What Is the “Double It” Philosophy in Clear Aligners?
In this article, we want to explore the “double it philosophy” in an Invisalign case and the triple it philosophy in a ClearCorrect case. Why is this so?
The default movement per Invisalign aligner is 0.25 millimeters. For ClearCorrect the figure is 0.3 to 0.35 depending on what they do. ClearCorrect aligners are aggressive and they take bigger leaps in between. The problem is the bigger the problems is the revision refinement rate goes up exponentially the more your leaps are in between aligners. The best practice is to double it and take my movements down to 0.12 to 0.15.
Whether you are working with ClearCorrect or Invisalign, you should double or triple your movements. You might want to include that in your preferences but obviously the aligner companies lose money and they would not favor it. However, this is not the case since revision refinement rates fall tremendously assuming that you have put your patient on an accountability loop, you had picked a good case and you’ve had optimized the clint check or the treatment plan. There are a few other variables in there so obviously you can’t just double it and assume it’s always going to track because if you don’t create an accountability loop with the patient they may not be wearing it.
If Invisalign demands that your setup be 15 aligners, work with 30 aligners. If Invisalign recommends 15 aligners, work with 45. Orthodontists will probably tell you that an Invisalign case requires 40, 50 or 60 aligners whereas most GP doctors would prefer 20 aligners. Well the main goal is to optimize your clint check, do zero-revision refinements which saves me a lot of time getting the patient to remove buttons, rescanning and redoing buttons. Additionaly, the patient will be happier if you get the measurements correct on the first go.
You can opt for seven day changes and if somehow the patient is compliant but they still complain about the aligners getting loose after day four you can opt for more frequent changes. Another option is to maintain a five day routine where the patients can switch their aligners more often which is healthier and cleaner for them. This also keeps the forces slow and low which is healthier for the gums roots and bones. The aligner company which will spend a little bit more money on your case but it doesn’t affect it. Less frequent changes mean you get to save time; your patient is more satisfied because they don’t need more revisions and refinements and you get better reviews from your patients.
Five-day changes also mean that the aligner provider gets to spend more money on each Invisalign case, but if your refinement rate is between 5% and 10% and the GP’s refinement rate is 80%, the aligners will cost them less in the end if they work with you
In Invisalign, there is a way that you can check your refinement analytics. If you want to check out how to do a refinement analytics on Invisalign cases, you can head over to my YouTube channel. Refinement analytics is very helpful and it’s the first thing you should check when you work with doctors whereby anything over 30% is unacceptable and anything above 10% is not right. You can also implement an accountability loop with your patients using virtual resources. Invisalign now has their virtual check-in app completely free so that your patients can check in every week from home. You can give your patients the whole box of aligners and make them check in every week.