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DM® Dental Monitoring Blog 1- My Review of SmileMate®
I posted an article about measuring orthodontic efficiency in your practice. If you haven’t taken my challenge, please click here before you proceed with the rest of the blogs in this series.
If your margin isn’t at least 50% on each case, you aren’t doing it efficiently. You should be profiting at least $1500-$2000 on each case. If you aren’t, read on. I’ll be talking about ways to take back control of the profitability of your orthodontic cases by leveraging technology to reduce chair time and lab fees.
I’ve been preaching remote consults and remote aligner check-ins for years with my StraightSmile Solutions® clients. This is not at all DIY or DTC dentistry. It’s actually quite the opposite. It’s just reducing unnecessary chair time and increasing efficiency in your practice.
Dental Monitoring® (DM) is launching a myriad of programs to increase the ROI in your aligner, braces and functional appliance patients. I attended their symposium in Las Vegas this month, and we previewed some of the new products and features that will officially be launched at AAO in May. Today we’ll be focusing on SmileMate®:
This product will be a game-changer in GP (general practice) and DSO orthodontics. You’ll be able to use this tool to take initial diagnostic photos and have the technology screen the complexity of the case. It will prompt you to refer to an orthodontist, as needed. Each doctor can customize the variables. It’s a great way for an orthodontist to work symbiotically with GPs in their area and to increase the rate and value of their referrals.
If you are interested in learning more about the ROI of dental photography, I am putting on a free webinar on April 5th. Click here to register.
If you’d like to learn more about SmileMate®, be sure to visit AAO in Los Angles in May or connect with the Dental Monitoring team. You can email me for an introduction.
Looking to scale ortho? You can click here here to schedule a call.
Check out some of the new services we’ve launched in 2019, too! www.straightsmilesolutions.com/services/
Our YouTube site has a ton of great information on all kinds of orthodontics and tip to save money on lab fees, click here to check it out and subscribe!
Did I Bury the Hatchet with Joe?
The response to my blog post from last week about the future of Align Technology® has been quite overwhelming. Doctors and industry professionals from around the world have been messaging me with words of support and asking if I’ve finally buried the hatchet with Align Technology®. Mostly, everyone wants to know if Joe Hogan called me. I am excited to let you know that he did reach out! Although I am not able to give more information on the details of the call, I did want to give a big “Hi-5” to Align® for being proactive.
So how did this epic beef start?
Let me tell you a little story that I’ve never really shared with my followers.
Most people know I was on the initial team that launched SmileDirectClub. Love me or hate me for this journey, I am proud to have been an integral part of the disruption that brought down a monopoly, fundamentally changed an industry and provided more access to care. Although I haven’t been with SDC since 2016, a part of me will always be with what I helped to create. Heck, even my own 86 year old mother-in-law knows what a clear aligner is now!
After I left SDC in 2016, I was at a crossroads. I knew the orthodontic profession was rapidly sinking and I feel in love with the freedom of being an entrepreneur. I decided to launch a company that wouldn’t compete with SmileDirectClub but would support dentists and industry professionals wanting to learn more about orthodontics through training and educating doctors and teams. I wanted to learn and teach about all kinds of orthodontic products, not just aligners.
Fast forward 3 years: I now have over 20000 followers on my various social channels. When I first started I only had a handful. I wrote a post about Invisalign® being like the brand Kleenex, eg: it’s the brand name of an industry. It was initially meant to be a compliment, but once I published it, the phone calls started coming in from various contacts from Align Technology® threatening me and demanding me to take it down. My own TM (who I won’t name, because ultimately she was a super-nice individual and I think she was set-up by the powers at be) took me out to lunch, effectively told me I was a “nobody” and gave me an ultimatum: either take it down or she would “cut me off” from the support and collaboration we’d had for years. She left the lunch in a fury and stuck me with the bill. Revenge is best served on a cold platter.
The prophecy was fulfilled. For the past 3 years, I’ve had no collaboration from team Align®. I’ve had to get creative to stay educated and I move on to other systems to educate and support my customers and clients.
So yes, I appreciate Mr. Hogan reaching out and attempting to hopefully bury the hatchet.
That’s the end of the story. I’ve got a few other bullies to tackle in the industry now!
What’s next? Stay tuned!
Let’s Talk about the Elephant in the Room: Take my Ortho Profitability Challenge
Is your Invisalign®, ClearCorrect® or generic, clear aligner treatment as productive as it could be? I recommend that all of my StraightSmile Solutions® clients run this basic test to calculate the efficiency of your orthodontic services:
1. Run a report of the last five orthodontic cases you’ve completed successfully (D8050-D8090). Calculate the collections and average them. Write the number here: _________
2. Calculate the overhead on each case. The overhead includes:
· The sum of lab fees for all the appliances, aligners, refinements, revisions and retention
· The sum of all supplies used
· The sum of the overhead on the chair time throughout the lifetime of the case (from consult to retention) for both doctor and staff chair time.
· Average the overhead on the 5 cases. Write the number here:____________
3. Subtract 2 from 1. Write the number here:______________
If the margin isn’t at least 50% on each case, you aren’t doing it efficiently. You should be profiting at least $1500-$2000 on each case. If you aren’t, stay tuned. I’ll be posting a series of articles over the next few weeks highlighting some tricks and tips about about ways to take back control of the profitability of your orthodontic cases by leveraging technology to reduce chair time and lab fees.
Looking to scale ortho? You can click here to schedule a call: https://calendly.com/straightsmilesolutions/20min
Check out some of the new services we’ve launched in 2019, too! www.straightsmilesolutions.com/services/
Our YouTube site has a ton of great information on all kinds of orthodontics and tip to save money on lab fees, click here to check it out and subscribe!
Let’s meet up! Click here for our social links so you can stay up-to-date on future lectures and trade shows to meet our team!