A Digital Clear Aligner Workflow That Just Keeps Getting Better
ClearCorrect aligners are known for their durable design and predictable results, but they should be equally praised for their end-to-end digital workflow that guides doctors to success from day one
If you often find yourself face to face with an adult patient who, after undergoing a detailed and highly esthetic restorative procedure, is back for round two of treatment for the same broken restoration, you’ve likely asked yourself, “Why did this happen again?” You’re not alone. It’s a question that Dr. Andrea Bazzucchi, an international speaker and author based in Rome, Italy, frequently asks his dental colleagues, and one that defines his own personal approach to patient care.
A successful orthodontist with multiple practice locations who has treated more than 5,000 patients with clear aligners throughout his career, Dr. Bazzucchi recently became a clinical opinion leader for ClearCorrect. “One of the reasons I’m so excited about working with Straumann Group and ClearCorrect is the company’s focus on interdisciplinary treatment planning,” he said. “Adult patients need an interdisciplinary approach to recover esthetic function and structure lost over time in a way that respects biology as much as possible.”
For example, he said, misaligned teeth, asymmetrical and asynchronous wear, and tooth loss in adult patients can create a situation that cannot be improved with orthodontics alone. “This makes it important to have knowledge of other disciplines, such as restorative dentistry, implants, and smile design,” he said, adding that today, digital workflows allow clinicians to work in an interdisciplinary team and easily integrate clear aligner therapy into these other specialties.
“By working in a team, it’s possible to get opinions from each specialty and create a treatment plan that is much less invasive and much more stable for the patient over time. To me, this is the most interesting and amazing part, and the digital workflow that Straumann is creating is making it as affordable and as easy as possible for clinicians to achieve great results.”
Here, Dr. Bazzucchi shines a light on some of ClearCorrect’s most recent digital advancements.
CLEARCORRECT SYNC
Simplifying the patient photo capturing process, ClearCorrect Sync is a mobile- and tablet-based app for Android and iOS that allows doctors to instantly capture, edit, and upload patient photos to the ClearCorrect Doctor Portal. “Patient photos are extremely important to compare against the digital model,” said Dr. Bazzucchi. “Not all doctors have a fancy camera in their practice, but the average smartphone has amazing image quality. This app allows doctors to take high-quality patient photos with their smartphone so that while they are doing the digital treatment setup with ClearPilot, they can compare it to the patient photos.”
ClearCorrect Sync guides doctors through the types of photos needed for case submission—for example, front face and lower occlusal—while allowing new cases to be created and photo uploads for revision cases. The app will directly transfer captured photos to the case record in the Doctor Portal. “It’s extremely fast and very easy to do,” added Dr. Bazzucchi.
CLEARPILOT 6.0
Putting doctors in the driver’s seat, ClearPilot is ClearCorrect’s tool to review and approve patients’ clear aligner treatment plans. Using the treatment setup—a 3D sequential animation of the movement of teeth through aligner treatment—provided by ClearCorrect technicians, patient records (clinical photos, digital impressions, and x-rays), and tools in ClearPilot, doctors can visualize and plan the desired treatment goals.
“ClearPilot 6.0 is so accurate and so precise,” said Dr. Bazzucchi of ClearPilot’s most recent software release. “For example, the Bolton analysis tells you if you have discrepancies in size between the upper and lower arches, which is extremely important when you have esthetic cases in combination with veneers or other restorative work.”
Here are several other new and improved features infused into ClearPilot 6.0:
• More intuitive treatment viewer software interface with 3D model rendering, an expanded and simplified viewing area, and improved treatment timeline with visual cues for steps that require appointments
• 3D controls allow doctors to edit treatment setups by moving teeth and modifying engagers, cutouts, bite ramps, and IPR
• Direct collision and space editing with automated adjacent tooth adjustments and point-to-point measurement tools that provide arch and tooth dimension estimates
• For patients with missing or erupting teeth, new optimized shapes offer a more esthetic appearance, with the option to resize features as space increases and decreases
Collaboration Is Key
Another recent upgrade to the ClearCorrect digital workflow, external Treatment Plan Optimization (TPO) services can be ordered directly from ClearCorrect global TPO partners, who then collaborate with ClearCorrect technicians to develop optimal treatment setups.
Known as the Collaborator tool, it allows doctors—even beginners to clear aligner therapy—to get custom-made tutoring tailored to their needs. This speeds up the learning curve while giving doctors the confidence to spend more time with patients and less time treatment planning.
“As a TPO partner, I often have doctors who ask for treatment planning support through the Collaborator tool, so I help them build the ideal treatment setup for the specific patient case they are struggling with,” said Dr. Bazzucchi. “Typically, after 5 or 10 cases of them seeing what I do firsthand, they learn and become independent in a quick and safe way,” he said. “This is yet another example of how a digital aligner workflow makes it much more possible for a beginner to achieve the best treatment for their patient from day one.”
