How do you find an inexpensive orthodontist?

[que2]

How do you find inexpensive orthodontists? I was reading the thread 'just curious about everyone's treatment cost' and I noticed that most people's costs had a lot to do with location. (I also didn't realize how expensive braces are - hopefully for less complex cases they would cost less?)

Setting up consultations with every orthodontist in your area doesn't seem very efficient. Are there any websites that rank orthodontists within certain price ranges? I know you can't expect to be accurately quoted without having an in-person consultation, but I'm looking for a way to determine what price range an orthodontist falls into before you set up an appointment with them (especially if they don't live close by and you need to commute).

Does anyone have any tips when it comes to looking for inexpensive orthodontists in your area?

[bbsadmin]

Most dental schools offer inexpensive orthodontic treatment. You could look into that!

[ItsFreyja]

I wish there were a resource like what you're describing -- to my knowledge, there's not. I only shopped three orthodontists in my area, but it seemed like a big factor in their pricing differences was location, location, location. I would consider my orthodontist relatively inexpensive and I think that is mainly because he is in an older shopping center with rent that has got to be a good bit lower than some of the other places I looked. (His office also has fewer of the high-end finishes and bells and whistles than I saw in other offices.) Maybe there's a place that near a high school (orthodontic competition magnet!) in your area.

[nitro]

Unfortunately, shopping around is the best way I know of. I had a handful of different quotes that were quite different from each other. The lowest quote was over $900 less than the highest quote.

[que2]

Bbsadmin – I actually thought about dental schools, but isn’t that option better for things like dental surgery (root canals, extractions, etc.) and not actual orthodontic work? I was reading how you shouldn’t trust anyone but an experienced orthodontist when it comes to braces. If dental schools can handle most orthodontic cases (not just the very simple ones), that would be awesome.

Freyja – so would you say the best tip for finding an inexpensive orthodontist is looking for offices that don’t seem too fancy and looking in places where rent is lower? There’s an orthodontic office near a high school where I live, but I feel like that office is actually more expensive because it’s one of the only offices in town. For that reason, I'd consider looking in the bigger city nearby.

Nitro – did you notice any other trends besides location when you were quoted lower?

Do you guys think it's smart to look for the cheapest option? I just don't want to be one of those people who's so concerned with cost, they ignore red flags when it comes to quality (but if all the orthodontists are licensed anyways, does it even matter?).

[newbite]

Yes quality matters over cost. Even if an ortho is qualified on paper it doesn't mean they're any good or will treat you well. Also, the tech usually does most of the work, anyway, it seems, so you are relying on the staff and not just the ortho.

I would definitely NOT go with the cheapest option. I personally found the office with the best reviews, best presence online (website, Facebook, etc) and since they ended up giving me a great consultation (for free) I went with them. I probably could have found a cheaper place but it wouldn't have been worth it. I got the same tech every appt (except 1 when she was sick) and she was amazing. They went above and beyond for me several times (for instance making a free palate guard for me when I had a gum graft).

I was very comfortable with them right from the start and they did a great job. Go with the best ortho you can find, not the cheapest.

[rey123]

At the dental scho you can always get the faculty to handle your case. Faculty members usually have years of experience and are up to date on the newest things out. It will cost more to see them.

[djspeece]

I didn't really look at cost comparisons; more important to me was the professional reputation and demonstrated results. I have a feeling some orthos cut cost corners in order to be the least expensive. For example, when Kipepeo had her Damon brackets removed it sounded to me like her ortho basically banged the clear ones off, and that it was painful. Apparently he had the proper tool only for the metal ones. My ortho had two tools, one for the clear brackets and another different one for the metal ones and they all were off within two minutes without any pain or drama. I actually examined both of them, very impressive works of engineering.
But if you can find orthos that have very similar experience (with cases similar to yours), training, credentials, outcomes, and who inspire trust, then going with a less expensive option might make sense. But I think this is one of those cases where you get what you pay for. In any event, best of luck to you!

