Is Our Orthodontist Reasonable?

[Turn the Page]

I'm sure prices vary by region and such but can anyone tell me their experience with an orthodontist as far as the process and prices go?

DD12 has a complicated case. She is missing several permanent teeth that never formed and has severe crowding in her jaw so she doesn't really have room for the teeth she is missing anyway. We have three local orthodontists. We have been seeing one for about 2 1/2 years. She keeps bringing us in for observation appointments and periodically recommends baby teeth be extracted to make room for permanent teeth to come in. She also recommended a space maintainer that DD had for about a year and a half.

My SIL is a dental hygienist and kept telling us to consult with the other orthodontists in town to compare treatment plans and such which we always planned on doing but thus far we haven't even been given a first opinion so we wouldn't have anything to compare it to.

DD had another appointment yesterday and the ortho said she was ready for records, that visit costs $460, and then two weeks after that we would meet with the ortho to discuss treatment plan. We made the appointment for February to give her adult teeth more time to come in though that hasn't happened in the 8 months since she got some baby teeth pulled so I'm not sure what they think 3 more months will do but that is beside the point.

They gave me a print out of financial policies and listed on there was an estimated cost of comprehensive treatment: $6900 - $8500. That was more than I ever thought it would be. I called the office today to clarify what that estimate meant. I was told that was the average for kids getting comprehensive treatment at that office, it was not specific to DD at all. We will not be given a treatment plan or price estimate until after the $460 records appointment. I told the receptionist today that I understand that DD's case is quite complicated and unique so I wouldn't hold them to a specific dollar figure but this is a massive financial undertaking for us and we need to get a general ballpark idea of what this will entail before we go any further and I was told they couldn't give me any more information until after the records appointment because that is when they get the information they need to make the treatment plan and estimates.

Is this normal? I know several people who have gotten price estimates from both other orthos in town after just the initial consultation.

I have made an appointment for a consultation with another provider on Tuesday so we will see what they say.

 

[Christine]

It's been awhile for us, but I would definitely check out other orthos. We were able to get a firm price after the initial consult (which I can't remember the cost but I think it went toward the overall fee once we chose). I visited three orthodontists who all had relatively the same treatment plan and the price differences were significant. Anywhere from $3500-$5500 for the same work. That was about 10 years ago and we live in a high cost of living area.

 

[cobright]

My girl-kiddos grill needs extensive refurbishment. Like she has a couple of teeth up on a top row. We call it her smile balcony.

Had spreader in for like 6 months. Couple baby teeth pulled. Brackets top and bottom.

After first set of xrays we were quoted entire price. All told it was $5200.

Shop around.

 

[Kimberle]

I live in a high cost of living area. My dd started braces about 7 years ago. Average treatment. Our cost was $7000.

Go to at least 3 orhto's for estimates. Those are free.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

My sister said this seems insane to her.
Her and my niece actually got braces at the same time.
They had a free consultation and got a firm price on how much it would all cost.
They both needed a couple teeth pulled and the entire process took 2 years.
She said insurance covered $1,000 for my niece only and she thinks she ended up paying $2,500 for my niece and $3,500 for herself and that price includes all future visits that have something to do with having had braces.
Example my sister's forever bar started coming off a few weeks ago and she got an appt and they fixed it with no additional cost.
Definitely check out some other places.

 

[gillep]

I can't help with the costs, but I definitely recommend a second opinion regarding the course of treatment. Both my brother and I had similar issues, for him they pulled his baby teeth and did a wait and see approach for his permanent teeth to come in, and they never did. By the time he got a second opinion (years later) they had very few options that would work to get the permanent teeth in, plus they were concerned about the integrity of the permanent teeth at that point. He had to get a bridge and has had issues ever since that have cost him a lot of money. For me, they learned from my brother's case and they put braces on me, pulled some baby teeth and at the same time put brackets on the permanent teeth with chains attached to the braces to manually pull them up, it was very painful, and took what seemed like forever, but unlike my brother's. my permanent teeth came in, and I have a beautiful smile today. It doesn't hurt to have a second or third person look at the situation to try and come up with an appropriate course of treatment.

 

[Shanti]

I'm sure prices vary by region and such but can anyone tell me their experience with an orthodontist as far as the process and prices go?

