The way it's paid

[PursueToTheEnd]

I was wondering if the pay procedure of orthodontic treatment is like this: you first pay them a base payment and then 200 something dollars every month until it's finished or the set amount of the cost is reached, whichever one comes first.

I ask because there have been times when I felt that the orthodontist didn't do much and was just buying the time and not much was happening in my mouth for long periods of time and when finally he said I could take the braces off I thought I could have gotten it off a long time ago and it wouldn't be much different.

[kaddessi]

Mine is a set price for 24 months (I have a lot of work to be done). They said if I go over 24 months I won't have to pay more money and it includes the retainer.

[Snowglobe32]

I think there are different types of payment plans available. I paid $500.00 down and make monthly payments to my ortho at 0% interest. I have heard of paying all up front, something called Care Credit (they charge interest) and doing what I do. If an ortho allows you to make monthly payments at 0% interest, that is an awesome deal.

At times, I went months without even a wire change, I think the most was 4 months, and I hated making that monthly payment when nothing was happening. Keep in mind that we are paying for their expertise and knowledge. I will be making my last payment tomorrow and I couldn't be happier with the results so far. My treatment was very expensive because my case was difficult but I would do it all again. I trust that my ortho will not remove my braces until the best possible result is achieved.

[Sallee]

At my place it seems like the cost is the cost, and they spread it out over your predicted treatment time. You can negotiate for things like more expensive brackets or retainers, but you can't change the amount you pay. I would imagine if I finished early I'd still continue my payments till the end of the agreed term. It's 0% interest too, and I'm sure that lots of smaller payments are going to be easier to manage than being charged accurately for each appointment. It is a whiole lot of money though!

[ArchWired28]

Some othos will not deband you until the treatment is paid off - even if you are ready. This seems unfair, but it is their way to protect themselves, since the patient that has been debanded is much less likely to pay off the remaining balance.
Some employ the "slow pay - slow treat" practice, since any ortho can easily extend the treatment time. Again, this is their self-protection which I completely understand.

PursueToTheEnd
haven't you discussed the payment amount at the beginning? I am sure you did. So, let's say you agreed to pay $5,000, with $1500 down and 14 montly payments of $250 with zero interest. Let's say you are finished in 12 months with 2 payments remaining. You are still responsible for them even though you have finished early. As I said, your ortho may choose to not deband you until the balance is paid off. Which means 2 extra months in braces with nothing happening. So it is always better to pay the balance earlier if you can.

[jamsmak04]

My cost was 7995 and I am paying 333.00 for 24 months which is the predicted amount of time my treatment will take. Now if I am done earlier then I have to pay it off to be debanded. I was going to pay it all upfront but my ortho just started his practice and who knows if he will go bankrupt so I am protecting myself. If I am done early I am just going to pay what is left in one go to be debanded right away. To me 24 months seems too long to fix one crooked tooth and a overbite.

[ArchWired28]

jamsmak04
this is a very good strategy too. Patients also want to have their financial investment protected, just in case.
I was tempting to do that as well, but my ortho has been in business for almost 30 years and so far, looks like his practices (he has 2 in Tampa) keep growing. So I am not afraid of him going bankrupt in the near future. So I just went ahead and paid the full amount with care credit. This way, I am happy since I know my treatment will not be held because of the financial reasons, and I still have no interest for 24 months (I intend to pay the balance in full well before that time). And he's happy too, since he got the full payment at once and could start using this money right away.
But of course every case is different. If my ortho was very new, I would have been hesitant to pay the full amount at once as well.

[CountessDeSangre]

In my situation I was charged a total of $5500. I was asked to give a $1500 down payment prior to getting ANY kind of braces and following that they initially asked me to pay $200 a month until I reached the total. However I explained to them that I was a student working part time so I was able to talk them down to $150 every month.

I have heard of some people paying it all in the beginning but then they orthodontist retires, or unfortunately dies, or they have to move away. Regardless they did not complete their treatment with that ortho and needed to pay more to a new ortho.

[ArchWired28]

I have heard of some people paying it all in the beginning but then they orthodontist retires, or unfortunately dies, or they have to move away. Regardless they did not complete their treatment with that ortho and needed to pay more to a new ortho.

I thought, orthos must have some kind of insurance in case something happens, including his/her death. All orthos are legally obligated to not abandon their patients, so I am sure any ortho has some kind of an arrangement planned.
If one has to move, this is another story. Usually, the current ortho either gives a referral to his colleague in that area, or provides partial refund, depending on where in the treatment process the patient is.
Just saying: it is not that easy for an ortho to take the patient's money and abandon him/her later on

[BBQ Grill]

Jamsmak Ur paying 7990 for 1 crooked teeth? That's kinda steep! They didn't give u a discount? Mines cost 5500... 2000 discount from ortho office...so I'm paying 3500... 1000 down payment n the rest monthly for 25 months and my teeth looks like a derailed train.