Patient compliance is important in achieving the treatment results that you and your patient desire and should be considered during patient selection. If you suspect they will not be compliant, meaning if your patient cannot agree to wearing aligners for 22-hours a day, they are not likely a good candidate for clear aligner treatment and it’s more than likely that you and your patient will not get the desired results. 

As a new provider, some examples of good initial candidates for clear aligner treatment, in addition to committing to full compliance and wear, might have:

• Minor anterior spaces or crowding
• Ortho relapses
• Single arch treatment with minor goals

With some experience and success under your belt, here are some sample moderate cases:

• Moderate anterior spaces or crowding
• Minor to moderate overjet and overbite correction
• Class II and Class III cases

The following conditions could reduce the expectations of successful treatment with clear aligners and we do not recommend doctors treating them without some considerable degree of education and experience with clear aligner treatment:  

• Teeth with short clinical crowns
• Arches with multiple missing teeth

• Patients with dental prosthetics or implants
• Patients whose second molars have not yet erupted
• Patients with poor oral hygiene
• Patients with active periodontal disease
• Patients with severe bruxism
• Centric-relation and centric-occlusion discrepancies
• Any type, method, or movement indicated as difficult or complex

The presence of any of these conditions does not prohibit treatment with clear aligners, but the doctor must consider how their presence affects the patient’s candidacy as a good aligner patient.