Dentistry Side Hustles You Need to Know

Have you ever thought about getting started with dentistry side hustles? In many cases, finding the ideal side hustle ideas can be a little difficult – but numerous excellent side hustle ideas can help you find the perfect solutions for your own income needs.
Remember: there’s no single solution that’s necessarily right for everyone, but starting your own side hustle alongside your orthodontics work is hugely valuable overall. So, it’s well worth considering potential side hustles for dentist consultants and how these might work for your own income needs.
The Best Side Hustles for Dentist Consultants You Should Know
KOL Work
KOL work can be hugely effective as an orthodontics side hustle. KOL work (Key Opinion Leader) is a form of marketing where you give lectures, webinars, and the like.
These side hustles can bring a good income. They can also be a brilliant way to grow your PowerPoint and presentation skills. However, they are somewhat restrictive; you may need to reschedule your plans to fit in with your client’s requirements, which can be incredibly frustrating in many cases.
Expert Networks
Expert networks are a great option for a decent income relatively quickly – especially if you have plenty of experience in the field. Expert networks are relatively easy to get involved with, but you may need to receive an invitation before getting started. However, it’s worth considering that they can take a relatively high cut for your services.
Some common examples for dentists and consultants include GLG, Guidepoint, Ridge Top, Alpha Sites, and the like.
Monetize Clinical YouTube Channels
One of the most obvious ways to create a side hustle in orthodontics – is to create your own monetized YouTube channel. There are numerous ways to monetize a clinical YouTube channel, such as advertisements.
If you already have skills in presenting, this can be a simple way to make a steady, passive income – but the earnings may be much lower than other options. However, it can take a long time to set up, too. Don’t forget the size of your target market, too.
Clinical Consulting
Clinical consulting is another hugely valuable opportunity for dentist consultants who have years of experience and want to help new orthodontists. This can be particularly valuable if you have a specialist field, but you’ll need proper insurance in place. It’s also worth noting that, depending on your clients’ requirements, you may need to be responsive at impractical times.
Recruiting for DSOs
As a further option, recruiting for DSOs could be a good option for orthodontics side hustles. Many DSOs need professional staff and don’t necessarily want to spend time trying to implement this themselves. However, generating leads won’t always result in hires – leaving you missing out on income. Plus, you’ll need to be a specialist to ensure
Final Thoughts
Orthodontics is a hugely exciting field, but branching out can be a further opportunity for dentist consultants. Today, we’ve outlined some of the best ideas you need to know to help your own orthodontics side hustles, too.

Keywords
Orthodontics
Dentist consultants

Working as a general dentist can sometimes seem tough, but this shouldn’t have to be the case. However, it doesn’t matter how much you study; orthodontic courses alone can only teach you so much, and in many cases, most of your expertise will come from experience and real-life ortho training rather than study. With this thought in mind, before you begin rushing into things, it’s important to look at the common yellow light cases and whether or not you’re suitably experienced yet to tackle these. First of all, it’s important that we consider when you can actually begin taking on yellow light cases yourself. Yellow light cases are something of an intermediate in terms of difficulty. They’re not necessarily hugely complex cases; however, before you begin taking on yellow light cases, you should ensure you have fully completed at least 50 green light cases. Yellow light cases are not suitable immediately after completing your orthodontic courses. There are numerous treatments that can fall into the category of being a “yellow light dentistry case,” and keeping these in mind can help you avoid taking on cases that are too complex for your current level. Common examples of yellow light cases that you should know as a general dentist include: – Slight Class 2 cases (up to 4mm on molars or canines, commonly in teenagers and children) – Deep or overbite cases (with any severity – never take even a mild case if you’re not experienced first of all) – Anterior crossbite edge to edge cases (this doesn’t necessarily apply to posterior cases) – Pre-diagnosed, minor open-bite cases up to 2mm (send patients to OMT first) – Pre-treated and managed mild periodontal disease cases with 3mm or less attachment loss pockets. Make sure the patient has received a one-month evaluation first; this will primarily be for older patients. – Any form of mixed dentition cases, especially for children and teenagers If you’ve only just completed your ortho training, or if you have less than 50 green light cases under your belt, we strongly recommend avoiding yellow light cases for the time being.

