by Claire
Today was a double dental appointment day for DD and DS (the two from my previous marriage). Our first stop was the oral surgeon for DS who is 12 1/2. He’s been under orthodontic care since Kindergarten having had a severe cross bite that was caught early. We’ve done 2 rounds of the palate expander, one round of braces and a good year with a retainer. Now we move to the extraction phase with a crowding issue up top and two missing permanent teeth on the bottom. We will have the baby teeth pulled on the bottom so that the permanent teeth can move into place. I had never heard of permanent teeth missing below the baby teeth but the orthodontist says he sees it on occasion. We could have left the baby teeth but then as he aged he would likely face problems asking baby teeth to do the job of permanent teeth for life.
Dental professionals—particularly specialists–always have that little “financial room” that you go to after seeing the doctor. I always laugh in those little rooms as I picture someone elsewhere in the office calculating the financial damage this is going to inflict. We have excellent health insurance and with all of the recent talk on this issue–we do not take that for granted. I was bracing myself for the worst as DS opted for IV sedation…instead of “laughing gas.” Imagine my excitement when the news came back at a total of $60! For four teeth?! I still can’t believe it but the dental insurance covers extractions at 100%. The $60 is our portion for the IV sedation. We are blessed.
Our next appointment was with the orthodontist for DD. It appears that she got all of the worst dental traits from both parents! She too has a cross bite but because her upper teeth are “still erupting” we won’t start treatment until early 2013. Now…the orthodontist’s office REALLY amazes me when it comes to several things. First of all…it is the only medical provider that runs on schedule almost 100% of the time. In the near 8 years we’ve been going to this orthodontist, they were running behind ONE time. Why is it that I know it has been only one time? Because they called me and told me to come in 30 minutes later b/c they were running behind! I almost hugged the receptionist when I walked in the door. I’ll save my rant regarding “professionals” making patients/clients wait for a Friday rant…but talk about a pet peeve! And I don’t just bark the bark about this issue…I am vigilant about NEVER having someone wait on me at the office or otherwise. Loathe tardiness….LOATHE.
The other great thing about the orthodontist is how they approach finances. Now, we might have about $1,500 in insurance coverage to put toward orthodontic care but for today’s discussion we did not consider that (because my ex needs to look into some issues surrounding the plan). So, worst case scenario for her top teeth only (the lowers look very manageable and likely won’t need treatment until she’s much older) is about $2200. Now, that’s a lot of money certainly but here’s what I love…it’s all inclusive! There are no additional charges for however long the treatment takes to accomplish what the doctor said (and we agreed to) would be accomplished. They offer no interest payment plans but we’d get a 5% discount if we pay in full. I split that $2200 with my ex-husband 50/50 so we are looking at $1,100. The payment plan (again divided by 2) is a $590 deposit and then 12 payments of about $135 per month. The treatment is going to take near 2 years they think.
I share this not really because of the financial aspect–we have 6 months notice and can make adjustments to the budget and hopefully pay in full and get the discount. Instead I share because I just like the system that orthodontists have going on! I know an orthodontist office is no primary care physician’s office and the two are oranges and apples (really! I know this!)—but it is so refreshing to see things so organized, well-managed and known.
Born and raised in Texas. I’ve at least driven through every state in the US courtesy of a roadtrip loving Dad.
I’m single with two children and a good parenting relationship with their father.
I am a “life is just half full of funny” kinda gal. Humor is my saving grace and I am thankful for it every single day. I have a strong Catholic faith and am thankful for that foundation.
I read a lot for a living but still enjoy a good book. I love biographies but in recent years have found the need for fun fictional books–sadly, for a long time I just didn’t enjoy fiction!
I love live theatre of any kind–from local productions to Broadway.
I love to scrapbook and pride myself in my kids’ albums.
I love being a mom but also love my career. I’m blessed to have found a balance allowing me to be at everything my kids need and want me to be at–while also having a career.
Favorite Quotes: Well behaved women rarely make history.
Behold the turtle. He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out. -James Bryant Conant
Our dental coverage SUCKS. And this year has been dental heavy (root canal and crown for me, fillings for Hubby, and oral surgeon for Daughter). Plus, my son has a cross bite with an underbite!!! We are not quite at the orthodontics stage yet, but probably next year.
