Orthodontic treatment involves significant patient compliance to achieve the desired outcome. Patients’ participation in their orthodontic care needs to be consistent and disciplined, especially regarding wearing elastics, taking care of braces, wearing clear aligners, and using retainers after the orthodontic treatment. The process requires the patient to form good habits, which can be challenging. Therefore, motivating patients and helping them build habits can be the difference between successful treatment outcomes and failure. Proper maintenance of orthodontic appliances requires time, discipline, and effort; some patients may need more willpower to be consistent with it. Let’s cover some challenges orthodontists face when encouraging patients and strategies for managing patient motivation and good habit formation.
Building Habits
According to experts, building good habits requires more than willpower; it requires discipline, consistency, and motivation. To encourage patients to form good habits, orthodontists can use several strategies. One of them is habit stacking. Habit stacking is attaching a new habit to an existing daily routine. For example, we can remind patients to wear their retainers by having them place their retainers right next to their toothbrush and toothpaste. Since they are brushing every night before bed, the retainer in that proximity will be a nightly reminder to get into the routine of nightly retainer wear. Another way to promote habits is pairing. Pairing is attaching a habit to a reward. You want to perform something you don’t enjoy by pairing it with something you enjoy.
Motivation
Motivating patients to comply with their treatment plan requires strong communication skills, patience, and empathy. Patients need to understand the importance of the treatment plan and the significance of their involvement in the process. Motivation can also come in the form of positive reinforcement. Each achieved milestone in the treatment process can be celebrated with the patient. Orthodontists can engage the patients in goal-setting and provide continuous feedback on their progress.
Accountability
Holding patients accountable for compliance is essential in creating a sense of responsibility. For instance, in remote monitoring applications, we can prompt patients to report on their progress and delay clear aligner changes when tracking is insufficient. During their follow-up appointments, we can review their reporting and reinforce participation in treatment progress. Compliance reports include evidence of good habits, such as timely elastic wear and appliance maintenance. We can reward patients who consistently meet the compliance requirements through recognition programs or incentives such as an internal token system, a digital points card, contests, or other creative rewards.
Technology
Technological advancements can help improve patient motivation and compliance. For example, orthodontists can use mobile apps to send patients reminders for maintenance, appointments, and progress tracking. Virtual treatment monitoring helps view progress and uses technology oversight to drive performance. In addition, we can use digital tracking of treatment progress to provide feedback to patients and reinforce good habits.
Conclusion
Orthodontic patients’ compliance plays a significant role in the success of their treatment. Compliance requires consistent and disciplined good habits, motivation, accountability, and technology. Orthodontists can employ strategies such as habit stacking, motivation, accountability, and technology to help their patients form good habits and improve their compliance. Improved compliance means more successful treatment outcomes, shorter treatment times, and reduced costs. As orthodontists, we must advocate for patient compliance and provide support through the treatment process.