All You Need to Know About Skeletal Maturity and Orthodontic Treatment
Questions about skeletal maturity and orthodontic treatment timing can feel embarrassing for many patients. After all, the idea of having an adult looking at your teeth and trying to determine if you are mature enough for treatment can be nerve-wracking. While the process may seem intimidating, it’s important to understand the basics of skeletal maturity to feel more comfortable. Let’s break down all you need to know about skeletal maturity and orthodontic treatment.
What is Skeletal Maturity?
Skeletal maturity refers to a person’s physical development, specifically regarding their jawbone and face structure. It is typically determined by analyzing physical changes such as facial growth patterns, tooth eruption times, and bone growth in children. The goal is to determine when a patient is ready for orthodontic treatment to achieve the most effective results without putting undue stress on developing bones or compromising dental health.
How Is Skeletal Maturity Determined?
To determine skeletal maturity, orthodontists utilize several diagnostic tools such as x-rays, facial photographs, 3D scans, and digital models of the teeth. These images help orthodontists assess bone age to decide whether a patient is ready for braces or other correction treatments. That said, even with these tools, it isn’t always easy for an orthodontist to make an accurate determination—many factors go into determining whether a patient has reached their full skeletal maturity.
Do I Really Need To Be Skeletally Mature Before Getting Braces?
Yes! It’s essential that you wait until your bones have finished growing before getting braces or undergoing any kind of corrective dental work; otherwise, there is a risk of overcorrection or misalignment due to bones still growing after treatment has been completed. Not all patients reach full skeletal maturity by adulthood; some individuals may need additional treatments or adjustments throughout their lifetime due to late-developing bones or other factors beyond their control.
Are There Any Risks Associated With Delayed or Early Orthodontic Treatment?
Yes, there are risks associated with delayed or early orthodontic treatment. Some of these include:
1. Inadequate treatment: Delaying treatment can result in more severe problems, making it more difficult to achieve desired results. On the other hand, starting treatment too early can also lead to inadequate treatment and the need for additional procedures later on.
2. Extended treatment time: Delaying treatment can increase the overall length of treatment, leading to a longer and more uncomfortable experience for the patient.
3. Poor outcomes: Starting treatment too early or too late can lead to poor outcomes, including a less desirable final result, relapse of the condition, or the need for additional procedures.
4. Higher costs: Delaying treatment or starting it too early can result in additional procedures, leading to higher costs and a less favorable financial outcome for the patient.
5. Psychological impact: Delaying treatment or undergoing additional procedures can also psychologically impact the patient, leading to anxiety and dissatisfaction with the treatment process.
Conclusion
Having conversations around growth modification or skeletal expansion can be challenging; however, it is essential for effective treatment planning. The ideal person to initiate the conversation may vary depending on factors such as confidence and comfort level – it does not necessarily have to be of the same sex as the patient.

To determine if a patient is still growing, it’s important to consider more than just their shoe size.
Asking the right questions when determining a treatment plan for patients is essential. Questions should center around age-related factors, such as whether they have started their period or how many cycles they’ve experienced. Facial hair and voice changes can also tell signs that they’ve reached the peak of puberty; however, pediatricians may sometimes be consulted to help verify details with growth charts or hand-wrist x-rays.

When finishing up a case of braces or Invisalign, there are a few loose ends to tie up before completing the work that we have done. The last thing we often need to do is ensure that when patients go through with floss, there is a catch on all of the contacts.

Having open contacts in the front of the mouth isn’t necessarily an issue as long as your patient is aware of it, but open contacts in the back are a different story.

How Does Virtual or Ghost IPR Work to Close Loose Contacts in Invisalign?

Failing to close loose contacts in the back of the mouth and proceeding will prevent these spaces from ever closing and will create perio traps for your patient. This action could lead to liability for you as a provider.

Some options for closing the contacts in the back include finishing with a wrap-around Hawley. The combination of a bonded retainer in the front and a wrap-around Hawley retainer in the back is a great option, but you need to have a really great scan to make these work.

To close these spaces in Invisalign, do not use VPC. You will need to use virtual or ghost IPR, which aims to close those spaces, not align teeth. Ghost or virtual IPR is done by first scanning the case and noting down all of the loose contacts. Then, scan and submit with the instructions to “Please close spaces.” Double check these spaces versus what they picked up and see if every space that you felt was loose shows up with a 0.1 or a 0.2 and ask for IPR between that space. When the case comes back, do not do the IPR. Deliver the aligner, and the aligner will be the last step.