NONE of this is covered. Not even a little. Not even a dollar.
While I am trying to pay off CC and student loans, the medical stuff just piles up and negates all the efforts. FRUSTRATING.
I had crappy insurance when my kids were born–medical AND dental and I hear you. I felt like I was paying off the co-pays and deductibles until they started school! Hang in there and I hope it gets better!
Our orthodontist gives a discount for paying in full but also a discount for multiple siblings! As my 3rd child heads into braces at the end of this year I am VERY thankful for that one.
Hooray for efficient providers and plenty of notice on upcoming bills!
What a great idea re the sibling discount! I will ask about that when we finalize things later this year! Thanks! It never hurts to ask!
“I had never heard of permanent teeth missing below the baby teeth but the orthodontist says he sees it on occasion. We could have left the baby teeth but then as he aged he would likely face problems asking baby teeth to do the job of permanent teeth for life.”
Hehe… Nearly all of my molars are baby teeth – and no adult teeth underneath! And, trust me, after about 40 years the baby teeth get… tired. And my dentist keeps telling me I take very good care of my teeth! But, eventually, they’re all going to come out due to cavities and breakage from wear and tear.
“Dental professionals—particularly specialists–always have that little ‘financial room’ that you go to after seeing the doctor.”
None of the dental professionals I’ve ever gone to had a financial room… We had to do all the business at the front desk. I’m feeling deprived now 🙁 Fortunately, I’ve never had a situation where I was having trouble paying the bill, so I’ve never felt a need for extra privacy *knock wood*
Ha ha Jen! I wonder if the financial room is a regional thing? I’ve seen them at oral surgeon and orthodontist’s office only—and I assumed because insurance generally covers less in these areas and services are pricey. It is universal though in the sense that the front desk is strictly for checking in and appointment making which also helps to streamline things–and I never thought of it as a “need based” room. I do like having the privacy to ask more questions and learn about more options. It sounds like we are making the right decision on removing baby teeth so permanent teeth can fill in–that is a lot to ask of baby teeth I suppose…a lifetime of wear and tear!
I work for an orthodontist. He is very conservative and only does early treatment if it is a must! Early treatment is Used when teeth are in crossbite, overlapping and wearing on permanent teeth or through the use of an expander to make room for permanent teeth to come in. Sometimes a child’s mouth is just too crowded for all the teeth to come in and you have to make room or they won’t. If the teeth are in crossbite and wearing on permanent teeth you could end up spending more money in the long run if you don’t treat before these teeth are damaged. It amazes me that some people will bring in thier 8 year old and want early treatment just because he/she doesn’t like thier teeth. Ha! Some people just have too much money lying around!
This is slightly off-point but – does anyone remember when orthodontics started in middle school and there was no talk of “Phase 1″, Phase 2”, etc?
I don’t know about anyone else, but I really wonder if starting kids on orthodontics so early is truly necessary. I found a like-minded ortho, waited and started my kids in middle school. So far, so good.
Jaye–this thought crossed my mind too. My theory (and it is just my theory) is based on my own memories of middle school/early high school orthodontic treatment. I had a terrible dental situation and it was 3 years of sheer misery. I still remember the pain of the headgear (gad! Is that not medieval?!) and the rubber bands and not being able to eat comfortably for 6 or 7 days after going in for a tightening of the brackets. I feel like so much treatment was compressed into a shorter amount of time and the pain was miserable. Additionally, I can remember clearly my parents (in 1986 mind you) being told the bill was $3,500! IN 1986! Now, granted…much of that was my difficult dental situation but I feel like starting the kids earlier makes the entire process more gradual and less painful…both physically on the kids and financially on my pocketbook. Just my thoughts! I have a family friend who is an ortho in a different city–he’s been practicing since the 90’s so I think I might send him a message and just ask! Maybe it is technology in general—interesting comment so thanks!
My kids would kill me for saying this, but I don’t regret that they have braces at their ages (16 and 14). I think it reminds others and themselves that they’re just not grown up yet. Especially others. God knows the rest of their bodies don’t look childish… yikes.
