DentalMonitoring Alternative for UK Orthodontic Practices

No. Patients use their own smartphone to submit guided photos. There is no ScanBox, no device to purchase or lend, and no patient-side hardware requirement of any kind. The practice team reviews photos in the standard platform dashboard, alongside remote assessments, quotes and follow-up, rather than in a separate monitoring app or portal.

Monitoring review cycles are configurable per patient or patient group. You can set weekly, fortnightly, or monthly check-in prompts depending on the treatment stage, appliance type, and review frequency needed. Automated reminders prompt patients to submit when a check-in is due.

No. Monitoring is included in the Standard and Premium subscription, with no separate per-patient monitoring fee to budget for as your active caseload grows. Optional usage-based charges only apply to SMS messaging and photo-analysis features if you choose to enable them, so the core monitoring workflow itself carries no additional cost.

For practices that primarily use DentalMonitoring for appointment reduction and patient check-ins — and do not rely on AI-assisted scan analysis — Virtual Consultant Online can serve the same monitoring need. For practices that rely on DentalMonitoring's AI-reviewed scan data for documented decision support, the two products serve a different purpose.

Virtual Consultant Online covers the full pre-treatment and in-treatment commercial workflow: guided photo intake for new enquiries, remote case review, multi-option digital quotes, automated follow-up, dental monitoring for active patients, triage for in-treatment issues, and practice reporting. Monitoring is one feature within a broader platform rather than a standalone module.

Patients receive a check-in prompt via SMS or email at their configured monitoring interval. The prompt contains a link to a guided photo flow that walks them through each required angle step by step — using example images and live camera guidance on their smartphone. Submitted photos land in the practice dashboard immediately, where the reviewing team member can assess them, add notes, flag issues, or trigger an appointment recall. Patients do not need to download a separate app — the flow works in any mobile browser.

Yes. Monitoring intervals can be set per patient or per patient group, allowing practices to review aligner patients monthly, retention patients quarterly, and complex cases more frequently. When a patient's treatment stage changes — for example, moving from active aligner treatment to retention — the monitoring schedule can be updated without resetting the patient record. Automated prompts adjust to the new interval automatically, reducing the manual admin involved in maintaining accurate review cycles across a large active patient list.

DentalMonitoring charges a per-patient monitoring fee plus the cost of ScanBox devices — either purchased by the patient or provided by the practice. Virtual Consultant Online includes monitoring as part of the standard subscription with no per-patient monitoring fee. For practices with high patient volumes, the cost difference is material. Practices should model their current active monitoring list against both pricing structures to compare total annual cost, taking into account both the software subscription and any hardware or per-patient costs that apply under each model.