Aligner Only Practices

[youngpulp]

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I'm interested in ortho and running a digitally driven aligner/whitening practice as a GP - maybe with veneers too.
Does anyone have any insight into aligner driven practices that opt to not do braces? I've heard of a few practices but haven't been able to talk to anyone with much perspective. Looking to potentially go this route instead of ortho residency.

 

[DrJeff]

I'm interested in ortho and running a digitally driven aligner/whitening practice as a GP - maybe with veneers too.
Does anyone have any insight into aligner driven practices that opt to not do braces? I've heard of a few practices but haven't been able to talk to anyone with much perspective. Looking to potentially go this route instead of ortho residency.

My wife, an orthodontist, who is just over a year into a start up that she did, where her goal is to do as much ortho via aligners as possible. That being said, she still ends up doing probably 1/4-1/3rd of her patients via traditonal brackets and wires as thats how, in her opinion, some cases need to be treated for the optimal, board quality, results.

Plus, it takes a fair number of patients to make the numbers work, so as a GP, if you're thinking that you may be primarily doing aloigner ortho, whitening and maybe some veneers, in the vast majority of geographic areas of the country, you're likely looking at having to have a good sized general practice, doing a bunch of "bread and butter" (direct restorative, crown and bridge, etc) to see the volume of patients that you will need to to make the desired aligner ortho practice model a profit source for you

 

[youngpulp]

Do you have to see patients for regular procedures? Couldn't you do a lot of advertising and focus on older patients for with cosmetic needs for aligners? I think it would work for a boutique style practice. Curious to hear other's take.