can always scale up the complexity of the treatment you handle.

Overcoming Common Challenges

You’ll face at least a few challenges whenever you add something new to your practice. Here are some of the most common challenges and what you can do about them.

Patient Education

Your patients won’t know that you’ve taken orthodontics courses for GDPs unless you tell them. When you start talking about orthodontics, they’ll expect you to give them the name of an outside orthodontist. To their surprise, you’ll tell them you’re now able to take care of their orthodontic needs in-house. 

Explain to them that you can save them the hassle of learning the policies of another office. They’ll have fewer choices, which might increase their chances of accepting treatment from a dentist they are familiar with. 

Pricing

Discussing your orthodontic pricing doesn’t have to feel awkward. Essentially, you don’t want to overcharge and discourage treatment, but you need to recover the cost of adding a new service.

As you try to determine what price you should charge for orthodontics in your general practice, consider the following: 

• Your current skills
• The time it takes to perform treatment
• Cost of competitors 

Consider what patients may perceive as fair and provide estimates upfront to ease potential sticker shock.

Increased Clinic Time

Adding another service to your practice may increase your time in the office. One solution may be to add more hours. However, that’s more time spent away from your family and any hobbies you enjoy. Instead, when adding another service to your schedule, you can be more strategic in your planning.

You can do this by choosing a specific daily production goal for orthodontic treatment. Additionally, you can designate blocks of time to ortho. For example, you could choose to book orthodontic appointments every Monday from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., then spend the rest of the afternoon on general dentistry.  

Leveraging Technology and Continuing Support

Modern technology has transformed every aspect of dentistry, including orthodontics. These new devices and products have improved patient care and outcomes. Investing in technology can simplify your offerings while enhancing treatment.

You can use 3D imaging and computer simulations to personalize treatment plans for your patients. These images help you create a more accurate and efficient treatment plan than traditional methods like physical impressions and study models.

Adding management software simplifies everyday tasks as well. It helps keep track of your patient’s history and track their treatment. Some software even allows you to communicate with the patient, making it easier to confirm appointments and answer their questions.  

Of course, just because you have successfully merged orthodontics into your practice doesn’t mean you’re done learning. Things are always changing, and you’ll likely need to attend future orthodontics courses to keep your skills sharp. Reach out to your mentors and peers for ongoing support as you embark on your new journey.

Stay current in orthodontics and keep your skills sharp.

Adding something new for your patients is exciting. Without proper planning, you can quickly become overwhelmed, but you’ll have an easy transition if you have a strategic plan in place beforehand and are open to continuous learning.

Are you ready to get started with a fun and exciting new adventure? Sign up for a class from the American Orthodontic Society. Contact us for more information or to register for upcoming orthodontic courses!