New Orthodontic Residency in Atlanta

[Range Rover]

Has any interviewed at the GA ortho program? How is it?
Thanks

I did apply along with other classmates but so far we have not heard anything. I heard that they ran the first round of interviews already in Feb of this year

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[mmc12]

Is anyone considering applying to this program if they don't match this year?

 

[Theillestill]

http://www.gaorthodontics.org/doctors/residents/

should be able to see all the matches here.

 

[wengerout]

I do think the orthodontic specialty is on the decline like many have pointed out but there is no other better alternative out there. The GPs also experience oversaturation problem due to openings of new dental schools. The same thing happens for Pedo. OS and perio compete for patients. Implants hurt endo. They open more pharmacy, optometry, and medical schools as well. To survive, you just have to be smart at controlling your overhead so you can bring home more of your hard earned money.

So you think that with all the new technology coming out, the tasks of straightening teeth become easier and more GPs can do ortho in their practices? This is a big misconception. In ortho, what makes the job easy is not the technology but it is the doctor’s ability to make the right diagnoses and to come up with the right tx plans to correct the ortho problems. And this ability can only be acquired from attending a formal residency program and from treating a lot of cases for many years. Nothing can replace the human brain. Poor tx plannings in ortho often create more work, more headache, and more time for the doctor to fix the mistakes. This is why some GPs, who do some ortho tx in their offices, know their limitations and still have to refer certain cases out.

IMO, technology has done more harm than good for ortho. For example, an intraoral scanner can only scan one mouth at a time. With the traditional impression technique, we can take impressions on several patients at the same time. And you also have to pay a fee for each scan. Technology is the main culprit for causing rising cost in starting and running an ortho office. Higher overhead forces many orthodontists to raise the tx fee. Higher tx fee makes it less likely for patients to accept treatments. Lack of case acceptances from patients forces the orthodontists to close or sell their offices. And then they come to this forum and whine.

I think it’s a mistake for many ortho programs to introduce to their residents the latest technology and make them become the slaves of these new toys. I am glad I went to a program that made me do everything by myself such as making all ortho appliances instead of using an outside lab, hand-tracing the ceph films, treating patients without an assistant, calling patients, presenting and selling cases to the patients etc. I think learning to do things the hard way during residency training better prepares a person for the real world practice when he/she gets out.

Pre-Dental student here: Do you think it still makes sense to pursue an Ortho residency or would I be better off being a GP and then taking a bunch of Ortho CE? I am really interested in Ortho as it is what got me interested in dentistry in the first place, however I don't want to limit myself and then be out competed by the super GP's.

 

[charlestweed]

Pre-Dental student here: Do you think it still makes sense to pursue an Ortho residency or would I be better off being a GP and then taking a bunch of Ortho CE? I am really interested in Ortho as it is what got me interested in dentistry in the first place, however I don't want to limit myself and then be out competed by the super GP's.

If you don’t limit your practice to ortho, then you won’t have enough patients to work on. Other GP offices won’t refer their patients to you. Since you have a small volume of ortho patients, you can’t afford to hire an experience ortho assistant and you have to do all manual labors (ie bonding preparations, removing wires, wire changes etc) by yourself. And that’s no fun….that’s worse than practicing general dentistry. With small volume of patients, you won’t gain enough experience to treat more challenging cases.

If you ask me, I’d say yes, it’s worth borrowing money to specialize. But if you ask many of my colleagues, they’d say no. That’s because the way I run my practices is very different from theirs. I have low expectation. I accept insurance plans that most other private ortho offices don’t accept. I am willing to treat low income patients at lower fees. I am willing to travel and work on weekends.

 

[wengerout]

If you don’t limit your practice to ortho, then you won’t have enough patients to work on. Other GP offices won’t refer their patients to you. Since you have a small volume of ortho patients, you can’t afford to hire an experience ortho assistant and you have to do all manual labors (ie bonding preparations, removing wires, wire changes etc) by yourself. And that’s no fun….that’s worse than practicing general dentistry. With small volume of patients, you won’t gain enough experience to treat more challenging cases.

If you ask me, I’d say yes, it’s worth borrowing money to specialize. But if you ask many of my colleagues, they’d say no. That’s because the way I run my practices is very different from theirs. I have low expectation. I accept insurance plans that most other private ortho offices don’t accept. I am willing to treat low income patients at lower fees. I am willing to travel and work on weekends.

Ahh I see, so because I wouldn't be able to afford to hire my own ortho assistant/I wouldn't have enough patient volume since I am only doing the Ortho for my own patients, it wouldn't be worth it?

And as for your second point, do your colleagues say that because of less than the expect income or because of the lifestyle?

Thank you so much!

 

[charlestweed]

Ahh I see, so because I wouldn't be able to afford to hire my own ortho assistant/I wouldn't have enough patient volume since I am only doing the Ortho for my own patients, it wouldn't be worth it?

And as for your second point, do your colleagues say that because of less than the expect income or because of the lifestyle?

Thank you so much!

If you read many of the past negative responses from other orthodontists on this forum, I think you can find the answers to why many of my colleagues strongly advise against pursuing orthodontics. I guess I am in the minority camp that still believes ortho is worth pursuing. Like I said before, I have low expectation. I am happy with what I make and with the fee I charge my patients. What I love most about my job is my patients respect me and love what I’ve done for them. And I also love having them as my patients. Being an immigrant and growing up poor have allowed me to see things differently. I can appreciate the opportunities that this great country has offered me.

It’s actually a good thing growing up under financial hardship and have a lot of student loan debt after graduation. One can learn to work harder to overcome those difficulties.

 

[GPS12]

I'm pretty sure Atlanta's ortho residency might be better than older ones since they would want to establish good reputation. I just knew from another dental student that UCLA ortho program is not even documented as a program through the university itself. Apparently it's only recognised as an extension course and students are considered extension students without any UCLA student privileges. They can't even apply for loans except through oral biology they offer. I'm not sure what Atlanta offers but it sounds good to me as old programs sound horrible at the moment.

 

[comatose]

seems like the cost to attend this school is 1 million dollars. tuition + accrued interest from ortho and dental schools + lost income for 3 years = 1 million or thereabouts. totally not worth it unless you absolutely can't stand dentistry, but then why would you attend dental school in the first place if you felt that way

 

[smellycarabelli69]

The cost is high. The education is probably sparse to non existent. Will you be an orthodontist at the end of the day? Yes. I guess it depends on how badly you want to be an orthodontist or if your family can help you with the expenses. If you are intellectually curious and have the finances, I can see you succeeding here. If you required to be babied to learn, I don't think going to specialty residency, especially a new orthodontics program, is wise.

 

[MRH2017]

Has anyone recently applied and was able to get pre approved for private student loans?