I used to think growth meant taking on harder cases. That is what I saw other dentists doing with implants. They would start with a single tooth, then graduate to multiple teeth, and eventually full arch cases. Complexity stacked, and so did their confidence. So I assumed aligners worked the same way. But it did not take long to realize they don’t. Here is what I noticed. On Instagram, the dentists posting complex aligner cases were not celebrating at the finish line. They were relieved. More...

I once had a patient who kept cracking his molars one by one. At the start I told him it was happening because of his occlusion and that we needed to even out his bite with aligners to distribute the forces. He did not listen. He just kept breaking teeth. Then on the final crown seat appointment he looked at me and said, “I think I want to do aligners.” That experience stuck with me. Most dentists fail to convert existing patients because they simply do not offer it. They feel like if they...

Most dentists believe growth comes from doing more complex cases. That is true for implants. You start with a single tooth, then move to multiple, then full arch cases. But aligners are different. Complexity does not equal growth. Here is why. More complexity means more refinements. More refinements means more time. More time means less profitability. If you want to grow with aligners, you need efficiency, not complexity. Here are 3 levers to focus on: Case selection: Do more of the simple,...