Orthotown October 2016 - 52

it can reach up to 12), which could add up
to $100 a day in material costs.
So after meeting with several vendors-
and with no click fees and an open system at
the forefront of my mind-I narrowed my
decision to an intraoral scanner that was part
of an open system that converts the scans to
.STL files immediately. It's even portable,
which is perfect for my satellite office.

52

OCTOBER 2016 // orthotown.com

Show me the numbers-
all of them
My scanner and 3-D printer have saved
money in ways I expected, such as enabling
us to cut back on consumables, and some
that have surprised me.
First, there's what we save by getting rid
of traditional impression materials. When we
made the switch to digital impressions, my
staff was thrilled. They all disliked alginate
and PVS because of the mess and waste.
Think about it: You mix the powder,
and half of it goes into the patient's mouth
and the remaining half of it stays in the
bowl and gets thrown away. We added
up the alginate, trays, pour-ups and lab
work and discovered that, conservatively,
we're saving $1,500-$2,000 a month on
impression material consumables.
Next, there's the cost of printing the
models. We use a photoreactive resin with
our 3-D printer that's $285 a liter. We
typically buy four at a time, which gets us
200-250 models.
It costs me anywhere from $4.50 to
$4.75 to print one model, whereas most of
the labs I work with charge $15-$25 to print
one, not including shipping. Say a typical
case requires 20 aligners and estimate that
the most it would cost me to print a model
is $6. Add another dollar to overlay the
plastic on the model and factor in $50 for
additional materials. Ultimately, it costs
me less than $200 for clear aligners that
are worth $2,000 to a patient.
Now, I'm sure that's where most orthodontists would fully expect to see a return on
their investment-fewer consumables, being
able to print cheap models in-house-but
what I didn't count on was the word-of-mouth
and the flood of new patients it would bring.
Many people see commercials for
brand-name clear aligners and go to other
orthodontists for a quote. They're shocked
and discouraged by the $6,000-$7,000
price tag.
Then, they hear that my practice is
doing the same thing for significantly less.
They come to me asking for "those invisible
braces" and I explain how I can deliver the
same results at a third of the cost.



http://www.orthotown.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Orthotown October 2016

Orthotown.com Highlights
Embrace Progress: What’s In Your Records?
New Products
Poll
Message Boards: HSD/Invisalign/Adult
Message Boards: Phase 1: Anterior Crossbite and Crowding
Interdisciplinary Ortho-Perio Treatment of Excessive Gingival Display
Creating a Strong Scheduling Architecture
Indirect Bonding: A Closer Look
Indirect Bonding: The Tech Effect
Welcome to Digital Orthodontics
Good Vibrations
Ad Index
Orthotown October 2016 - Cover1
Orthotown October 2016 - Cover2
Orthotown October 2016 - 1
Orthotown October 2016 - 2
Orthotown October 2016 - 3
Orthotown October 2016 - 4
Orthotown October 2016 - 5
Orthotown October 2016 - Orthotown.com Highlights
Orthotown October 2016 - 7
Orthotown October 2016 - Embrace Progress: What’s In Your Records?
Orthotown October 2016 - 9
Orthotown October 2016 - New Products
Orthotown October 2016 - 11
Orthotown October 2016 - Poll
Orthotown October 2016 - 13
Orthotown October 2016 - Message Boards: HSD/Invisalign/Adult
Orthotown October 2016 - 15
Orthotown October 2016 - 16
Orthotown October 2016 - 17
Orthotown October 2016 - Message Boards: Phase 1: Anterior Crossbite and Crowding
Orthotown October 2016 - 19
Orthotown October 2016 - 20
Orthotown October 2016 - 21
Orthotown October 2016 - 22
Orthotown October 2016 - 23
Orthotown October 2016 - 24
Orthotown October 2016 - 25
Orthotown October 2016 - 26
Orthotown October 2016 - 27
Orthotown October 2016 - Interdisciplinary Ortho-Perio Treatment of Excessive Gingival Display
Orthotown October 2016 - 29
Orthotown October 2016 - 30
Orthotown October 2016 - 31
Orthotown October 2016 - 32
Orthotown October 2016 - 33
Orthotown October 2016 - 34
Orthotown October 2016 - 35
Orthotown October 2016 - Creating a Strong Scheduling Architecture
Orthotown October 2016 - 37
Orthotown October 2016 - 38
Orthotown October 2016 - 39
Orthotown October 2016 - Indirect Bonding: A Closer Look
Orthotown October 2016 - 41
Orthotown October 2016 - 42
Orthotown October 2016 - 43
Orthotown October 2016 - Indirect Bonding: The Tech Effect
Orthotown October 2016 - 45
Orthotown October 2016 - 46
Orthotown October 2016 - 47
Orthotown October 2016 - 48
Orthotown October 2016 - 49
Orthotown October 2016 - Welcome to Digital Orthodontics
Orthotown October 2016 - 51
Orthotown October 2016 - 52
Orthotown October 2016 - 53
Orthotown October 2016 - Good Vibrations
Orthotown October 2016 - 55
Orthotown October 2016 - 56
Orthotown October 2016 - 57
Orthotown October 2016 - 58
Orthotown October 2016 - 59
Orthotown October 2016 - 60
Orthotown October 2016 - Cover4
Orthotown October 2016 - Ad Index
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