Live Life Smiling: All About i-Orthodontics
Some say the eyes are the window to the soul. But ask most people what they notice first when they meet someone, and they’ll say: their smile.
Smiles are like fingerprints — no two are exactly alike. That’s because a smile is a reflection of a personality within.
For Dr. Idiculla and his team at i-Orthodontics — or i-Ortho for short — the personality within is where they begin their work.
As the founder of i-Ortho, Dr. I explains, “The biggest thing I want people to know is that I want to invest in them deeply as a person first. That’s me and our team. We care about that person and their personal and professional growth.
By the way, they’re going to have a killer smile at the end of it. But it’s about what type of person they want to be at the end of it all.
We ask kids, what type of person do you want to be when you grow up? How do you want to feel when you grow up? Happy? Excited? Great, awesome. Let’s focus on that. I don’t care what you do, but let’s focus on happy.”
Live Life Smiling with Confidence
Focusing on happiness is why our motto is “Live Life Smiling.” Though Dr. I is quick to point out, “It’s not a motto, it’s a lifestyle, and I think it’s how people should live.”
He explains, “This has nothing to do with straight teeth or crooked teeth. It is about living in joy and living in happiness. I think we’ve got a lens we can view life through. If we have the right lens that we can view life through… life is just infinitely better. I think we are healthier down to every single cell in our body.”
For our adolescent patients, this journey to a better, healthier life means empowering them with confidence.
“I don’t think kids can fully control the environment they’re brought up in. So our goal is, let’s raise these kids up. A great smile is one of the things that I think every kid deserves because I think it can really spin their life in magical ways.”
Sometimes raising kids up includes helping them confront negative attention from peers. “We do try to address bullying, because we want to help elevate the voice of the quiet. Then we try to help kids get through it. A smile is a big part of that.”
For adults, the emotional impact can be even greater. Reasons to avoid orthodontia — the time, the expense, the uncertainty of the outcome, the hidden shame — become years of avoidance. Dr. I understands these reasons.
“I had a patient who was made fun of as a kid. He was told ‘Don’t smile, don’t show your teeth.’ We finally treated him as an adult. Sometimes orthodontists think, ‘Oh, it’s just vanity.’ But when you start working with people who haven’t smiled their whole life… I don’t have to tell you how much it affects all areas of life.
A lot of it has to do with self-confidence. The lack of smiling is holding them back. You see people that are smiling and not showing their teeth. Usually they say, ‘Well, I’ve done it all my life.’ Then all of a sudden, you start straightening their smile and they can’t stop smiling. It’s awesome.”
The Dream Team
Consistently providing this transformative experience for patients requires a team of dedicated professionals.
Dr. I is proud to cultivate a team that is “full of diversity, full of opinions, full of backgrounds,” and deeply supportive of each other.
“We really want to help each other. You are not an employee. You are a team member.”
In fact, he calls his team the “special sauce” that makes i-Ortho so special for patients.
“It is the people that are on our team – and how we love each other – and how we choose to love patients in very bold and dramatic ways. That is our focus.
We feel like people have found us based on the energy we give out more than anything.”
Reflecting on the quality, personal care, and professional expertise his team brings to 5 different Colorado locations, Dr. I remarks, “I think that our team works incredibly, incredibly hard. I think that if you are going to be very invested in patients and be very present with them at every single appointment — and you also want to have a larger practice — you’re going to have to work twice as hard as everybody else.”
Why the desire for a larger practice? It’s a ripple effect of positivity.
“I’ve always wanted to grow our practice because the number one place I believe investing in is in my actual team. The more successful we are, the more patients we touch, the more locations we have, the larger my own team can be. Then they can further impact patients from there and everyone else in their personal life.”
Bridging the Gaps to Accessible Care
Though his team’s holistic approach is a point of pride for Dr. I, his practice also provides a critical scope of treatment that patients need — and often can’t find elsewhere.
“We are the most trained Invisalign office in Colorado, and I think that a lot of patients come to us for Invisalign treatment when they’re told they’re not candidates elsewhere.
We have multiple offices so patients have the freedom to float between offices if they want to, which some patients find convenient compared to where they live and where they work.
We have a complete, virtual, digital telehealth platform that’s totally safe and secure. We see patients from the comfort of their home. So it reduces the amount of in-office appointments, which is great. With more efficient treatment, it reduces the cost to patients.”
Cost is a major pain point for many people considering orthodontia, and Dr. I wants to address that pain.
“We offer no-interest financing as low as $123 a month, for as long as it takes. So it’s a no brainer.” He’s honest, to the point: “We are not cheap, but we’re affordable, and that’s a big difference.”
It’s that level of honesty that builds a lasting relationship with patients.
“We just believe in our relationships with patients. Our trust develops from the first consultation, and it’ll continue to develop. We believe patients will understand that we only want what’s best for them, and we want to invest in them. We just go into it with a trusting relationship like family.”
Related: An i-Ortho Option for Everyone
Everyone Belongs in the i-Ortho Family
Treating his patients and team as a family — and seeing the need for quality care around the world — has also inspired Dr. I to engage i-Ortho in local and international philanthropy.
“I think part of the philanthropy has to do with the fact that my family immigrated here and my family was not well off. As a first-generation American, part of it is just honoring roots in other countries as well as local counties.”
When you hear more about Dr. I’s upbringing, it’s clear where he got the model for his team philosophy.
“My father died when I was five. My mom leaned on her community to raise the three of us kids, and without other parents of classmates, people at church, and family, life would have been really hard. But everyone chipped in, giving rides to school… making dinner for us… things like that. It’s honestly just a way for me to thank all those that helped me — to give back.”
No matter where you come from, no matter what brings you into the i-Ortho family, you will find caring, smiling people who believe “orthodontics should be fun the entire way. And it should be full of laughter. Because if we’re creating these smiles and we’re not smiling along the way, then what are we doing it for?”