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Oh no! Ortho!

December 30th, 2008 at 04:52 pm

Ah yes, it is that time when my darling daughter is in need of help with her horrible oral situation. As a hygienist I know a little about occlusion and saw this coming years ago. Of course, knowing and actually preparing are 2 totally different things.

We met with the orthodontist for a consultation this morning and she will need to have 4 baby teeth pulled (they are not the least bit loose and the adult teeth under the gums are almost fully formed), a retainer for her upper teeth to help her severe overbite and a retainer for her lower teeth so that they do not crowd any further while we wait for the rest of her baby teeth to fall out. That is just the pre-braces stuff. Oy.

Anyway, the orthodontist was very nice and took time with us to explain everything which is sometimes lacking in medical professionals, so I appreciated that very much. Since the office I work at refers patients to him I also received a small "professional courtesy" discount which was a very welcome & generous surprise. Thanks Doc! Smile

They offer an in-office payment plan so that I can pay over 12 months for this initial stuff. I like that idea also since I'm working on re-building that EF right now. I've gotta go re-work my YNAB budget to show the new monthly payments now.

8 Responses to “Oh no! Ortho! ”

  1. swimgirl Says:
    1230656315

    When my daughter needed braces a few years ago, I was stunned at the price! I was expecting something like $3000, but it was $5500 for what the orthodontist said he considered an "average" case. Yikes! I did drag her to a couple of other orthodontists for estimates, and they were maybe $200 cheaper. I went with the one my dentist recommended.

    Now I have other kids who will be candidates soon. Good luck to you both!

  2. Ms. Pearl Says:
    1230656384

    I have $460 left on a once $9,000 ortho bill for both my girls. I feel your pain!

  3. ralph Says:
    1230657259

    We took a real bath on orthodontia. We picked a very bad one and it cost us a lot - my kids were in braces way too long and we paid way too much. Caveat emptor!

  4. disneysteve Says:
    1230658034

    Our daughter got her braces off 12/4 and her teeth look great. She's been pretty good so far about keeping her retainers in.

    I think we paid $3,750. Insurance covered 20% so the total was about $4,700. We did 0% payment plan for 18 months. Last payment was in May. Worked out great.

  5. maismom Says:
    1230658112

    My DD's ortho cost was also little over $5K, plus X-ray etc. All and all, it was close to 6K.

    I used my DH's and my dental plan that covered 50%, so it helped us a lot. I also used FSA.

    Good luck on your DD's ortho work. I'm happy that my DD has a pretty smile now.

  6. creditcardfree Says:
    1230663080

    My daughter is in headgear right now...and we are waiting for some more baby teeth to fall out. Insurance covers half. We made 4 payments on the headgear...worked out nicely. I'm guessing braces will be in our future by years end!

  7. Amber Says:
    1230677613

    I don't even want to hear the word "dentist" after this year I am praying the only time I see a dentist is for a cleaning. I think it's great that he gave you a break and allowing you to make payments

  8. gamecock43 Says:
    1230686735

    ouch! pulling teeth! ouch!! budget for ice cream!

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