Have you ever wondered about what mewing is and, critically, how it relates to orthodontics? A quick spoiler: no, it’s not the sound a cat makes (not in this context, anyway). So, in today’s brief dental coaching guide, we’ll be looking briefly at some of the key things you need to know about what mewing is from an orthodontics perspective.
What is Mewing in Orthodontics?
First of all, what is mewing anyway? In orthodontics, mewing is a relatively common dental coaching process that helps shape the teeth and jaws. Mike Mew, a British orthodontist, developed the process.
With mewing, placing your tongue on the roof of the mouth – rather than pressing against the teeth – is believed to help sculpt your teeth and jaw. This may reduce pressure on your teeth in some cases.
Is Mewing Actually Effective as an Orthodontics Procedure?
Mewing is often considered to be a trend that’s not actually accurate in reality. But how true is this assumption?
Well, for the most part, mewing isn’t necessarily an effective alternative to professional dental coaching and support. However, in cases where dental conditions are caused by tongue position, such as a tongue thrust, alignment may improve with mewing – primarily alongside professional dental support.
As such, as an orthodontics practitioner, it’s well worth considering the concepts of mewing. However, most patients will also need support from oral myofunctional therapists to see significant improvements.

Williams vs a Flea Orthodontics Appliances for Lower Fixed Expansion?

Most commonly, lower fixed expansion cases will be seen in mixed dentition patients, and these unique scenarios can come with several potential complications and struggles. With this thought in mind, ensuring you know the difference between a Williams Appliance and a Flea for lower fixed expansion is vital, and we here at Straight Smile LLC have outlined several critical things you need to know to help out!
What’s the Difference Between a Williams and a Flea Orthodontics Appliance?
For the most part, both the Williams Orthodontic Appliance and the Flea Orthodontics Appliance have very similar features. However, the main difference between the two Orthodontics appliances is that Flea appliances have a soldered extension attached. This extension works to align crowded anterior teeth.
Which is Better for Lower Fixed Expansion Cases?
Both tools can be incredibly valuable, but if you’re attempting to use a Flea Orthodontics Appliance, it’s crucial you’re first experienced before attempting this. Indeed, Flea Orthodontics Appliances, when used incorrectly, can result in risky mistakes, such as teeth being pushed through the bone. So, if you’re not already well-versed in using these tools, you may want to avoid using a Flea Appliance.
As such, the Williams Appliance is generally much easier to use and comes with lower risk. So, this may be a safer bet to consider for your own orthodontics needs in lower fixed expansion cases.
For further support, please don’t hesitate to contact our team here at Straight Smile LLC with any orthodontics related questions you might have, too!

Keywords
Orthodontics
Straight Smile LLC

Have you been looking to determine whether a mixed dentition patient requires a palatal expansion and how this applies to dental vs skeletal crossbites? This can sometimes be a little tricky to accurately pinpoint and treat, which is why we’ve outlined a few critical things you should consider as part of your ortho course to help you find the right approach for mixed dentition patients.

When is a Palatal Expansion Required for Mixed Dentition Patients?

Mixed dentition patients (typically young children) may require a palatal expansion in some cases. A palatal expansion should be attempted at around seven to eight years of age and helps widen the palate, which may help with crossbite cases. However, there is a significant difference between dental and skeletal crossbites, which are highly important to recognize when determining the best ortho treatment course for the patient.

Dental vs Skeletal Crossbites

Generally speaking, in mixed dentition patients (children primarily), a dental crossbite is a relatively rare case to see. Contrastingly, skeletal crossbite are generally more common, such as maxillary hypoplasia or mandibular hyperplasia. However, the displacement of teeth could potentially put the patient at risk of a dental crossbite.

Final Thoughts

Generally speaking, most orthodontics cases you’ll see in mixed dentition patients requiring palatal expansion will be skeletal in nature. Dental displacements can occur, but these are generally less common overall.

