How do associates get compensated for ortho?

[kiji talons]

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i am a gp and an associate at an office. the office wants me to take a course called progressive orthodontics. it costs arounf 14-15K and they are willing to pay half. i would get 30% of collections, but would have to pay a fraction on uncompleted cases. if i leave within two years of signing the contract i would have to pay back the 50% they put down for the class. i am only going to do the class if they cover 2/3 and there is no payback. how do most ortho associates or gps doing ortho get compensated. what kind of penalties are normal if you don't take a case to completion. it's a tricky situation because unlike a lot of things in dentistry ortho cases take 2-4 years instead of 2 weeks like a crown or something. also, i don't want them to replace me with someone else by me not willing to do the ortho class, so it is a tricky situation. advice is much appreciated.

 

[charlestweed]

It is hard to quit your job when you already started the ortho tx (and extracted the patients’ teeth)....you are responsible to finish these cases. This is why I always say no when the GPs ask me to come to their office to do ortho for their patients. I only work for big companies like Western Dental and BrightNow Dental because I when I quit my job (or take a long vacation), the corporate office will find another orthodontist to replace me. Big corporate offices usually have a large pool of associate orthodontists.

Another problem with working at a small private GP office is you won’t have enough experienced ortho RDAs to assist you.

 

[HuyetKiem]

Another problem with working at a small private GP office is you won’t have enough experienced ortho RDAs to assist you.

I can delegate only few tasks to my assistants in TExas, so it tooks me only couple weeks to train 18 yrs old person with no dental experience to take impression, x-rays, digital pictures,changing wires and modules and some minor misc. tasks.

 

[pietrodds]

Too many 'ifs' as an associate to get involved with doing ortho as a GP associate. If you leave, you can have issues with patient abandonment if no one else there does ortho. Take the 7K and save it to buy your own practice. Don't screw around with ortho as an associate... it'll just bite you in the ass. Even invisalign, you might do the work but rarely will you see the money if you leave a practice before the case to complete. Go take a good endo course or just save the money.

 

[straightwire]

i am a gp and an associate at an office. the office wants me to take a course called progressive orthodontics. it costs arounf 14-15K and they are willing to pay half. i would get 30% of collections, but would have to pay a fraction on uncompleted cases. if i leave within two years of signing the contract i would have to pay back the 50% they put down for the class. i am only going to do the class if they cover 2/3 and there is no payback. how do most ortho associates or gps doing ortho get compensated. what kind of penalties are normal if you don't take a case to completion. it's a tricky situation because unlike a lot of things in dentistry ortho cases take 2-4 years instead of 2 weeks like a crown or something. also, i don't want them to replace me with someone else by me not willing to do the ortho class, so it is a tricky situation. advice is much appreciated.

My advice is don't do it. Once you start an ortho case. It becomes your responsibility to finish it unless you find a replacement doctor to take over your cases...and trust me...most orthodontists would not like to take over a case done by GP......It doesn't worth the moeny or your time to do this.

 

[sjs1106]

I'm in a similar situation except that they have a doctor to replace me who does ortho and will finish my cases. But I am trying to figure out what is fair compensation to give him to finish my cases. Any ideas?

 

[Firm]

GP Ortho is the worst. They never think out the entire plan. Disaster for the patient and orthodontist. It's not more convenient. As a GP that knows no Ortho, it will be worse. You'll be stuck there forever. 30% is peanuts, they'll have you seeing the patients every few weeks just to collect their money.

 

[slayer]

Don't even think about it. We don't even know what we don't know. Learned the hard way 🙁
Ortho is way more difficult than it seems....all it takes is a couple of cases with bite opening, tooth flaring and you want to give up and die. If you don't do residency, be careful with ortho - not fun to be threatened with lawsuits.