Aligners & Braces Course Guide

Yes, we do require completion of one our course offerings in order to begin using the Six Month Smiles System and treating your patients with Six Month Smiles. If you are unable to attend a Live Course, we recommend checking out our online e-courses. For any questions concerning this, please reach out to us at courses@sixmonthsmiles.com.

Six Month Smiles offers two ways to get trained on becoming a Six Month Smiles Braces Provider:

1. Attend a Live 1-Day Course, which is a combination of online/lecture/hands-on or
2. Complete our Braces e-Course (online/on demand).

Upon completion of either of these courses you will be confident in starting your first brackets and wires patient using our Guided Ortho System. As always, should you have any questions, our clinical support team is here to help!

Six Month Smiles offers two ways to get trained on becoming a Six Month Smiles Aligner Provider:

1. Attend our Live 1-Day Course which is a combination of online/lecture/hands-on or
2. Complete the Aligner e-Course which is a 3 hour online/on demand course.

Upon completion of either of these courses you will be confident in starting your first aligner case using our Guided Ortho System. As always, should you have any questions, our clinical support team is here to help!

No, a scanner is not required to submit cases to Six Month Smiles. We accept PVS impressions and you are able to print a shipping label to send the impressions to us.

If you are in the UK, your impressions are sent to our UK Intake Centre where they are then poured, trimmed, scanned, and digitally sent to the Six Month Smiles facilities in the United States to be fabricated.

If you do have a scanner- we accept 3Shape, iTero, Meditlink, Sirona, and open source .STL files.

Getting started with Six Month Smiles is easy and prior orthodontic experience is not required. We offer courses for braces or aligners, depending on which product you are looking to offer. To get the most out of Six Month Smiles, we recommend taking both courses so you can offer your patients both options.

Both our aligner and braces courses are designed specifically for General Dentists and we start with the fundamentals of orthodontic treatment and understanding basic principles of tooth movements. Then, we dive into the treatment essentials such as how to select the right patients and submit your case, what to do at the braces-on or aligner delivery appointment, how to monitor treatment and make necessary adjustments, and lastly, how to order retention for your patient.

After you've learned the essential knowledge for either braces or aligners, you are a certified Six Month Smiles Provider and can begin treating patients. If you've trained on braces, you will have access to additional online modules to help guide you through specific case types and provide additional tips & tricks.

We make it easy for a General Dentist to integrate orthodontics into their practice. Six Month Smiles offers personalized support from Clinical Specialists who are here to help you get started and guide you through your cases.

The average case is completed in 6 months. However, the window of time is generally 6-10 months. The two primary reasons for these short treatment times are:

• The fast orthodontics treatment goals are not exactly the same as those associated with conventional orthodontics. The most time consuming changes, such as altering Angle Class and making significant midline changes, are not part of short-term orthodontic treatment. The goal of most Six Month Smiles cases is very similar to most aligner cases: to give the patient a great new smile and to accomplish most, but not all, of what would be done with traditional orthodontic treatment.
  
  
• Our brackets and wires are unique. Lucid Lok™ brackets and wires are specific for short term orthodontic treatment goals. These teeth straightening goals can be achieved efficiently and effectively because the brackets and wires are engineered with a specific prescription and have short-term orthodontic unique properties.

No, we offer these courses separately. This allows you to choose live or online for one or both of the courses. For example, if you feel more confident with aligners than braces, you can register for the Aligner e-Course and the Braces Live 1-Day course for the additional hands-on learning. Our courses are sold seperately so you can choose the combination that works best for you!

While both courses have overlaps in clinical content and patient selection, the two appliances have significant differences that merit teaching them via a separate course

Most patients with crooked or spaced teeth are candidates. A patient is not a candidate if their chief complaint cannot be fully addressed within the time period of about 6-10 months. Think about the patients you see each day – many of them would be great candidates for simple ortho treatments to give them a confident smile and pleasing result.

After you get trained, the first step is to take records on the patient (including impressions, x-rays, and a complete exam). After the records appointment, the case is submitted online and the patient’s impressions are sent to Six Month Smiles (digital or PVS). Once your case is received, our team of orthodontists will create a treatment plan and 3D simulation for you to review. After your approval of the treatment plan, our team of specialists will fabricate the case.0

Aligner System: our team of specialists will print and label each aligner tray and package the items into our Aligner Patient Tray Kit. This includes a patient take home guide and bag they can use throughout treatment. Once the Patient Tray Kit has been assembled, it is returned to your office ready to use. After the initial placement of the aligners, your patient will switch out their aligner trays every 2 weeks. You will set up adjustment appointments every 2-4 weeks, depending on the patient and treatment plan. You can use the last aligner tray to order removable retainers for your patient from Six Month Smiles.

Clear Braces System: our lab specialists fabricates your custom indirect bonding tray, making bonding the braces to the patient's teeth remarkably easy, efficient and stress-free. The bonding trays, appropriate tooth-colored wires, ties, and other needed materials are packaged into our Patient Tray Kit. When the patient comes in for their braces-on appointment, the Patient Tray Kit is retrieved and the process begins. After the braces on appointment, the patient is seen every 4 weeks, for a simple adjustment visit. Once the teeth are in the final position, the braces are easily removed and adequate retention is provided. The patient is able to enjoy a smile that looks great and no longer makes them feel self-conscious. Our system is safe, straight-forward and patient focused.