Founder Dr. Amy Jackson

Founder Dr. Amy Jackson shares her journey and motivation to build Retainers For Life

Built out of necessity.
Dr. Amy Jackson

For the life of me, I don't know why I just accepted all those retainer headaches, and honestly, I wish I came up with this idea years ago...

I have always loved the analogy that an orthodontists day looks like the flight pattern out of London Heathrow - we're busy to say the least. So when the lost retainer calls come in and my schedule gets bogged down with retainer problems, I get hot under the collar. Its not smart business to sacrifice this valuable chair time for the revenue produced by a replacement retainer, nevermind the upset patient refusing to pay for what they call "a piece of plastic". This is how Retainers For Life was born, simply speaking, out of necessity - there had to be a better way.

A solution that helps patients feel cared for.

From a patient’s perspective: This is not a subscription. Patients pay a one time fee and this gives them full access to replacement retainers for $39 as long as they want to wear them and as often as they want to order. The patient’s digital scan is retrieved, and a new retainer is made and shipped directly to the patient’s doorstep - an amazon-type experience with no visit or call to their doctor required! And yes, we have a system in place that manages any shifting.

We need to control this part of treatment.

As an orthodontist, my business model is always about keeping orthodontists front and center. Let's face it, if we don't take control, corporate ortho will. We can and should control this part of treatment. In fact, we have a very powerful weapon that corporate ortho doesn't have and that's called TRUST. We are already ahead of the game because we have EARNED that trust and we CARE enough for our patients to make sure they have access to affordable, high quality, well-fitting retainers. I often ask myself why did I treat retention as an after thought, why was I always saying goodbye to my patients?

Patients paying for even one replacement retainer can change their perspective of their entire experience, no matter how good their smile looks. Offering an easily ordered, affordable, high quality retainer program replaced what was once a negative experience, with a positive long-term solution AND keeps my patients giving me 5-star reviews, that's worth it every time.

The doctors' perspective: After a less than 5 minute presentation, the patient can enroll in the Retainers For Life Protection Plan. From this point on, all retention phase questions and retainer related headaches are transferred to Retainers For Life. Doctors are paid $300 per scan upload, so if you are trying to calculate possible revenue here is a little math based on my practice. Last year I presented Retainers For Life to 400 patients, 320 said yes and Retainers For Life paid me $96,000....yep, seriously.

Right about now I can hear you say, "My staff is going to explode if I change one more thing." Trust me when I tell you, I know how you feel. The Retainers For Life business model came up with a way to keep my staff motivated to talk about it. I tried several ideas, but ultimately money talks.

All my staff are now bonused by Retainers For Life per scan upload, happy staff, happy life.

Patients are making new demands.

After I experienced success with my own in-house Retainers For Life program, I decided it was time to share this system with my colleagues. It has been interesting to watch how it has grown, but there is one thing beyond the increase in my revenue that really makes me happy, and that's watching retainer orders come through our system in the middle of the night.
Patients are finding value in our program!!!! I always imagine mom asking little Johnny, "Don't forget to wear your retainer!" only to find out he has lost it AGAIN. But now she can log in at midnight, and within 5 minutes, she has removed that to-do from her list for the next day, no need to miss work or take Johnny out of school, because it arrives 5 days later in her mail box....that's priceless!

We are meeting the needs and speed our patients live their lives, and we as orthodontists can choose to keep up... or get BLOCKBUSTERED!