Orthotown April 2021 - 24

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BGoodman
Member Since: 05/16/14
Post: 20 of 24

I'd add for any younger prospects reading this, be careful listening to anyone who graduated
well before 2008. It really is a different world now. They saw decreases in production to an office
that was running at full speed.
In 2008 we saw older orthos decide not to retire (and sell), and most offices either stopped
growing as fast or shrunk, which meant there were no private practice jobs developing. The
standards for orthodontic care have dropped and dropped, due to dentists doing Invisalign,
SDC, TV marketing from both of them, and what corporate offices put out to the world for
cheaper treatment fees.
A lot of patients don't even know what they aren't getting. In established offices, there is a
relationship with the community and people do know what they are getting, and they pay that
premium for it. Trying to establish an office these days is much harder. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Also I practice in a very competitive area; if you are willing to move anywhere it's definitely easier.
My dream ortho world would be one in which every office was a partnership between two
orthos, one about 20 years older. The older one brings experience, the younger one brings new
technology. When one retires, the younger one becomes the older one and the cycle continues.
We can still dream, right? ■
3/5/2021

ucla98
Member Since: 09/28/07
Post: 21 of 24

To survive, you have to adapt to these changes. One easy way is to keep the overhead as low
as possible and pass on the low cost to your patients. Do good work and grow your business from
word-of-mouth referral. Because of the competition (due to an increase in number of new ortho
grads, Invisalign, SDC, etc.) and limited supply of patients, you shouldn't waste a lot of money
to set up an efficient (and ridiculously high overhead) office.
Buy used equipment to save money. At the beginning when your new office doesn't have a
lot of patients, you should do your own chairside work instead of hiring an assistant. Make your
own ortho appliances instead of using an outside lab. Take PVS impressions instead of buying
an intraoral scanner for Invisalign. With fewer than 100 active patients at the beginning, it
shouldn't be too hard to manage them with paper charts. With so much free time (due to empty
appointment book) at the beginning, you should find P/T jobs at corp or other private ortho
offices to supplement your income. Once the office gets busier (hopefully in a year or two), you
can buy anything you want to make it more efficient.
I wonder if current ortho programs still teach their residents how to make ortho appliances,
take alginate impressions, trim study models, bend wires, treat patients without an assistant, etc.,
or they all now learn how to take digital impression with scanners and send cases to outside labs.
If it's the latter, then it's really sad. ■
3/5/2021

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APRIL 2021 // orthotown.com

OT0421_MB1_Debt.indd 24

3/24/21 3:35 PM

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Orthotown April 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Orthotown April 2021