I am 17 years old and I really need braces. We have both dental and ortho. insurance. Now I realize that even with that braces are going to be very expsensive but we are lucky enough to have the insurance but what good does it do if we are not putting it to use? I also know that I am only on my parents dental insurance until I am 18 or 19 and I am pretty sure it covers treatment only if it is started before that. So that does not give us a lot of time to think about it. I at least want to go to a consoltation (arn't they usually free) with an orthodontist so that way we could at least have an idea of what kind of treatment and the cost we are looking at. Everything I have read online about cutting cost on braces says to start by going to the dentist/orthodontist and talking to them about your money problems and seeing what they can do about it. Now when I get a job I could help my parents pay for some of my braces but also think that I am going to have to pay for college, a car, gas for my car... Now eveyrtime I suggest it to my dad he just shruggs it off, like we have all of the time in the world to worry about it. Truth is we should have started worrying about it 10 or more years ago. The other day I said we should go to the regular densit for a cleaning (which is 100% covered by insurance) and he was like "why do you want to have your teeth picked at" "We can go get a cleaning after school is out" THATS 6 MONTHS AWAY. Thanks!!
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Dental health is very important to whole body health. You're wise to want to take care of your teeth. Consultations in my area are typically free, even over years. We started taking my son to an ortho when he was about 6 at the suggestion of the dentist and we went back every year, never a charge, until my son got braces last summer, at 14. He was actually one of the last of his friends to get braces (most had them out right before high school started, his should come out right before 10th grade starts), but he has one friend who is 15.5 and just got them. In my area, the orthos take payments after the initial installation is covered, which will be in part covered by your insurance. Our payment is $200 a month over 2 years, we had $1000 insurance (I think, it changed each year and I think we just missed when we had $2000), and his braces are around $6000. (Braces are very expensive where we live.) Ask your insurance customer service how your otho insurance pays. Often the insurance covers 50% of the charge, up to the amount of the insurance. So if you have $1000 insurance, it would be fully used at $2000 of charges, sort of. But it works differently for monthly payments (at least ours does), like they divide the amount left to go to them by the number of payments or something like that, so it wouldn't necessarily pay the first full payments, but a part of each future payment. One hint to save, we had my son's panoramic xrays done by the dentist (they like to see them too) and the insurance covered them ($300), instead of using the ortho insurance. My son sees the dentist 3 - 4 times a year for cleaning, but other than that, he's never had a cavity, etc, so we have insurance money available. I've heard that in some areas the orthodontists customarily won't take payments, but ask your dentist for several names of good orthodontists and it's likely you will find one who will. Also, ask if there are any orthodontists with low prices in your area that are good. Make the appt for your regular dental visit and when you are there, ask the dentist about braces. Have them speak to your parent if it's important that you get braces soon, they might listen to the dentist. Call the ortho and ask how much a consultation costs and make an appt. Good luck!
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