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Dr. John Flucke is in private practice in Lee’s Summit, Missouri where he spends two days per week in direct patient care. He also serves as Technology Editor for Dental Products Report magazine as well as Chief Dental Editor where he writes, edits, and does video demos of products featured in his “Technology Evangelist” columns. Dr. Flucke is also a CandidPro provider and contributed the following article to Inside Dentistry for the October edition to share his experience using our clear aligner system with his peers.
Like most of you reading this, I'm a general practitioner. When I graduated, my orthodontic training was minimal. In fact, my graduating class was the first at my institution to receive any type of ortho training at all, and it was minimal. When I graduated, the only thing I knew about orthodontics was that I didn't know anything at all. That may sound like a bit of an existential philosophy class, but basically I was taught to refer. Yet now, I'm routinely providing orthodontic care, and I'm getting outstanding results. How can that be?
I know that many of you reading this feel the same way. You know that your patients ask you about ortho treatment and want you to offer it to them, but how can you learn to do that? How can you get great results, provide more treatment that your patients want, and do all of that with minimal stress? What if I told you that you could provide efficient and predictable clear aligner therapy that could change your practice. Would you be interested? I thought so.
My journey into orthodontics is a complicated one. I was in a two-doctor practice, and my partner was doing clear aligner ortho. Unfortunately, she suffered an injury and was forced to retire from clinical practice. When that happened I was left with multiple cases in progress, but all I knew at that point was how to refer. That was the push I needed to finally get myself educated in clear aligner therapy. I dove in headfirst and soon learned it wasn't nearly as difficult as I had envisioned.
That was quite a few years ago, and since that time I have worked with more than one clear aligner company. I've seen the benefits and limitations of those systems. In early 2023 I was introduced to CandidPro and I liked what I saw. I decided to take their clear aligner system for a test drive, and my experience was overwhelmingly positive. In fact, my experience was so good that I made the decision to make CandidPro my clear aligner system of choice.
I wish CandidPro would have been around when I was forced into my orthodontic journey. If they had existed back then, that journey would have been much, much easier. I was pushed into the deep end of the orthodontic swimming pool, and I had the choice to sink or swim. I don't want my peers to be in a situation like that, and, simply put, that's why I'd like to tell you how CandidPro can change your practice for the better.
One of the most important features of the CandidPro system is the support that is provided for each specific case. The company employs a staff of U.S.-based, licensed orthodontists who are assigned to every case. The treating doctor gathers and uploads all the necessary data into the CandidPro portal. Once patient information has been collected, a super powerful AI system, along with an experienced technician, analyzes the data and creates a treatment proposal. The orthodontist assigned to your case then reviews the treatment plan and makes any necessary changes to ensure clinical success. Once the orthodontist has performed this review, the treatment plan is sent to the treating doctor for review, questions, or approval.
The great thing about having the orthodontist assigned to the case is the communication they provide. If you are doing your first case, that orthodontist is with you every step of the way. If you have questions or require some TLC to help you, they are there for you every step of your journey. In my very first days of orthodontics, I was alone. I had to try and figure out cases in progress and make sure things were progressing as expected. I had to figure it all out on my own. The company I was dealing with was more or less just making aligners, and support was nonexistent. The orthodontists and support at CandidPro, however, are always only a click or a phone call away. In my early days, it was like I was on a trek through the wilderness without GPS or even a paper map. But CandidPro is with you, guiding you, holding your hand if need be, all the way through to the completed case. That support is phenomenal, and it provides exceptional peace of mind. This means that you, the doctor, get expert advice and help that makes your clear aligner therapy predictable, right from the start.
However, that amazing guidance is only one piece of the orthodontic puzzle. The other way to ensure you get good results is by frequently checking your patients' progress to make sure they stay on track and treatment is progressing as expected.
There are many things that can affect the progress of orthodontic cases. One of the most critical is patient compliance. Patients need to wear their aligners, and for some patients that might be an issue. Home care is critical to success. I jokingly tell patients, "We call it ‘home care' for a reason. We don't make house calls, so you have to do your part at home."
In the past, this monitoring was done by frequent office visits to evaluate things. We want to make sure the teeth are moving as expected, and we want to make sure patients are doing their part in keeping things clean and properly maintained. We don't want to send the patient out with little guidance only to have them return with things unexpectedly off track.
This is where it gets really good. CandidPro comes with an incredible tool called CandidMonitoring that is the second key component to their clear aligner system. Here is how it works: As part of the CandidPro system, when the aligners arrive, included in the package is a device that attaches to the patient's smartphone. The patient downloads the ProMonitoring app to their phone, and after the piece is snapped onto the phone, they open the app.
This attachment functions to retract the lips and provide the phone's camera an unobstructed view of the patient's mouth. The app coaches the patient to move the phone in prescribed ways that create a full visual scan of the teeth and gingival tissues. The scan is then uploaded to the cloud, where it is analyzed by an amazing AI platform that looks at the scans. Once the scan is evaluated by the AI, it generates a report for the doctor. It analyzes 130 different aspects of the scan and notifies the treating office if it detects anything that needs to be addressed. That translates to fewer required office visits and eliminates surprises that doctors would previously have only discovered by physically examining the patient. The doctor knows that the patient is ready for their next aligner change, and the patient sees the value in the doctor providing true digital state of the art care.
If a situation is detected that requires an office visit, the doctor knows immediately. The office can then reach out to the patient and offer advice while scheduling a visit. In our busy world, no one wants more dental appointments. We are all busy enough in both our professional as well as personal lives, and patients are no different. Having someone take time off from work every month or pull their teen out of school just so that the doctor can look around and ensure everything is progressing as expected can now be a thing of the past. A doctor can decrease those unproductive appointments and instead see patients that actually need to be seen. This translates to an incredible amount of efficiency for the office while also making the treatment predictable without the need for several unproductive patient appointments.
As someone who has been providing clear aligner therapy for over a decade, I can tell you from personal experience that CandidPro combined with CandidMonitoring will change your practice for the better. Whether you are an experienced clear aligner provider or just starting that journey, CandidPro offers both you and your patients a better clear aligner solution. Be sure to check them out. To learn more, visit CandidPro.com. You'll be glad you did.
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