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Is it true that orthodontics in 15-30 years will be swallowed up completely by general dentists????
orthodontics
- Thread starter Niklu13
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that's an interesting question.
when someone needs ortho treatment, they either go straight to an ortho or they are referred by a GP. GP's are essentially the gatekeepers to orthos, and if advances in the ortho field ever reach the point where a GP can pretty much treat all ortho cases, then sure, the ortho's will lose a ton of business to the GP's... though many people with problems will still just go straight to the ortho.
really, considering there are about 150,000 GP's and maybe 5,000 to 10,000 ortho's, i really can't imagine what the industry would be like if 150,000 practitioners all of a sudden knew how to treat ortho cases.
what makes you think this will happen anyways? from what i've heard, ortho is not as simple a science as it may look....
when someone needs ortho treatment, they either go straight to an ortho or they are referred by a GP. GP's are essentially the gatekeepers to orthos, and if advances in the ortho field ever reach the point where a GP can pretty much treat all ortho cases, then sure, the ortho's will lose a ton of business to the GP's... though many people with problems will still just go straight to the ortho.
really, considering there are about 150,000 GP's and maybe 5,000 to 10,000 ortho's, i really can't imagine what the industry would be like if 150,000 practitioners all of a sudden knew how to treat ortho cases.
what makes you think this will happen anyways? from what i've heard, ortho is not as simple a science as it may look....
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Niklu13:
I'd be really interested to know how you came to arrive at this notion. GP's are really only qualified...and that is under limited circumstances, to treat simple Class I malocclusions. Anything more complicated is beyond the level of expertise of the generalist...regardless of any future technological advances. If your notion stems from the Invisalign technology as I think it may, invisalign is a tooth aligner...useful for slight misalignments. Orthodontics is primarily a cerebral specialty...most time is devoted to diagnosis and treatment planning. Even after 2-3 years of specialty training, an orthodontist still has a great deal to learn. Following dental school, it is unlikely that simple cases can be treated without further continuing education courses as well. I hope this gives you some further insight.
I'd be really interested to know how you came to arrive at this notion. GP's are really only qualified...and that is under limited circumstances, to treat simple Class I malocclusions. Anything more complicated is beyond the level of expertise of the generalist...regardless of any future technological advances. If your notion stems from the Invisalign technology as I think it may, invisalign is a tooth aligner...useful for slight misalignments. Orthodontics is primarily a cerebral specialty...most time is devoted to diagnosis and treatment planning. Even after 2-3 years of specialty training, an orthodontist still has a great deal to learn. Following dental school, it is unlikely that simple cases can be treated without further continuing education courses as well. I hope this gives you some further insight.
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-thanks for the replys 
I didnt mean to start a debate but I read an article online saying that in 15-30 years ortho will be over run by GP's because of both tech advances and the fact that restorative work will significantly decline and GP's will move to ortho territory for the all mighty dollar. I think it was written by some quack dentist, so I probably should have disregarded. He also mentioned that dental HMO's will take over, like in medicine, and it will be impossible to aviod. He said GP's will be gatekeepers to orthodontists and that will eventualy lead to the weeding out of ortho. As I said the guy sounded a little crazy. I hope this helps.....
I didnt mean to start a debate but I read an article online saying that in 15-30 years ortho will be over run by GP's because of both tech advances and the fact that restorative work will significantly decline and GP's will move to ortho territory for the all mighty dollar. I think it was written by some quack dentist, so I probably should have disregarded. He also mentioned that dental HMO's will take over, like in medicine, and it will be impossible to aviod. He said GP's will be gatekeepers to orthodontists and that will eventualy lead to the weeding out of ortho. As I said the guy sounded a little crazy. I hope this helps.....
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I work for a GP. And he is starting to provide those invisilign orthodontic mouth trays which help straighten teeth.
I actually spoke to him about ortho. He said that he will eventually involve more ortho in his practice as he receives additional training. And he said that some GP's do only ortho. The reason why people will see a GP for ortho work versus an orthodontist is that the GP will charge less. For example, one GP who does primarily ortho charges 2 grand for braces versus the standard 3-5K for braces.
However, I don't think orthodontists will be phased out. It comes down to quality. Someone who only focuses on orthodontistry is likely to do a better job than GP due to familiarity and experience.
I do think more GP's will practice ortho but it will never get to the point that orthodontists are phased out.
I think most people would prefer to seek an orthodontist vs. a general dentist provided that he or she could afford it.
It reminds me of Family Practioners and obstetrics. Yes, FP can deliver babies. However, in most cities, FP do not perform OB. It's only in rural areas where Family Practice physicians engage in surgery, OB and other procedures.
I actually spoke to him about ortho. He said that he will eventually involve more ortho in his practice as he receives additional training. And he said that some GP's do only ortho. The reason why people will see a GP for ortho work versus an orthodontist is that the GP will charge less. For example, one GP who does primarily ortho charges 2 grand for braces versus the standard 3-5K for braces.
However, I don't think orthodontists will be phased out. It comes down to quality. Someone who only focuses on orthodontistry is likely to do a better job than GP due to familiarity and experience.
I do think more GP's will practice ortho but it will never get to the point that orthodontists are phased out.