Keywords

Orthodontics

Ortho course

Mixed Dentition

Have you been looking to find out when you should be using Invisalign and when to just stick with regular braces? Both Invisalign and regular braces can provide good solutions, but to get the best results, you want to ensure you’ve started out with the right type of solution for your patient’s unique case. Of course, this topic is largely down to personal choice, and there’s no right or wrong answer exclusively; still, we’ve outlined a few things you may want to think about to help inform your decision.
Braces vs Invisalign
Generally speaking, Invisalign is an incredibly effective tool. However, in a handful of specific cases, you might find that braces could still prove a better solution. These include the following cases:
– Impacted molars (particularly second molars as opposed to third molars)
– Impacted canines
– Cases where the patient doesn’t necessarily want to use Invisalign
It’s worth noting that you can always start with braces and switch over to Invisalign if possible. For example, in the case of an impacted canine or molar, you may be able to begin using Invisalign once the tooth has come up. However, Invisalign can be relatively expensive due to Invisalign’s laboratory fees.
There’s No Simple Solution
There’s no simple way to say whether braces or Invisalign is necessarily better for a specific scenario. This can naturally lead to patients becoming incredibly confused by the entire topic – so, ideally, you’ll want to be able to show your patients’ past cases with whichever method you choose and, critically, offer them a ClinCheck before accepting payment to ensure the patient is satisfied with the service. It doesn’t cost a cent to run a ClinCheck, after all.

Keywords
Braces
Invisalign

Not all anterior open bites are the same, but treating adult cases and growing children can be very different. In fact, with patients who are done growing their anterior open bite must be treated at the cause level. Otherwise, there can be harmful effects as a result.

This article will address why you should avoid taking adult open bite cases for correction via alignment, including being unable to predict outcomes, potentially causing harm to the patient, and mistreating patients based on age.


Reason 1: You cannot predict the outcome of treatment.

You must address, diagnose, or inspect the etiology of the open bite in an adult to guarantee or even expect that the open bite will be corrected with alignment. These cases are unpredictable by nature, so do not get swindled by alignment brands saying that fixing this abnormality is possible with aligners. In most cases, the problem is solved by treating the cause.

Reason 2: You risk causing more harm than good.

With severe anterior open bites with crowding, the open bite will get worse with the alignment of those teeth. This causes more problems for the patient and more problems for the treating doctor, as you run the risk of getting sued for causing real harm to your patients. There are many cases of adult open bite cases where teeth and structures can be put at risk by improperly using aligners for these cases.

Reason 3: Your adult patients should be treated differently than child cases.

For dental care, adult cases are not necessarily 18+. Rather, an adult case should be considered a case where the patient has stopped growing. People make the mistake of treating teenagers like children in these cases, assuming that because habits have changed, they can treat the case with aligners. However, if there are no further changes because the patient has stopped growing, these changes to the bite are permanent, and the bones are now deformed and cannot be addressed with Invisalign or other aligners.

How to Tell if a Maxillary Labial Frenectomy is Required

Have you ever wondered about how you tell when a maxillary labial frenectomy is needed? In many cases, it’s pretty easy to work out the correct orthodontic treatment plan options – however, in some cases, things can seem a little trickier. In this scenario, it’s well worth considering the important things you need to know about maxillary labial frenectomy.
When is a Maxillary Labial Frenectomy Required?
First, we should briefly consider when a maxillary labial frenectomy will be required. A maxillary labial frenectomy is used when the incisors are aligned and when a space closure treatment plan has already been attempted. As a result, such treatments are common during other forms of orthodontic care; however, they should ideally only be carried out if normal functionality is compromised for any reason.
Ideally, these services should not be provided directly by general dentists since incomplete or incorrect services could result in scarring. Therefore, you should always inform the patient right from the outset if there is any possibility of needing a maxillary labial frenectomy.
When Dealing with a Minor Case
Most cases you’ll likely see will be easy orthodontic cases, and a maxillary labial frenectomy may not be required. In these cases, if you think a huge amount of work probably won’t be needed, it’s still worth mentioning to the patient the possibility of a maxillary labial frenectomy. Ideally, you should also ensure they sign for this; doing so helps prevent the risk of patients being surprised down the line if they do end up needing this treatment plan.
More Complex Cases
Several more complex issues could indicate that you need maxillary labial frenectomy. These include the following key points:
– The power chain re-popping open
– The patient had Invisalign before in a retrimming case
– The space continues to open after braces are fitted
Don’t forget – if the case is minor, the patient can always decline these services, but the patient should always be given paperwork to sign that prevents the liability coming down on you, as the orthodontist, for further work if they do end up needing a maxillary labial treatment plan.

Keywords
Easy Orthodontic
Treatment Plan