When dentists and orthodontists have an effective and mutually beneficial relationship, it does more than boost business: patients also benefit greatly, because this team approach allows them to get the best care.
Given that a strong dentist – orthodontist relationship is a win-win for all involved, it seems obvious that general dentists and orthos would have strong, long-standing business relationships.
But it’s often more complicated than that.
Attitudes Affect Business for Dentists and Orthodontists
The relationship between a general dentist and an orthodontist can either be built on a premise of abundance or scarcity. I saw both during my time at Align Technology.
When the relationship is built out of scarcity, it sounds like this:
Orthodontist: “My practice is stagnating because all those General Dentists are doing their own orthodontic cases and not referring.”
General Dentist:“I keep those Orthodontists in business with all the cases I refer.”
However, some orthodontists and dentists would take on a very different attitude – and their business growth reflected it.
Coming from a place of abundance sounds like this:
Orthodontist, “General dentists are doing orthodontic cases more than ever now. I want to build a relationship with them to help them select their cases properly, and they can refer the more challenging cases to me.”
General Dentist, “Doing orthodontic cases in my office is great for my patients’ health. However, I only want to treat cases that are easy, and it really helps to have a relationship with my local orthodontist to guide me with that.”
In the scarcity scenario – which is far more common – general dentists and orthodontist are fighting over patients. In the abundance scenario, they are collaborating to treat more patients and provide top quality care.
Crucial Partnership Opportunities for Dentists and Orthodontists
There are more than enough patients who have a need for orthodontic treatment. Align Technology estimated that 74% of the adult North American population has some form of malocclusion and could benefit from orthodontics. Yet less than 1% of those patients actually seek treatment every year. That is an enormous total available market of patients who are potential orthodontics cases.
So how do we get them into treatment?
From the orthodontists’ perspective, they have to wait for patients to walk into the office. From the general dentists’ perspective, they have so many other things to diagnose that orthodontics often gets pushed to the bottom of the list.
However, there is clear evidence that moving a patient’s teeth to a more functional position can increase the health and longevity of their teeth.
The only way to help patients embrace non-invasive, preventative orthodontic treatment is to have a robust and symbiotic relationship between general dentists and orthodontists.
General dentists are critical to the process because they are the first-line of patient care. They help the patient decide what treatment to pursue based on their recommendation. General dentists are the key to helping more patients understand the health benefits of aligning their teeth – and the main way to expand the total available market of people who seek orthodontic treatment.
Orthodontists are also critical because they can treat a full range of cases – and they often have more auxiliaries and creative tools to achieve a healthy outcome for the patient.
Tips for Forming a Productive Relationship between Dentists and Orthodontists:
Here are some ideas for dentists and orthodontists to build and maintain an effective, mutually beneficial relationship:
- Choose to have an attitude of abundance towards orthodontic cases, know that the pool of total available patients is limitless.
- As a general dentist, find an orthodontist you enjoy working with and trust. As an orthodontist, also spend the most time with the general dentist referrals you enjoy working with and have similar philosophies.
- Set expectations for the relationship. If you’re an Ortho, let the general dentist know if you’re willing to help on treatment plans, but that you’ll be honest with them if a case is beyond their skill level. Specialists need to be comfortable having this conversation! As a general dentist, respect the specialized skill of the orthodontist, and know your limitations.
- Don’t be greedy. As an Ortho, encourage your general dentist referral to treat the easy Class I mild crowding case. As a general dentist, don’t try to treat the Class II Div II case on your own, send it to your Ortho referral.
- When you take a little, give a little. For example, if you’re a general dentist and you’ve had your Ortho buddy look over your last 5 Invisalign treatment plans, make sure to send that Ortho a patient or 2 over the next month. They’ve given you their time to help your patients, make sure the relationship is a 2-way street. Conversely, if you’re an orthodontist, and a general dentist has sent you multiple patients, proactively reach out to them and see if you can assist them in any way if they’re doing their own ortho cases.
- Follow up with each other on patient care to ensure a smooth treatment process, communicate on mutual patients.
When you have a great general/specialist relationship, everyone wins – most especially your patients who will receive the best quality care with a team approach.
Comment below with your experiences in a positive dentist – orthodontist relationship, and how it’s helped you provide better patient care.