DD12 has a complicated case. She is missing several permanent teeth that never formed and has severe crowding in her jaw so she doesn't really have room for the teeth she is missing anyway. We have three local orthodontists. We have been seeing one for about 2 1/2 years. She keeps bringing us in for observation appointments and periodically recommends baby teeth be extracted to make room for permanent teeth to come in. She also recommended a space maintainer that DD had for about a year and a half.

My SIL is a dental hygienist and kept telling us to consult with the other orthodontists in town to compare treatment plans and such which we always planned on doing but thus far we haven't even been given a first opinion so we wouldn't have anything to compare it to.

DD had another appointment yesterday and the ortho said she was ready for records, that visit costs $460, and then two weeks after that we would meet with the ortho to discuss treatment plan. We made the appointment for February to give her adult teeth more time to come in though that hasn't happened in the 8 months since she got some baby teeth pulled so I'm not sure what they think 3 more months will do but that is beside the point.

They gave me a print out of financial policies and listed on there was an estimated cost of comprehensive treatment: $6900 - $8500. That was more than I ever thought it would be. I called the office today to clarify what that estimate meant. I was told that was the average for kids getting comprehensive treatment at that office, it was not specific to DD at all. We will not be given a treatment plan or price estimate until after the $460 records appointment. I told the receptionist today that I understand that DD's case is quite complicated and unique so I wouldn't hold them to a specific dollar figure but this is a massive financial undertaking for us and we need to get a general ballpark idea of what this will entail before we go any further and I was told they couldn't give me any more information until after the records appointment because that is when they get the information they need to make the treatment plan and estimates.

Is this normal? I know several people who have gotten price estimates from both other orthos in town after just the initial consultation.

I have made an appointment for a consultation with another provider on Tuesday so we will see what they say.

Always get second opinions with elective medical treatment, which is what orthodontia is.

I got 3 different orthodontists' opinions for my son: each one recommended a different treatment plan. So opinion is a big part of this. We ended up deciding against treatment altogether, as all of the recommendations were quite invasive (much more so than when I had braces as a kid), yet his issues are minor.

Also, I'd never consent to a contract without knowing the cost up front.

 

[DLgal]

That sounds very high to me. Does your dental insurance cover any part of that?

Most orthodontists offer a free initial consult. I would at least do 2 more and compare them.

I have only 24 teeth as an adult. I had a small mouth and needed 8 permanent teeth removed. My teeth look great now, but were a total mess when I was younger. I had extensive orthodontic treatment as a child, but it didn't cost anywhere near $8k, even accounting for inflation.

My son's phase 1 (he had MAJOR underbite/small upper palate) was 2 years long and required a palette expander, full top braces, and a face mask...our portion was $1750. The treatment cost $3500 and our insurance covered half. He will need phase 2 to correct crowding on his bottom teeth, and the estimate for that is another $2000.

We had a full treatment plan with firm, fixed cost provided after the free initial consult (which included a panoramic x ray set). We didn't pay a penny until the first appointment where they did the impression for his palette expander.

 

[mjkacmom]

I paid about $6500 for four of my kids, one kid had then on for 1 1/2 years, another 5+ (and the one who had them on the longest looked the best going in, didn’t even need an expander, the one who had them on the shortest looked like a hot mess with crowding). I live in a pretty high COL, but that’s pretty average

 

[dish rag]

My sister said this seems insane to her.
Her and my niece actually got braces at the same time.
They had a free consultation and got a firm price on how much it would all cost.
They both needed a couple teeth pulled and the entire process took 2 years.
She said insurance covered $1,000 for my niece only and she thinks she ended up paying $2,500 for my niece and $3,500 for herself and that price includes all future visits that have something to do with having had braces.
Example my sister's forever bar started coming off a few weeks ago and she got an appt and they fixed it with no additional cost.
Definitely check out some other places.

Where does your sister live? Depends on the area.