[iob]

que2 - Hopefully this article that I found while I was doing early background on this exact topic helps: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15953896

"RESULTS: No significant differences were found between the groups in the alignment, buccolingual inclination, and overjet components. Patients treated in private practice had significantly lower scores for marginal ridge height and occlusal relationship. Patients treated in the university programs had significantly lower scores for occlusal contact and interproximal contact components.
CONCLUSIONS:
There was no significant difference in the overall score, thus no significant difference in the overall quality of orthodontic treatment outcome between patients treated in university programs and private practices. However, the university group had a significantly larger sample variance for the overall score. There was no significant difference in the duration of the treatment between patients treated in a university setting and in a private practice."

I believe that in a university setting, an orthodontic professor oversees the treatment plan, the dental graduate who is continuing his/her post-graduate work in orthodontics does the analysis and recommendations, and the graduate student also does the chair-side work at the appointments, instead of a tech assistant. Just like in private practice - you need to be impressed by and trust the overseeing orthodontist because they make the final call/approval on treatment.

[sirwired]

Dental school ortho treatment (assuming you are treated by a student) will involve one of the faculty reviewing all their work. If the student does something like mis-place a bracket, it can be fixed right then and there, so the risk to you is quite low. This isn't like a dental student drilling live teeth for the first time... any ortho mistakes can be easily fixed.

The drawback to dental school treatment is that you are at the mercy of THEIR schedule, and you can expect appointments to take a bit longer than they would in private practice.

[Tyrantblade]

I looked into going to a dental school for braces, but in the end their financing was a hassle since its through care credit, which wouldn't approve me, and the difference was literally 300 from them to my orthodontist office; which of coursed offered the usual easy financing and i could of started with only $600 down (i did around 2x that for lower monthly payments)

[parsleysage]

I think costs can also vary wildly by treatment type and length, so a resource probably wouldn't be very helpful as it wouldn't even give you a ballpark. I would go to at least three orthodontists for opinions and choose the one you feel the most confident in. Unless there is a true outlier (like one is $1500+ more than another) I wouldn't bother trying to find the cheapest one. Orthodontics isn't something I'd buy from the bargain bin!

My ortho was the most expensive, by like $800 or something if I recall correctly. But he and his staff are awesome, and my treatment is progressing really well. He is worth every penny!

[que2]

iob – thanks for sharing this study! It was very fascinating. The results are certainly an enticing reason to go with a dental school over private practice.

Tyrantblade – $300 doesn’t sound like a big difference at all. Do you think this was just your case in particular, or do you think the price difference being that small is the norm?

Sirwired – scheduling isn’t a big concern for me. I’m mostly looking for price difference. If the difference in cost isn’t negligible and there’s relatively little risk involved in going to a dental school, that might be a good option.

Parsleysage – how wildly are we talking? At first I thought that treatment plans that take less time and involve less complex cases (let’s say braces for a year to fix some minor crowding and minor bite issues) would cost significantly less than the treatment plan for someone who needs braces for over two years and has a lot of issues to work through. Recently though, I got the idea that this actually isn’t true and that you end up paying around the same amount regardless of how difficult the case is. Am I wrong? I'll be very happy if I am.

[sirwired]

Some costs are fixed for everybody with braces. Everybody needs consult time, x-rays, impressions, brackets, archwires, retainers, and a share of the ortho's overhead costs (rent, equipment, office staff, etc.) and his/her student loans.

Beyond that, you'll need a certain number of adjustment visits, which take up tech and ortho time.

Lastly, the ortho will estimate how much of HIS/HER time your case will take up... Will there be a lot of time doing manual archwire bends? Painstaking measurements going over your x-rays? Will follow-up x-rays be needed?

An ortho that has an office in a modest building, older, but still functional, equipment, paid-off student loans, etc. is going to be cheaper than one in a fancy custom-built building, the latest in technology, and hundreds of thousands of $$ to go in loan payments.

[que2]

In that case would you say it's a good idea to look for older orthodontists? (if cost is one of your main concerns).

This question may be too vague, so I understand it if there's no approximate answer - when talking about the "fixed costs" that everyone has, what would you say is the baseline cost (a general range) for braces? How much do the fixed costs amount to? 90% of the total cost? 75% of the total cost? 60% of the total cost?

Obviously you're never going to see someone being charged $50 for braces. But what would you say is the lowest amount you can realistically expect to pay, without all the extra bells and whistles? Not factoring in insurance, what's the lowest amount you've seen someone quoted for braces?