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newbie and have adult orthro insurance

Posted: Thu Oct 26, 2006 6:54 am
by hd2755
Hello,
I would like to introduce myself. I am Louis and will be getting my braces in Janurary. That is when my orthro insurance kicks in I get $2,000 usd to spend for the braces so this is a great help. I am 32 and love to travel so this is going to be a challenge for the airport THIS IS SPAM PLEASE REPORT TO THE ADMINISTRATOR. THIS IS SPAM PLEASE REPORT TO THE ADMINISTRATOR. THIS IS SPAM PLEASE REPORT TO THE ADMINISTRATOR. THIS IS SPAM PLEASE REPORT TO THE ADMINISTRATOR. THIS IS SPAM PLEASE REPORT TO THE ADMINISTRATOR. and my love for the a.m. stations on my radio. If anyone here wants to get orthro insurance for adults go and work for Home Depot. we just recieved this exciting new coverage. I will be the first in my store to use this coverage so it will be exciting to get my train wreck of teeth fixed once and for all. I do have a class 3 underbite and have 5 missing teeth and never wanted braces as a teenager for the usual reasons: vanity i was not going to have them ever till my work now offers this coverage and I can afford to get them done. I guess since I do love my coffee I will get the usual metal brackets and be sporting my sparkling metal smile at everyone which is going to be very scary since I am such a shy guy to boot. I will have a orthro in the Cherry Capital of the world Traverse City, Michigan. I will go in for the consult and get the braces on all in one day. Was told from a another orthro I could be debraced in about 1 and 1 half years. Can anyone here give me any adivse on what to do before and during my appt and what happens after the appt? How will I feel? look forward to many many conversations here with everybody to help me through this new chapter in my life.. thank you for having a forum like this.

Posted: Thu Oct 26, 2006 7:06 am
by Joel-
Welcome! I haven't got my braces yet but I am looking forward to it. $2000 is a nice assistance--I have to pay the full treatment price ($5600) out of my pocket.

Good luck...

Posted: Thu Oct 26, 2006 7:20 am
by Delag
*Sigh* My heart is in Northern Michigan even though I am not. My screen saver is a lake near Waters :lol: But that isn't what you asked about is it? I just got my braces put on this Monday. The wait is much worse than the actual bracing. As for what you have to do....nothing but go with brushed teeth and let the ortho do his/her job. In my case, I skiped the whole spacer thing because my OD just uses brackets. They polished my teeth with gritty stuff, put on a bit of glue, the bracket, and then they put a little lamp to set the glue. After the bracket are set they just slip in the wire and you are good to go! The first day I just felt pressure on my teeth, day 2 and 3 I feel pressure and I can't really bite down on food because the teeth hurt. The pressure is not enough that I need to even take an Advil and I am sticking to soft foods. Attitude is everything in this game - smile big and show off the wonderful thing you are doing for yourself.

Posted: Thu Oct 26, 2006 8:42 am
by Wired1
Hi and welcome!!

Wow, you are so lucky to have such great insurance -- I've heard that Home Depot is one of the best companies to work for, now I believe it.

Just want to clarify something: you said you were going for the initial consult and bracing at the same time? Normally you should "shop" for an orthodontist to make sure s/he is on the same page with you, has the type of braces you want, check references (call current patients) etc. Maybe I'm just misreading your post, but since you'll be in this relationship for quite sometime, you want to like the people you'll be working with. Also, I think most of us are paying in the $5K-$6K range for our braces, so you'll need to see if your ortho has a financing plan.

KK really gave you a great lowdown on what to do... I would just add buying a good magnifying mirror and tweezers. I shred Superfloss and spend lots of time picking it out.

As for how you'll feel... everybody is different, but it should be scaryfunexciting! My favorite tip is to buy or rip a great CD for your car -- something with tough lyrics -- and sing in the car at full voice. Especially after adjustments. Gotta get your mouth moving. Right now I'm stuck on "That Thing You Do" from the Tom Hanks movie. It's short, fast and tricky. "Conga" from Gloria Estefan is also a good workout.

As for travelling, it's no problem at all for airport security. I travel on Southwest alot and they've are super -- usually they give me a Nutrigrain bar instead of peanuts. :D

Congratulations and welcome to the club!!!

Posted: Thu Oct 26, 2006 9:38 am
by Marzipan
I loooooooooooove coffee and I loooooooooooove my metal brackets! It's way cool. You can read the story and see the photos in "my braces stories."

But meanwhile, KK gives great advice so listen to her.

I've been in them for 10 months and am doing A-okay. Good luck!

Posted: Thu Oct 26, 2006 10:04 am
by Pirate Wench
I think Kiwi and Wired1 have it all covered.