I had issues that required a multi-stage set of orthodontics– and lucked out that my teeth ended up coming in better than expected (thanks to me also growing in general) and not requiring a second round of braces (my first set was in 2nd grade).
I think that by catching my dental issues earlier and starting treatment earlier, I probably avoided a lot of work later. Just from my experience, I don’t think it’s necessarily absurd that it starts young. Better to take corrective actions early than to wait and see.
Its a very good thing you have insurance coverage. I can imagine this ordeal would be that much worse without it. I hope everything works out!
I’ve worked in the insurance industry for nearly 13 years. EVERYONE complains about the cost of insurance, until it pays off, as it did in your case. That’s incredible!
I too was missing some adult teeth under baby teeth. One thing you may want to talk to the ortho about is an option that mine took. He pulled my baby teeth and used that space to not only make my other teeth more even, but also to make space for my wisdom teeth. I never had to have them pulled and they were able to come in cleanly. A small procedure was very cost effective in the long run and made it so I didn’t have to have surgery in HS or College to have them removed. My current dentist is amazed because apparently keeping wisdom teeth is so rare that he has only ever seen one other person who’s orthodontist actually plan for it. Just a thought to talk about.
Does your employer offer an FSA plan? With my daughter’s braces I was able to take advantage of the discount the ortho offered and use my FSA for tax reduction on my paychecks.
I know that when I needed to get 4 teeth pulled, my parents opted for laughing gas and a Valium to calm me down, because I HATE the dentist.
When I took the Valium though, I had an allergic reaction and ended up hallucinating and screaming about how the dentists were going to kill me. I honestly believed that I was going to be killed. It was horrible. They ended up rescheduling for the following day, and just putting me out. The dentist said I was a different person.
I still don’t like the dentist…
OMG! Did you ever wonder what the people in the waiting room were thinking?
I had one molar pulled on the upper right to make room before braces and then when my wisdom teeth started coming in, I only needed three pulled because one grew in where the molar was removed. Also, my parents paid over $3k in Michigan for braces back in the late 70s. We have finished treatment for one son and the other is getting his off in the next month or two and we have paid the ortho over $12k. Yikes!
Several thoughts on this:
The “no adult teeth” thing runs in my family. In fact, my sister was born with two teeth that had no adult teeth underneath. I inherited every bad dental trait BUT that.
I had braces for about a decade, which culminated in jaw surgery. You name it – I had it. SO, I’ve been saving up for orthodontia long before I even had kids. 😉
I might have lucked out because one child has an extra baby tooth (that is a new one), but no extra adult teeth, and mostly straight teeth. So his mouth looks a little crowded now but they say he will be easy. He inherited my jaw traits though and may eventually want or need surgery.
We don’t have insurance, but like I said, we have been saving forever for this.
We lucked into a dental/orthodontist office and they have done a lot of preventative treatment on my younger son. The whole point is to lessen the blow of braces later and to do simpler procedures when they are younger. Like me, he has several teeth pulled. But unlike my youth they have put in some appliances in his mouth so his teeth grow in right the first time. Of course, the results are not guaranteed but I think it’s worth a shot.
Oh – I can relate to getting lots of work done!!
I had to get retainers to move my bottom teeth to make room for the adult teeth underneath that could not come out because my bottom jaw is too small, apparently. Make sure he continues to wear retainers — I didn’t and now my bottom teeth are slightly crooked. 🙁
Caitlin! I just got removable retainers at the end of last year. I had a “permanent” lower retainer that finally popped off after 20 years. I had already noticed slight shifting in my upper teeth and my older sister had major shifting so I took her advice. They cost $400 total but I’m protecting my parents’ investment!
It would really be wonderful if all insurance coverage had the same kind of rules. Lucky you to have got 100% coverage.
I had a doubt, do insurance claims really exist, thanks for clearing that. Good your insurance worked. May be the precise manner is a special case of this orthodontist as their profession is the most uncertain one, any tooth can play spoilsport at any time of extraction or other cures. I saw such cases, may be this guy holds some extra time for each patient so that if there is no problem then the savings can save a really tricky case time expense.