As I've probably mentioned before, this year I was honored to become a Candid Academy Faculty member. My good friend, Dr. David Little and I both joined in February/March time frame.
I love providing orthodontic treatment and I follow that part of the industry pretty closely. Because of my fascination with all things ortho, I was excited to see a recent report on PR Newswire that stated experts are expecting the market for orthodontic services to be a record breaking $8.39 billion by 2027.
The prediction is that estimated growth of the market will be at a rate of 17.13%
My personal opinion is that this interesting news, but it doesn't greatly surprise me. With clear aligner companies (like Candid) orthodontics for the GP is much more simple than it would be if every case needed brackets and wires. I also feel that many patients who want minor corrections didn't see the big benefit of going through the bracket and wire process. However, when minor corrections can be performed quickly and easily with clear aligners, that makes the treatment much more palatable for people who otherwise might seek treatment.
There's also the fact that the explosion of technology in healthcare is making orthodontics more available. New resins have made aligners more responsive and better for patients. Combining those resins with the continual advances in 3D printing means things fit better than ever before and move the teeth an in incredibly precise manner.
My complaint on the PR Newswire article is that they mention many "problems" that can result from orthodontic treatment. They failed to state how *rare complications are*. In all my years of doing dentistry and evaluating patients... most of whom I did NOT treat orthodontically, I've probably seen less than 5-10 cases where there was an uncorrectable problem.
Considering the article mentions well researched numbers on growth, they should have also provided well researched numbers on the complications, which are rare... very rare.
No comments:
Post a Comment