As for the consult and braces the same day....I did that with my ortho too. I did my first consult just to see what he had to say and see if I liked his personality and his approach and of course the cost! It was at my second consult that I got braced.......that must be what you meant. I am just assuming that because you already know the cost of the treatment.

anyway......good for you to get dental coverage for your braces. I am covered up to $2000 from my husband's coverage at work too. It has been great. My ortho office also does finacing......there was a $250 charge for my records appointment, $1000 the day of bracing, and $150 charge every month for 27 months for a total of $5300.

Good luck.....enjoy the ride!

Re: newbie and have adult orthro insurance

Posted: Thu Oct 26, 2006 10:22 am
by SDFD TSchott
hd2755 wrote:Hello,
If anyone here wants to get orthro insurance for adults go and work for Home Depot. we just recieved this exciting new coverage.
What state do you live in and work at Home Depot. I'm an Assistant Manager in training for Home Depot here in San Diego California and I haven't heard one thing about this ortho insurance for adults yet.

If its true when does it start, and does it cover someone that already started treatment?

SDFD TSchott

Posted: Thu Oct 26, 2006 11:05 am
by Indalee
:-1 Hello hd2755 and welcome to this fabulous website! There are all sorts of wonderful things you can read about on www.Archwired.com that will help and prepare you for your journey in braces. It sure helped me lots! The one thing you will learn about having braces is that “itâ€

Posted: Fri Oct 27, 2006 5:37 pm
by hd2755
thank you all for the advise so far this will be helpful, boy i get the willies just typing this.. I am scared nervous and oh whatever else comes along with this. I will post when I have more time but again thank you, and oh by the way i had two customers at work with braces and they looked really nice on them i sure hope they look the same on me. did not have time to talk to them about them at all, wished i did though.. want to know all i can before 1-2-07 which is my b-day. I am asking everyone that i can about them hope i can get more feedback here as well.. eeks less than 65 days away. till next post. thank you for your input..

Posted: Fri Oct 27, 2006 6:51 pm
by SDFD TSchott
Hey HD I applied for the ortho insurance and it will take effect on 01-Jan-2007 So I'm hoping that even though I started ortho treatment that they will still be able to use the insurance in some kind of way. I have the highest dental insurance Home Depot had before the GOLD plan and now that I've upgraded I hope things will be better for me.

SDFD TSchott
Firefighter(s) Down

Posted: Sat Oct 28, 2006 5:37 pm
by hd2755
fellow depotee,
i see we can choose colors for our lig's what about depot orange? for a month eh? lol hey here is a thought hd's logo as a bracket design eh? oh ok i guess maybe a bit too orange in me i guess? but i did see a photo of your braces and wow they are way cool, and hope mine looks as good as yours do? I am asking every customer with them lots of questions about them, and getting varied feedback from loving them to really hating them yesterday someone came in after getting them on and boy was he in pain he was 15, and had the largest headgear i think i have ever seen, poor kid, he wanted to take the headgear off in the worse way. glad i told you about the insurance hope this will save you some money and hey i did the right thing "the depot way". and I will try to see if the orthro's office and help me post a picture of me here with mine on for you all here to see.

Posted: Sat Oct 28, 2006 9:27 pm
by Tfiestyone4u
Hd,

wow congrats on the insurance! I as well am paying totally out of pocket for mine. just a bit over 1300.00 down and 150/month totaling just over 5000.00. Great to hear all the feedback on flying with braces too because I was wondering that myself since I have a tenative plan to fly out to LAX in December! YAY! :-)o

Good luck! This is a great site with a lot of great people, will provide you with a lot of encouragement!

Tanya

Posted: Sat Oct 28, 2006 11:09 pm
by SDFD TSchott
haha thats awesome I don't think I have enough ORANGE BLOOD in me, I know I've been with home depot for 2 going onto 3 years and I'm an asm in training but I hope that even though I started ortho treatment already that when the ortho insurance kicks in that I will be able to use it. Meaning that my ortho treatment will be fully paid for in less then 3 months if thats the case cause I only owe 2,450 then I'm fully paid.

SDFD TSchott
Firefighter(s) Down

Posted: Sun Oct 29, 2006 3:11 am
by IzzyCharm
wow after reading some of these stories I feel VERY lucky. My ins. covered all but $1900 and I get to pay $78 a month until it's paid off. Here I was complain to my family and friend about the $1900 I feel very silly now lol :oops:

Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2006 3:06 pm
by hd2755
hey when big insurance company pays anything that is a good thing less we have to pay out of our own pockets i say let them pay for the whole thing since we have insurance right? they should be paying everything in fulll 100 percent coverage but now i guess i wont kick a gift horse in the mouth :soremouth: :-88 :tingrin: but hey lets party now with the savings that the insurance companies paid for us. the latter will be me on 1-2-07. I am still getting willies everytime i think that in less than 63 days I will be a official tin grin metal mouth and i will be expierencing what my two best friends in jr and sr high went through the braces thingy. i will again say hope my braces will look good on me like they do on others on here, please give me that reassurance that they will.