Efficiency
For Dr. Christian Groth, DDS, owner of orthodontic practices in Novi and Birmingham, Michigan, efficiency is paramount. He has made it his goal to be as efficient as possible with his patients’ time. For him, this means that his treatments are carried out in as few sessions as possible with as short chair times as possible – with excellent results. Efficient mechanics are the key to success; emergencies due to bracket loss etc. must be avoided.
Dr. Christian Groth
According to him, those who know what they are doing and choose the right case will fare very well with Clear Aligners. They cause practically no emergencies and are very efficient from a clinical point of view. The latter advantage is also offered by the digital bonding of multi-bracket appliances, as this ensures that the brackets are positioned correctly. For him, too, the prerequisite for the efficiency of the system is a bracket with 3M™ APC™ Flash-Free adhesive pre-coating: “If you look at even other digital indirect bonding systems, having to apply adhesive on the bracket base and then have to clean the flash off afterwards really ruins a lot of the efficiency you gain with the digital system.” He uses digital flash-free bonding in around 95 percent of cases. Direct bonding is only used if there are only a few teeth or if a patient does not want to wait for tray production.
When it comes to aligner treatments, Dr. Groth relies on 3M™ Clarity™ Aligners Flex & Force. The Flex variant is used for most patients, while he only starts with the Force variant in cases with a very deep bite. After successful intrusion of the anterior teeth to open the bite, he switches to Flex. Aligner treatment is also ideal for Dr. Groth in periodontally compromised patients, as it allows micromanagement of movements and planning in an interdisciplinary team. In his eyes, the precise fabrication and placement of attachments remains a challenge. If they are inaccurate, this has a negative impact on the efficiency of the entire treatment. According to Dr. Groth’s initial assessment, the new 3D-printed 3M™ Clarity™ Precision Grip Attachments have the potential to significantly improve the efficiency and precision of aligner treatments. In order to minimize the number of treatment appointments, he relies on dental monitoring and standardized patient management in 100 percent of his aligner cases.