Help me let this budget buster go...

[indimom]

I'm driving myself nuts over this.
We have known for awhile that DS9 was going to need braces and probably some teeth removed, etc. because there is just no space. We've been seeing the ortho. regularly for about two years and it is now time to get some work done.
We were given a quote of $750 for the first stage, which I mistakenly assumed meant the appliances he will wear BEFORE braces to create more space. Well, apparently, this was really just for the x-rays, impressions, and the DOWN PAYMENT on the work.
DH called me yesterday afternoon with the total bill $1,950 + $350 for the x-rays, etc. He wanted to know if he should sign us up for the payment plan or take the 5% discount and pay in full now. We finally decided to pay up front, but this hit to the Emergency Fund is just killing me.

I guess I was just really niave. We knew his teeth were really bad and were going to need a lot of work, but I still figured it would be similar to other family members who have paid about $2,500 total. We are easily going to double that once we get to the braces stage. UGH!
And yes, we have insurance, it covers 50/50 on orthodontics.
I know this is why we have the Em. Fund, but I'm having a hard time not stressing about the money spent. Especially when we have just spent for Christmas and are taking a trip to see DSis in Florida next week.
I guess I'll spend my down time this weekend reworking the budget to recoup this asap, so I can quite letting it bug me.

Now, just tell me how to sleep at night in the meantime, cause right now I'm dreaming of returning gifts which are already wrapped under the tree...

 

[Cindy B]

I hear you. I just paid for braces for my daughter yesterday. This won't help you now, but I found an ortho that does not believe in 1st stage, 2nd stage and will only put ortho in when your child is ready-- and will not "line his pockets" -- that is a direct quote! My ortho said that he waits for teeth to be mature and ready instead of prolonging treatment unneccesarily. Most of the ortho patients are older (you don't see kids under 10 or 11 there) so I apppreciate his line of business.

Our ortho knows that insurance will only pay once for one type of treatment so first stage, second stage will only get get paid for the the 1st stage only.

Second, we got a FSA last year to cover the cost. We got a preliminary estimate on the braces last year and put aside tax free money for it. Our health insurace paid about $2,500-- more than I anticipated. We used the FSA account to cover the rest--$250 for records and impressions and $1,900 or so for the remainder.

The ortho also gave us a 5 or 7% cash discount.

 

[indimom]

I definitely should have planned ahead a little better for the cost, but orthos we've seen seem to concur that we can't just do one stage. Our Dentist felt work should have been done two years ago, but this ortho was willing to wait a little longer and give him time to grow. Didn't happen.
The x-rays show teeth which are trying to come out through the roof of his mouth becuase his baby teeth are packed in so tight and not loosening. And they've got to wire back his molars because they are pushing the front teeth even closer and tighter. He already has two new teeth which came out in front of and below the baby teeth on his lower jaw. He can't talk without spitting, it's pretty ick. (Actually got yelled at by bus driver on bus when a kid told her he spit on him.)
He used to be uptight about it, but we told him he's cool and has shark teeth, and now he doesn't mind so much...

 

[Green Tea]

I fully believe in working in stages, OP. If we had waited for our children's teeth to come in before any work was done, we would have had to face removing permanent teeth. And likely not nearly as nice a final result.

I'm shocked to hear you had family pay $2500 for treatment. I have not heard of anyone getting off that easy-ever!

Your emergency fund is there for a reason. You picked a good reason.

If you have a flexible benefits fund thru work though, the portion not covered by insurance is fully covered by the pre tax dollars fund. You can file and get your emergency fund restored.

 

[drcmk]

If it helps to compare notes--we also did phase one with our oldest child when she was seven (about $2000) and are on phase two now that she is a teenager (about $5000) dollars. Our orthodontist also gave us a payment plan, but there was no discount for paying in full ahead of time so we are using the payment plan. In a year or so, our second child will be ready for similar orthodontia. I just chalk it up to one of the expenses of raising children--no one ever said it was going to be cheap, right?

 

[bamor]

We too started phase 1 in August. DD7 had her bottom expander installed last week. My husband's ins paid about half. Honestly, we looked at both options, paying in full or montly payments. We opted with the monthly payments, it is 0 percent interest and we could not write the amount off as a medical expense as it wasn't enough. We did not feel comfortable taking out the lump sum from our savings, things are too volatile right now. Honestly 5% of $1500.00 is only $75.00....if you don't feel comfortable, go with the monthly payment. The work has to be done either way.

 

[mbedwell]

Well, I don't know if this will make you feel any better, my younger DD had to have a Herbst with her braces, and her smile is costing us $6,500. And yes, that is with insurance. so, our out of pocket is 5,000. It is crazy what a smile costs.

