Why Case Refinements Are Never Free

Author: Michael Smith, DDS

"Another case refinement . . . who cares? It's free!"

I've said it before.

Maybe even a few dozen times over the years.

And I'm not alone. 

You've probably been led to this same thinking . . .

"Don't worry about it, Doc. case refinements are free and are available at no cost to you or your patient and is a part of clear aligner treatment."

But this never quite sat right with me so I finally dug deeper only to learn . . .

Case Refinements Are Not Free

Not even close. Have you ever actually sat down (with your accountant) and made the calculation of the costs associated with unwanted, unnecessary or multiple case refinements? Maybe not, especially if you believe they are free or worse, accept that they are just a part of clear aligner treatment. Not to worry, these calculations have been made for you.

According to a recent survey conducted with 3,000 dentists, 90% reported that case refinements ranked as one of their top frustrations with clear aligner treatment. They estimated the average cost of a case refinement was between $100 and $1,000. Let’s break it down:

• Doctor time
• Chair time
• Assistant time
• PVS impression materials
• Disposables

And all of this is before we even consider our "free refinements" from the patient's perspective. Let's not fool ourselves...asking the patient to come in for more office visits and to extend their treatment time with more aligners.

Every "free" refinement affects the patient experience.

Every "free" refinement lessens the likelihood of them referring another patient.

A couple of "free" refinements and you may be at risk of losing an excellent general patient.

Suddenly those free refinements are not sounding so free.

How Do I Avoid Those Costly "Free" Refinements?

I'm a GP and I love dental implants. I chose this path.

Ortho was not my passion.

But thanks to ortho delivery model for clear aligner treatment, I am not constrained by my own training and experience. And I certainly don't have to accept free refinements as "a part of clear aligner treatment".

I partner with the Orthodontic led team at ClearTPS. They are the world's largest treatment planning service, with a Clinical Team who has optimized over 100,000 ClinChecks.

They specialize in clear aligners so that I can focus on the specialities that I enjoy most.

And with the volume of cases they see, their experience is off the charts. Other doctors tell me they experience case refinements with over 70% of their cases, but ClearTPS averages less than 1 case refinement for every 20 case starts.

I've started almost 300 cases with ClearTPS since 2013 and I've had a refinement on just 7% of those cases. That's a number that my bottom line can handle.

As always, this is not a paid endorsement. I'm just one happy client of hundreds using ClearTPS.

Avoid costly refinements and see for yourself how easy it is to work with ClearTPS. Have a ClearTPS Orthodontist review one of your cases for a Free Case Evaluation or schedule a Free Clear Aligner Strategy Session to see how ClearTPS can help you reduce your case refinements! 

Dr. Michael Smith is a Practicing Contributor on the Advisory Board of ClearSmile Network. He runs a successful multi-location family, cosmetic, and implant dental practice in the Houston metro area. Dr. Smith is a Gold level Invisalign provider who has successfully integrated clear aligners into his general practice and has treated hundreds of patients with the clinical support of ClearTPS.