 

[cassie58]

I would also get other opinions and estimates. We did not pay anything until after intial evaluation when we got proposed treatment plan with cost. DD had major crossbite issue at age 8, and they started her on a retainer for Phase1 - it cost $800 paid at start, and included all appointments and new molded retainers as her bite changed - did this for 3 years till her teeth were as straight as possible, then had follow-ups every 6-9 months. When she was 13, we were still waiting for a few baby teeth to come out(my kids were late with teeth!) in order to be ready to start braces, and because she had already had a few others pulled when ones behind were in but babies still wouldn't come out, and she was having discomfort from position of teeth, we had the others pulled - that was done by the dentist which we paid 1/2 on our plan(about $90 each). Then when the adults began to grow in, we started Phase 2 with braces, and it was about $4800 w/Phase 1 discount (would have been about $5000) - again includes all services needed from start to finish. In both cases we paid nothing until consult completed with plan agreed to and cost presented to be signed off on.

 

[tvguy]

Seems to be right in the range of typical national prices.

https://www.yourdentistryguide.com/...078.95862538.1540424220-1609406274.1540424220

 

[Marchand63]

My DGD10 is doing almost the same treatment including the spacer. With their dental insurance it will be just under $5000 in Mass

 

[100AcreWood]

$5900 is our cost before insurance. I shopped three orthodontists both times I've been through this. We're about to start treatment with our 2nd dd and we're not using the same orthodontist. They do vary in costs by a few hundred dollars from my experience.

 

[wgeo]

I think the pre-insurance cost was around 5500 for my son. He's almost to 2 years, hope we're getting close to being done. My son got a space maintainer 7 years ago in a different state and when we moved here this ortho started seeing my son every six months and fixed the space maintainer when it had a problem and never charged us or our insurance a dime. Took multiple x-rays and did 2 full records/pictures work ups over the years never charged us until my boy was ready to start "full treatment" Then we got the 5500 quote and paid the day the braces were put on.

I thought about going to get a second opinion but I felt like this guy had treated us so fairly for the past years that it made me feel guilty to go somewhere else. We're happy we went with him though, just happy with the entire process so far.

 

[100acreHiker]

My son is in the middle of ortho treatment. His case is just an overbite; all he needs are braces. We went to three orthodontists where we live and got quotes of $5200, $6000 and $6800. I liked the ortho with the lowest quote and we have no dental insurance, so we went with him. Again, we don't need spacers or expanders or anything unusual and treatment time will be 20-22 months.

 

[MrsJackSparrow4Life]

My Daughter’s orthodontist made the mistake of giving me an estimate before doing X-rays and reviewing her case. His estimate was $5000 but her case probably would have cost closer to $7000. Since he had typed up the estimate himself, he honored it.

 

[snoopy5386]

I hate that shopping for orthodontics feels like buying a used car.

We are in the middle of braces right now with DD12. Our out of pocket cost is right around $3400. Insurance picks up another $1000.

This is our second ortho - when my DD was 7 or 8 we took her to three orthodontists and went with the one who had the most conservative treatment plan - removable bite plate to correct a deep bite. But then the office pulled a bait and switch on us, never billed our insurance and some other weird stuff so we switched to the office we are at now and so far so good.

We did have one office that I assumed had a free consult like the others but didn’t. Like many who posted I wasn’t going to pay hundreds of dollars before I agreed with their treatment plan and costs. I was just ready to walk out the door with no hard feelings when the office manager said they would do the consult for free after all so we did. No way I would pay $450 for a “records” appt OP. That’s crazy and yes that estimate is very high.

 

[Shanti]

I hate that shopping for orthodontics feels like buying a used car.

Bingo. There is a very definite profit motive, and that needs to be considered before consenting to any treatment.

 

[Turn the Page]

Also, I'd never consent to a contract without knowing the cost up front.

Oh no, definitely not. I am also not ok with paying the $460 before a price either.

That sounds very high to me. Does your dental insurance cover any part of that?

Most orthodontists offer a free initial consult. I would at least do 2 more and compare them.

We had a full treatment plan with firm, fixed cost provided after the free initial consult (which included a panoramic x ray set). We didn't pay a penny until the first appointment where they did the impression for his palette expander.

Our dental insurance will cover $1000 so that's something. I think what is so frustrating for me is I know this ortho gives other people estimates after the first visit but they are telling me we can't have one. The first visit was free but the office has been charging us $40 for each observation appointment plus about $150 for an additional set of x rays.

My Daughter’s orthodontist made the mistake of giving me an estimate before doing X-rays and reviewing her case. His estimate was $5000 but her case probably would have cost closer to $7000. Since he had typed up the estimate himself, he honored it.

The ortho has seen x rays. Two or three different sets of x rays.