 

[minnie1928]

Have you gotten a second opinion on the treatment plan? After we moved we took our son to the local orthodontist. He recommended that we have 4 teeth pulled by the oral surgeon and have him put spacers in. Thankfully, our best friends are dentists. They looked at his xrays and said that the orthodontist was recommending that we have molars pulled that wouldn't normally fall out for another 2 years! His whole treatment plan was for the benefit of his wallet, not my son's mouth!!

Needless to say...we won't be pursuing treatment with him.

Oh, and those molars he wanted to pull? They fell out on their own last month.

 

[Mkaz]

I think dh and I got off easy. For the x-rays, visits, palate expander, and lip bumper it was only $1,250.00 total. It will be a little bit before he gets his braces so we have time to prepare.

 

[StephMK]

It IS hard but think about the benefits you will be giving him. Love the shark comment! However, it may be harder as he gets older to live with them if you didn't get the work done. DD15 had stage 1 at his age & it made a huge difference in her smile. She now on stage 2 as of May to correct her canines that came in really high & weird. They moved really quickly & she now has a beautiful smile & will get them off next summer.

She felt really self-conscious about those teeth in high school and they look soo much better now. Yeah, I hate paying that bill every month but it's worth it to see her smile!

DD9 will need work also but I'm waiting til we're done w/DD15, can't make 2 sets of payments. Hopefully DS will not need them, he had great space between his baby teeth so the permanent ones are coming in & filling in w/o crowding. Fingers crossed they stay nice & straight!

 

[Cindy B]

I fully believe in working in stages, OP. If we had waited for our children's teeth to come in before any work was done, we would have had to face removing permanent teeth. And likely not nearly as nice a final result.

I'm shocked to hear you had family pay $2500 for treatment. I have not heard of anyone getting off that easy-ever!

Your emergency fund is there for a reason. You picked a good reason.

If you have a flexible benefits fund thru work though, the portion not covered by insurance is fully covered by the pre tax dollars fund. You can file and get your emergency fund restored.

looking at the ortho bill right now.. whole ortho plan cost $5,400. $425.00 change insurance discount, insurance paid $2491. and change. We put a large amount in FSA to cover the difference.

 

[niclodn]

I know the expense seems excessive now, but you will be grateful once it's over! I have an extremely small jaw and had similar issues with my teeth as a child; however, my parents didn't have the money for the complete treatment. They were able to cover the appliance to widen my upper jaw, but when it came time for stage 2 and the actual braces they just couldn't afford it. I ended up getting braces in my mid-20's when I could afford them myself (cost of approx. $4700 -- about 10 years ago). But it was basically all for nothing as my teeth have slowly started to move back again. My ortho warned me that this probably would happen -- if treatment is not done as the teeth are coming in, the tongue (being a muscle) affects where/how the teeth come in and it is very hard to "re-train" it. Needless to say, I now not only need braces again, but also need to have my jaw widened again (which will require breaking it and re-setting at this point). And its for more than just aethetic reason too because my teeth do not LOOK that crooked -- I am constantly bitting my tongue and the inside of my cheek and have a constant ache because my teeth don't come together correctly.

Anyhow, hopefully my story will help you to justify the expense.

 

[mjkacmom]

Wow, you are SO lucky! Braces here are $6,500 (only owe $2,500 for dd13 now), insurance covers $1,500 (never heard of a company paying 50%!), and all five kids need them, and I had them all in under 7 years. I'm going to be hit with braces and college at the same time, for years and years...

 

[crisi]

My son gets his appliance in between Christmas and New Years and braces in six months- he will only do one stage. My daughter is through stage one and waiting for stage two - which won't be for another few years. Its going to be about $15k out of pocket for the two of them.

But on the other hand, my father and uncle are both having major work done now in their 50s and 60s that their dentists are both telling them is the result of not having had braces as kids.

You'll rebuild your emergency fund. You built it once, and that is what it is there for. Might take a little time (and you might want to build it bigger), but it will rebuild.

 

[clutter]

This won't help you now, but I found an ortho that does not believe in 1st stage, 2nd stage and will only put ortho in when your child is ready-- and will not "line his pockets" -- that is a direct quote!

Sounds good, provided your dd only NEEDED one stage. While there are plenty of kids who don't need stage 1 and 2, some do. My poor dd's teeth stuck out so badly that she stopped smiling at about age 7. Fortunately, he proposed stage 1 at the appointment I was going to beg him to do SOMETHING. Honestly, that was the best $850 I've ever spent. After insurance it cost me $425 out of pocket, so I got 5 years of smiling for that. To me, that was priceless.

