Transferring Retention for Patients Treated Outside Your Referral Network: Part 1

In a previous post, I discussed how you might go about setting up a plan for transfer of retention from orthodontists within your referral network to you.

However, in the absence of an established relationship with the treating orthodontist or GP, transferring retention for patients who were treated outside your referral network typically poses greater challenges.

For example, if the treating dentist is someone to whom you could refer because they’re geographically close but don’t because you don’t prefer them, that dentist may see you helping one of his/her patients with retention as interference.

While it’s ultimately the patient’s decision, if you know the doctor who provided the orthodontic treatment is opposed to having someone else monitor retention, you should approach with caution. In addition, if you or the patient are not happy with the treatment result, you and your patient should be clear regarding your concerns before you get involved.

For the purposes of this discussion, let’s assume you have a posttreatment patient with an acceptable treatment result. There are a number of reasons such a patient may look to you for help with retention, such as the treating orthodontist no longer being willing to monitor retention, or the patient having moved or simply preferring to have you monitor their retention. This downloadable generic form can be used as a starting point to structure a discussion about long-term retention with your postortho patients.

I suggest you have this discussion with portorthodontic patients who are new to your practice and existing ones who are with someone outside your referral network.