The 6 Ways to Spot Patients with Poor Aligner Compliance

DDS, MS in Biotech Management, Clinical

Take this scenario:

You: “Please make sure you wear your aligners at least 22 hours a day.”

Patient: “Sure thing, doc.”

A few weeks later, the patient comes to the office and you realize that the treatment has gone way off track. We’ve all seen that before.

To protect yourself, here are 6 ways to help spot the early signs of a noncompliant patient and tips on how to manage communication to improve results and reduce frustration.

• The patient comes to his appointment without his/her aligners.

This may sound familiar: “Well, I knew I was going to get a new set of aligners so I didn’t think I should bring the old ones.” If the new ones don’t fit, then the patient might be trying to sugarcoat the truth.

• The new aligners fit poorly.

This is a red flag that shows the patient is not wearing their aligners as much as they should be.

• Missed or sporadic appointments.

This is an indicator of a patient who is not keeping up with treatment.

• The patient comes in with incorrect or mismatched aligners.

For example, if aligner number 7 in the upper arch is matched with aligner 5 in the lower. This is a clear sign of disorganization, usually seen among teenagers.

• The aligners are too clean.

After a week there should be some wear and tear. If the aligners are crystal clear, the patient might not be wearing them as much as they should be.

• Spouse or parent calls to pick up aligners.

If this happens multiple times, this can be a red flag.

Dental Monitoring, with its patient DM app and DM ScanBox, gives you control over aligner treatment so you can put a stop to blind orthodontics. This solution gives you the ability to increase the frequency of a patient’s follow-up; allows you to proactively address concerns with noncompliance; and reduces inconvenience for the patient.

Our state-of-the art Artificial Intelligence constantly monitors the progress with each scan inducing the Hawthorne effect, which changes a patient’s behavior in response to their awareness of being observed, while constantly analyzing the scans to look for problems. It then notifies you as soon as the treatment has gone off track so you can take swift action to re-establish order.

If you are interested in learning more about DentalMonitoring’s get in touch with our team to better understand how we can help with your non-compliant patients at dental-monitoring.com/contactus