What is Dental Monitoring?

Dental Monitoring is an app that enables you to take photos of your teeth to track your orthodontic progress. Queensway were one of the first practices in the UK to have launched Dental Monitoring to their patients. The benefits of using the app include:

• It saves you attending lots of appointments

• Regular progress reviews via photo sharing directly with your orthodontist

• Your progress isn’t delayed by you travelling/going on holiday as you can send the photos from anywhere in the world

• Any concerns or anomalies are picked up immediately

• Its quick and easy to chat to your ortho using the app

How does it work?

The app works by using a unique and powerful algorithm that analyses your smile and tooth movement. The photos you send in are matched up with your treatment plan (from the ClinCheck) via 3D matching technology. This means the team at Queensway have incredible accuracy in ensuring everything is going to plan.

At my last appointment I was given the following for me to be able to successfully start my Dental Monitoring:

• Scan Box – The Scan Box is fairly new to DM and I was actually the first patient at Queensway to be given one! It is basically a device to hold your phone in place and your Mouth Retractor clips on to it. It helps ensure you are taking the highest quality photos for optimum results.

• Mouth retractor – The mouth retractor helps keep your mouth wide open so you can take good photos. The ortho showed me how to insert this and also said they can be put in the dishwasher to keep clean!

• Aligners - I was given all of my remaining aligners right upto tray 48.

I was asked told to download the Dental Monitoring app to my iPhone. The consultant help me set up the app and create an alert. We ran through inserting the mouth retracting, clipping on the Scan Box and taking a scan.

Your ortho will show you exactly what to do but every Thursday at 8am these are the steps I take:

1. Get up 10-15 mins earlier for work on Scan day!

2. Get the app up ready and click 'take scan' (it is important you have your volume switched on loud! It speaks to you with instructions!)

3. Insert your mouth retractor and ensure all your teeth are visible and your retractor is comfortable

4. Place the phone in the Scan Box and check in the mirror it’s facing the correct way ready for the scan. The camera should be facing towards your teeth.

5. Clip the mouth retractor onto the Scan Box at the magnetic circles.

6. Double tap the screen of your phone and follow the instructions. The instructions will say something like "please do a scan with your aligners out and teeth slightly apart".

7. The app will tell you when your photos have been submitted successfully and sent to your ortho.

8. You can look through your photos and DON'T worry if you mess a few up, aslong as you take a few good ones this will be enough.

I generally receive a message at around 6pm that night telling me what to do next. It's the best feeling EVERRR to receive these messages:

I have been very strict with my Invisalign wear time and this shows in my results as SO FAR I have received a 'pass' each week and have been consistently moving onto my next aligners every Thursday.

If you do get a 'pass' you should always change your aligners before bed, as they will feel super tight as first, so its best for them to settle whilst you sleep.

The ortho sends you useful advice such as this:

Following this advice I made sure to use my Chewies more!

A good scan should look something like this: