Dentaltown January 2016 - (Page 47)

orthodontics feature Implementing Orthodontics In Your General Practice Learning to move teeth to improve smiles and create happy patients can be easy. However, the integration of orthodontics into your general dental practice can be overwhelming at first, if you do not have a plan and a clear vision of what you would like to accomplish. by Stephen Glass, DDS, FAGD My journey When I first looked into implementing orthodontics, at that time it was common to place veneers on teeth to achieve "straightening." The common theme taught by a few particular CE gurus was to prepare teeth as aggressively as was needed to achieve the desired esthetics with porcelain veneers, even if it meant doing intentional root-canal therapy. However, I wanted to add orthodontic treatment to my practice so I could be a more conservative cosmetic dentist. I wanted a way to straighten teeth prior to preparing them for veneers to save enamel and to avoid root-canal treatments. Times were a little different just 10 to 15 years ago in the dental world. Orthodontic CE options for general dentists were very limited. It was difficult to find information, and locate courses and reviews from those who took them. Thanks to Dentaltown, all that has changed now. Many years ago, after learning more on Dentaltown, I happened to take the very first course from Dr. DePaul about Powerprox Six Month Braces, a good alternative to doing porcelain veneers on adult patients. Invisalign also became available to general dentists, and this provided even more options to treat adult patients by using clear aligners. After starting out treating only adults, I soon realized I really enjoyed doing orthodontics. I started taking comprehensive orthodontic curricula to learn how to treat children and adolescents, as well. One course in particular that I really liked was Dr. Gerety's Comprehensive Straightwire course. From taking various courses, I learned that there are many paths to begin doing orthodontics, and they are not for everyone. If you can decide what your plan is and create a clear vision of how to accomplish it, then you can make your personal journey a much easier one. What is your plan? Ask yourself some questions: Do you want to treat children, adolescents and adults? Or do you want to treat only adults? * Do you want to focus on limited treatment, or comprehensive treatment? * Do you want to learn how to treat with clear aligners, or using traditional brackets and wires? Or both? * What is your commitment to learning? * What are your patient demographics? Mostly kids or adults? Many different orthodontic lecturers give various opinions on who is easier to treat: children or adults. The fact is, both can be easy and both can be hard. I think you should look at your current practice demographics and decide which one allows you more opportunity to perform treatment. * dentaltown.com \\ JANUARY 2016 47 http://www.dentaltown.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Dentaltown January 2016

On Dentaltown.com
HOWARD SPEAKS: What Do You Need in 2016? Another Operatory
PROFESSIONAL COURTESY: The Next Generation of Dentists
Continuing Education Update
Mom Wants to Sit in the Hallway So She Can Hear What We’re Doing to Her Child
Why You Should Never Let Patients Talk You Out of Periodontal Plastic Surgery Before Esthetic Treatment
Chasing Pain: Diagnosing and Treating Trigeminal Neuralgia in General Dentistry
Chasing Sheep: The Four Pillars of Treating the Sleep-Disordered Patient
Product Profi le: Family Dental Marketing
Implementing Orthodontics in Your General Practice
Endodontic Advancements: How Leading Technologies Help Transform Endodontic Treatment Options
The Power of Piezo: A Predictable and Painless Approach
Veneers: Utilizing Silicon Matrices to Optimize Ideal Preparation Design
Improve Your Patients’ Lives Through Pro-Bono Referrals
Progressive Smile Design: Changing the Shape of Cosmetic Dentistry
The Ultimate Handover in Your Dental Office
Meet the New Intraoral Sensor
Poll
Want to Compete with Big Business? Tap Into Your Relationships
Saving Her Smile: Immediate Implant Placement and Fixed Provisionalization with Extracted Tooth
TOWNIE MEETING 2016 Preview
Ad Index
The Heart of the Hygienist: Dental Hygiene’s Role in Public Health
What to Do With Patients Who Refuse SRP and Only Want a Cleaning
CONTINUING EDUCATION: Indirect Posterior Composite Restorations
Dentally Incorrect

Dentaltown January 2016