ClearCorrect™ Clear Aligners Inspire Clinician to Specialize in Orthodontics
Compendium features peer-reviewed articles and continuing education opportunities on restorative techniques, clinical insights, and dental innovations, offering essential knowledge for dental professionals.
June 1, 2020
Volume 41, Issue 6, June 2020
Page(s): p. 342
Jeffrey R. Briney, DDS, never gave much thought to practicing orthodontics. As a dental student at Indiana University in the 1990s, he decided that once he established his own practice, he would offer all divisions of dentistry except orthodontics. However, after purchasing a preexisting practice in Orange County, California, he found himself faced with taking over 45 traditional bracket/wire cases. He finished those cases within a year and put orthodontics-he thought-in his rear view, until the introduction of clear aligners.
"I started to dabble in clear aligner treatment for very simple procedures," Briney reminisces. "After witnessing life-changing results with clear aligners, I fell in love with orthodontics." Fast-forward 10 years, Briney is now a member of the Clinical Advisory Board for ClearCorrect™, a leading producer of clear aligners.
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Briney points out that the evolution of materials, design, attachments/engagers, and trimlines has greatly improved the results clinicians are seeing with clear aligners. "In 2020," he says, "we are able to treat a majority of orthodontic cases by clear aligners alone or with a hybrid version incorporating elastics in conjunction with clear aligners. The incorporation of the digital workflow-intraoral scanners, cone beam, planning software, and so on-into dental practices has significantly increased the ability to better achieve predictions and accuracy for our cases."
ClearCorrect's precisely engineered aligners have a variety of features. The straight trimline is supported by 0.030-inch polyurethane to enable challenging movements, and the aligner material is stain and crack resistant, according to the manufacturer.
"The trimline is extremely important in producing orthodontic forces to a tooth," says Briney, who has now spent more than a decade providing clear aligner orthodontic treatment. "The ClearCorrect trimline allows the aligner to engage the gingival third of a tooth and move the tooth to where the aligner intends for it to go." The straight trimline 2 mm above the gingival margin on the ClearCorrect aligners, he adds, is able to produce greater force for tooth movement than a more flexible scalloped trimline used in other aligners and helps reduce the number of engagers on the aligner.
Because of the trimline design and need for less engagers, treatment duration with ClearCorrect clear aligners can be minimized and cases more readily finished within the original treatment set-up without revisions. The result for clinicians is a better return on investment, not to mention "less stress," he says. Patients, in turn, benefit from fewer office visits and pay less as the need for revisions is reduced.
ClearCorrect offers a variety of resources both for clinicians interested in introducing clear aligners into their practices, and those already using them but wanting to advance their education. Its new education program, Clic, offers mentorship whereby small study clubs and groups meet periodically, with a mentor providing guidance to users in both a live and online setting. The company also provides live online webinars and an online education portal with a full library of recorded webinars.
As material and diagnostic technology advances, Briney believes clear aligners will become the new standard for orthodontic treatments. "Artificial intelligence also will help pave the way for clear aligners to become the standard of care, as it will be easier to keep track of patients' progress," he offers.
"As someone who was not interested in orthodontics, now I can't imagine practicing dentistry without clear aligners," Briney attests. "ClearCorrect has made it easy to integrate them in my practice, and I have confidence in both the company's products and its commitment to doctors."
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