And I got lucky and changed jobs before stage 2 (not cosmetic, bite alignment). So I will be getting my full $2,000 max from the insurance company. Stage 2 was $4,250, so my total cost was $5,100, which is less than your one-stage treatment. And I live in a seriously expensive area. (I had a dentist quote me $1,875 for a CROWN!!! My insurance pays 100% of reasonable and customary, but that was still going to be $1,200 out of pocket.)

2 stages are not necessarily an evil thing, which is the way you made it sound. However, I'm happy it worked for your dd.

 

[Irin997]

Next time I would consider just signing up for the payment plan. It's interest free and spread out over a long time. My DD8 started Phase 1 in Feb and the total cost for me OOP and after insurance was $1650. I had to put down $500 but then my payments were $68 a month for 17 months. Piece of cake. I would much rather squeeze $68 a month out of my budget than lose $1650 of my emergency fund. It's only $34 per pay period when you think about it. And again, it's interest free. Just think of the interest you lost/will lose on your emergency fund.

Also, take full advantage of your FSA. I managed to work it out this year so that I just roll the money forward each month. I have to submit a claim for reimbursement. When that money comes in, I just use it to pay the next month's payment. I do the same thing with DD8's daycare cost. So basically it feels like I'm not even paying for it.

 

[crisi]

My daughters two stage treatment is going to end up costing less than my son's one stage treatment - she had stage one done so that stage two wouldn't be a huge deal. Same orthodonist, so she was evaluating each mouth as an individual and not recommending stage one merely to line her pockets - or my son would have gone through it.

Two stages doesn't necessarily mean a bigger bill. It depends on what is happening in the mouth.

 

[indimom]

I don't know how to include your quotes, so I'll just respond as best I can.

Yes, we got the advice of several orthodontists two years ago and this one was the only one willing to wait this long. Her comment at the time was "Well, I can take your money now and make him look better, but we'll have to do it over again in a few years." Now that the teeth are all trying to come in crazy, it's absolutely necessary.
I don't feel like we've been misinformed, as the dentist (who gets nothing financial from giving his advice) was the first to say that a two step process would be necessary.

You're right, it's just one of those things with kids and we knew this expense was coming. It just hurts since I thought the first phase would the the cheaper part and we'd have time to put away toward the braces which we thought were the expensive part. Live and Learn. I told DS9 that he will be required to 'teeth smile' for every picture for the rest of his life to pay me back for his $5,000 smile. (I'm guessing that number, I really have no idea what this is going to cost by the time we are done.)

It does make me feel better knowing I'm not the only one paying this much. I'm not sure how brother and sister in law got off so easy unless they were only quoting their portion and had even better insurance. 50/50 was the best I've heard of, but maybe they had even better insurance. I do know their kids didn't have the same problems as my son, no stages, just braces. That obviously made a difference.

I didn't have much time to think about which payment method would be better financially: leaving the savings to grow interest and paying monthly OR taking the 5% discount for paying up front. I guess we'll just stick with what we're doing now. If the economy weren't so rocky and DH employer just starting to show recovery, I wouldn't be so bothered by all this. It just feels like a big chunk of change right now.

Oh well, we'll get it back. I just hope we don't have one of those "bad things come in threes" episodes.

Thanks again for letting me pout and for the advice. I will look into the medical savings plan. DH was only offered that this year for the first time and we didn't really understand it at the time. We'll have to look into that for the braces and for DD12 also. (No braces, she has two missing permanent mollars and the baby teeth appear to be attached to the bone. They'll have to be removed and replaced with fake teeth when they start to go bad. I'm guessing that will be equally expensive.) I think I'd much rather go into stage two and her oral surgery with a plan.

THANKS AGAIN!

 

[oldbay]

Thanks again for letting me pout and for the advice. I will look into the medical savings plan. DH was only offered that this year for the first time and we didn't really understand it at the time. We'll have to look into that for the braces and for DD12 also. (No braces, she has two missing permanent mollars and the baby teeth appear to be attached to the bone. They'll have to be removed and replaced with fake teeth when they start to go bad. I'm guessing that will be equally expensive.) I think I'd much rather go into stage two and her oral surgery with a plan.

THANKS AGAIN!

Don't rush into worrying about your DD. I have a baby tooth still as an adult and nobody notices. I don't plan on having a fake put in unless it falls out some day. I'd much rather have one baby tooth than a fake - less issues to deal with on the real teeth.

 

[taximomfor4]

Our ortho teaches at a big university nearby. He doesn't believe in 1st phas/2nd phase either. In 19 yrs of working for him, the receptionist has only seen him offer it twice TOTAL. I know it's tried and true, but ask around. There might be someone in your area that doesn't use that method. That could save you quite a bit.

Also, I don't know exactly what others paid, but dd16 had a bad closed-bite. She had braces (done with them already). It all, total, cost me $3600 after insurance paid their $1000. From the people I have spoken with, this is pretty normal.