More Predictable Aligners Achieve Results in Less Time
Dentsply Sirona’s SureSmile® Clear Aligners benefit practice owners, team members, and patients
Sara Mahmood, DDS, MS
Sara Mahmood, DDS, MS, admits that the dinner conversations at her childhood home were unusual.Mahmood's father, a medical doctor who became an entrepreneur and eventually the sole owner of a midsize hospital, would talk to his children about earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA); profit and loss statements; and value at scale while they ate. "He was always really hands-on in terms of coaching and mentoring me and my siblings," she says. "I got to see both the highs and lows of entrepreneurship, and I always wanted that for myself."
Mahmood's father was in his 40s when he started branching out; however, she opened her first practice in 2017 at the age of 27. At the time, her goal was to own 10 practices within 5 years, and although her timeline has changed slightly due to marriage and children, she now has three practices and still intends to be operating 10 sooner than later-something that she acknowledges is highly ambitious. Mahmood possesses excellent business acumen, but she says that she recognized early on that she would need to develop exceptional clinical skills in order for her plan to succeed. "The only way to have a viable business in this profession is to be an excellent, world-class clinician," she says. "That is how you attract good team members and create a sustainable model with patients." As such, Mahmood is close to achieving mastership in the Academy of General Dentistry and has completed more than 3,000 hours of clinical continuing education. "I have rolled up my sleeves to be the best dentist that I can be in addition to being the best entrepreneur that I can be," she says.
Just 6 months after opening her first practice, Mahmood became what she jokingly refers to as "a statistic" when she traveled to the Dentsply Sirona World conference and purchased a full CEREC system. "I had no regrets," she says. "I believed that investing in technology was critical for a start-up practice, and I ended up doing the same for each of my additional locations."
Mahmood also prioritized implementing clear aligner therapy, which she had been previously heavily involved in as an associate. Although she started with another popular system, a colleague suggested that she try the new SureSmile® Clear Aligners from Dentsply Sirona. "He asked me about how many refinements I was doing, and I told him that every case goes through refinements," Mahmood says. "I thought they were just part of the process. However, you don't know what you don't know, so I took a leap of faith and tried SureSmile." The results have been so positive that Mahmood is now passionately spreading the word to her colleagues about the benefits of SureSmile clear aligners. "The system has been refreshingly simpler to use and more predictable," she says. "My associates love using it, and as a business owner, I find it to be more cost-effective. In addition, with options like the SureSmile™ Whitening Kit and the SureSmile® VPro™ vibration device, it offers a lot more added value for my patients. Every single angle of my transition to SureSmile has been positive."
Mahmood concedes that, at first, she was uncertain about the legitimacy of SureSmile's claim that the system required fewer refinements. "But it is multifactorial and real," she says. "This is a system that was the brainchild of 3 decades of robotic technology used in wire bending, and it has been proven over a number of years." According to Mahmood, the ability to have variability in the trimline is another critical differentiator of SureSmile. "I never realized that there were benefits of having a trimline that was straight and above the gingiva and what that meant regarding root torque and the ability to engage with the teeth and create a greater level of predictability in the tooth movement," she says. "In my experience, it has resulted in less need for attachments and less interproximal reduction, which can be significant. Every practicing clinician knows that one of the biggest pain points of implementing a clear aligner system is placing the buttons and performing the teeth smoothing that may be indicated. Because of SureSmile's variable trimline, we are able to minimize that." The material used to fabricate SureSmile aligners is high-quality as well, and Mahmood notes that during a visit to the SureSmile digital laboratory in Costa Rica, she witnessed firsthand their level of commitment to creating premium products. "The quality assurance that they put into the process is so intense," she says, "and the level of passion that they put into creating treatment plans that are biologically realistic and result in excellent outcomes for patients is such an admirable thing."
Anecdotally, Mahmood treated her own sister using both her previous clear aligner system and then SureSmile, and her sister reported that SureSmile was not only more comfortable but also more discreet. "That could be a result of the need for fewer attachments and the more hidden trimline," Mahmood says. "My sister also noticed that that the treatment was easier to complete and that we actually got results when we thought we were going to get results. Based on her feedback alone, I feel confident that patients are finding it to be a good experience."
To further improve the results of treatment, every SureSmile provider gets access to clinical implementation specialists. "They teach you how to use your treatment plans to get the best possible results, and they are so knowledgeable," Mahmood says. "Honestly, they have made me a better dentist." The impact of SureSmile's clinical predictability extends to the rest of Mahmood's team as well. "My team is spending the majority of their time with my patients, so one of my primary goals is to ensure that they feel engaged and excited about the treatments we are offering," she says. "To have a system that is predictable and achieves the intended results on time means that my team has more faith in recommending it."
With all of these benefits, Mahmood tells her colleagues that they should at least try SureSmile, even if they are comfortable and happy with their current systems. "What do they have to lose?" she says. "There is so much to gain, potentially, from switching to a system that can provide better results in less time. Everyone in the equation benefits."
SureSmile Clear Aligners are designed to address simple-to-complex cases and meet a variety of treatment goals.
SureSmile Clear Aligners deliver predictable results for patients and practitioners.
The user-friendly SureSmile® Treatment Planning Software makes it simple to upload patients' digital impressions, radiographs, and other data.
Dentsply Sirona's team of experts provide training and dedicated support.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Dentsply Sirona • dentsplysirona.com • 844-848-0137
