How Much Do Braces Cost??

For almost a decade I held true to the “conventional wisdom” that we should not discuss how much orthodontic treatment costs over the phone. Consultant after consultant after consultant told us th...

Adjusting Incisal Edges BEFORE Bonding Is Dumb

I’ve engaged in discussions on this topic many times in multiple forums – both online and in person. I’m always shocked by how firmly orthodontists hold to the FACT that one should adjust jagged...

TMI, Doctor.

By: Angela Weber, CMO OrthoSynetics The Internet is a wild and unpredictable place, as the saga of “Cecil the Lion and the Dentist” illustrates. When the hunter was identified as one Dr. Walter Pa...

I Didn’t Mean To Get Sued

Orthodontists are terrified of being sued yet when I’m speaking to a group and ask how many personally know an orthodontist who’s been sued, it’s rare to see even one hand go up. Why do we worry...

I Don’t Care How Much You Owe!

I hear dentists, dental students, orthodontic residents and orthodontists talk constantly about how much they owe in student loans and honestly I’m sick of it. No one forced you to go to dental scho...

Ideal is Dumb

Ideal has a place in textbooks and in the educational process but, in practice, ideal is dumb. Ideal is the favorite word of the inexperienced, the armchair quarterbacks, anonymous online study club ...

Don’t Go In Order, Doctor

We orthodontists are orderly creatures. “A time for everything and everything in its due time”, could easily be our profession’s motto. That is well and good for most things but not for a doctor...

Faster, Doctor, Faster!

The first time you cut a crown prep in dental school, how long did it take you? It took me about 3 days, but I got faster! The first time you put brackets on in ortho residency how long did that take?...

No Shows = No Big Deal!

I used to get so mad when people dared to break appointments. “How disrespectful! People these days just don’t act right and society is going to hell in a hand basket”… or so I believed and so...

Free Cases Cost Money?

I read the newsletter of an antiquated but still popular orthodontic consultant the other day and was struck by something crazy. This consultant was putting fourth the assertion that donating free tre...