I used to wait for patients to ask about aligners. Then I made one change: we started scanning every hygiene patient. It seems small, but it created instant awareness and opened doors for conversations we never had before. We didn’t “sell” — we educated. Patients started asking questions and seeing their own crowding on the scans. If you want to try this: Train your team to scan every hygiene patient by default Show patients their scans right away — let them ask questions Have a simple...

I see it all the time. Docs get excited and jump into tough cases first — severe crowding, major bite changes, or posterior crossbites. Crazy stuff. Why? Because we weren’t taught that there are LEVELS to ortho cases. I did the same. My first few cases took forever and needed tons of refinements. I lost confidence fast. When I started focusing on simple cases — mild crowding, no big bite changes — my confidence (and case acceptance) skyrocketed. If you’re just starting: Stick to mild anterior...

Most dentists see aligners as a revenue booster. But the real ROI? Patient loyalty. Case acceptance in other areas. Better overall oral health outcomes. When patients see you as the doc who helps them feel confident and healthy, they stay. They refer. They trust your recommendations beyond aligners. Take a second and think about what happens when 1 patient starts treatment with you. They leave and live their life. They go to dinners with friends. At the dinner they take out their aligners and...