I think most people would prefer to seek an orthodontist vs. a general dentist provided that he or she could afford it.
It reminds me of Family Practioners and obstetrics. Yes, FP can deliver babies. However, in most cities, FP do not perform OB. It's only in rural areas where Family Practice physicians engage in surgery, OB and other procedures.
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This is merely my opinion, but here is how I see it:
I havent seen an orthodontist lately that is begging for more patients. For the most part, there are not enough to go around. An orthodontist has to see a patient monthly for the duration of their 2-3 year treatment. That being the case, there are only so many cases that can be handled at once.
Furthurmore, the need for orthodontists continues to rise, and all signs point to the trend only gaining more strength.
A post in the pre-dental thread about a future ortho residency at the Univ of Jacksonville (FL) lead to a web page that offered soft statistics about the impending ortho shortage. Apparently, we graduate too few orthos each year, and that is becuase nobody wants to teach it. All the orthos go to private practice.
On the other hand, you have gp's. According to dental economics, the coming decades will require an increased patient load of nearly 50% to merely meet the demand. GP's are also looking to experience a "shortage."
If the GP's start spending all their time on ortho, who's going to be filling and building crowns?
I can imagine that more gp's will foray into ortho as technology makes it easier and more efficient. There's obviously some good money in ortho.
But i do not see any way that they could reduce the need for orthodontists. GP's have their own work to do.
I havent seen an orthodontist lately that is begging for more patients. For the most part, there are not enough to go around. An orthodontist has to see a patient monthly for the duration of their 2-3 year treatment. That being the case, there are only so many cases that can be handled at once.
Furthurmore, the need for orthodontists continues to rise, and all signs point to the trend only gaining more strength.
A post in the pre-dental thread about a future ortho residency at the Univ of Jacksonville (FL) lead to a web page that offered soft statistics about the impending ortho shortage. Apparently, we graduate too few orthos each year, and that is becuase nobody wants to teach it. All the orthos go to private practice.
On the other hand, you have gp's. According to dental economics, the coming decades will require an increased patient load of nearly 50% to merely meet the demand. GP's are also looking to experience a "shortage."
If the GP's start spending all their time on ortho, who's going to be filling and building crowns?
I can imagine that more gp's will foray into ortho as technology makes it easier and more efficient. There's obviously some good money in ortho.
But i do not see any way that they could reduce the need for orthodontists. GP's have their own work to do.
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EHOP24 has hit the nail on the head. Where would the GP put all the ortho patient monthly visits that are needed?? Remember, even if we as dentists are doing less "dentistry" per patient in the future, there will also be less dentists based on the decreased numbers of schools/the decreased class sizes/the baby boomer dentists retiring. Also, one would assume that the US population will continue to grow at some rate. More people + less dentists will likely equal a similar work load for future dentists. Now, for example in my practice, my partner and I have about 2000 active patients or so, of those folks I'd estimate that 75 to 100 are in active ortho. Currently, my partner and I do no ortho in the office (the fact that my wife is an orthodontist contributes to this 😀 ) . My partner and I are currently booked out between 3 and 6 weeks depending on the length of appointment needed. Now I have no clue how we could manage to see those ortho patietnts monthly to provide service in a timely fashion, and still see our "regular dentistry" patients. I'd be working alot more than I want too for sure!
Additionally, your ortho work as a GP, would be held upto the standards of a board certified orthodontist if ever there was a mal-practice case filed against you. 😱 Additonally, the invisalign rage that is out there right now doesn't necessarily let the GP treat cases for less than an orthodontist would since your cost to get the series of "aligners" is over $1000, and then you have to figure in the overhead costs to see the patient as many times as needed. When my wife and her partner were looking into invisalign, the reps reccomended that they charge a treatment fee that was GREATER than their traditional fee. Don't get me wrong, its has alot of potnetial for the proper cases with COMPLIANT patients, and will allow many GP's to do some ortho. I doubt though that orthodontist will go the way fo the dinosaur in the future.
Additionally, your ortho work as a GP, would be held upto the standards of a board certified orthodontist if ever there was a mal-practice case filed against you. 😱 Additonally, the invisalign rage that is out there right now doesn't necessarily let the GP treat cases for less than an orthodontist would since your cost to get the series of "aligners" is over $1000, and then you have to figure in the overhead costs to see the patient as many times as needed. When my wife and her partner were looking into invisalign, the reps reccomended that they charge a treatment fee that was GREATER than their traditional fee. Don't get me wrong, its has alot of potnetial for the proper cases with COMPLIANT patients, and will allow many GP's to do some ortho. I doubt though that orthodontist will go the way fo the dinosaur in the future.
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>On the other hand, you have gp's. According to dental >economics, the coming decades will require an increased patient >load of nearly 50% to merely meet the demand. GP's are also >looking to experience a "shortage."
I don't have to worry about that since I would actually prefer to live and work in a rural town out in the middle of nowhere. As I understand, it's likely there will never be enough dentists to fill the need in rural towns 😀
I don't have to worry about that since I would actually prefer to live and work in a rural town out in the middle of nowhere. As I understand, it's likely there will never be enough dentists to fill the need in rural towns 😀
