Would you pay the full amount of braces up front?

[annievan]

The office charges $ 6,550 for Damon clear. Our insurance covers $2,500. We already paid $1,900 last year using my FSA card, so our remaining is about $ 2,155.
If we pay the remaining up front now with our FSA card, we’ll get 3% off of $2,155, which is …$67.00. Does it seem worth it? The treatment is about 2 years, and we just started it last November. We have $2,500 in our FSA this year.

Thanks,

[oldfart]

Yes, as we will be getting a 7% discount. And when you are paying for three, thats a decent chunk of change.

[Tobilei]

I've paid for my daughters and my own up front to get the discount. Unfortunately I'll have to pay my twins braces off and miss out but if we had it I'd pay theirs up front too. In the long run the discount is worth it.

[kennyandrew85]

If you're only going to save $67... I would just pay monthly...

Sounds daft but remember, these orthodontists are in companies that are there to make money, once they have all their money you lose a bit of leverage if they don't give you the service you should be getting.

[kiwibug]

Personally, I wouldn't. You never know what's going to happen and it's a lot of money to lose. I'm finally in a place where I'm settled and plan to stay here, and I trust my orthodontist. But anything can happen, I may end up moving, he may go out of business... seems a safer option to me to pay monthly

[bbsadmin]

This is NOT a good idea. I have read many stories over the years of dental offices closing up....and people losing their money and needing to start entirely from scratch with another dentist or orthodontist.

It is much better to pay as you go, no matter how tempting it may be to save a percentage upfront.

[SunshineRay]

I am very frugal and love saving money but I dont think that savings is worth it.

[Snowglobe32]

I paid monthly because my ortho offers a monthly payment plan at 0% interest. My original estimate was 22-24 months with all the money to be paid up before being debraced. Everyone stresses how you won't get your braces off until the money is paid...well, it has now been 3 years and 3 months since I have had braces (very difficult case). So, essentially, I haven't paid him one cent for almost a year and a half. He isn't making any money off of me anymore. So, a payment plan worked out great for me. Thankfully, they should be off in the next month or two.

$67.00 doesn't seem like a huge savings to me and you may need the FSA money for another medical emergency in the meantime. If they give you a payment plan, you can always pay it off early.

[Barb E]

I went back and forth and back and forth on what to do, 5% isn't a huge amount of money

However, when I found out that to get paid from my FSA account I would have to submit a paper form and receipt MONTHLY to be reimbursed I jumped at paying it all up front. Now I'll need to do 3 forms (Jan 2013, 2014 and 2015) instead of 36!!!

Of course the fact that I could do this with only a small amount staying on my credit card for a very short time was another HUGE factor!!!

[BrandonAZ]

My ortho also offered a 5% discount for payment in full up front but I decided to just pay the monthly installment for the same reasons that have been mentioned, including the desire to keep them wanting my money and keeping me happy. =) Additionally, they finance in-office at 0% interest for the duration of your treatment plan.

[kennyandrew85]

My orthodontist now uses external loan companies as an option with SPAMACHI SPAMACHI SPAMOLICIOUS SPAMOITCHY SPAMINACIOUS capital.

Basically it's just a 12 month 0% interest loan, but the difference is that the orthodontist gets all his money up front and you owe the loan company the money instead. Not sure if that's a good thing!

[bemurray]

[quote="kennyandrew85"]If you're only going to save $67... I would just pay monthly...

Sounds daft but remember, these orthodontists are in companies that are there to make money, once they have all their money you lose a bit of leverage if they don't give you the service you should be getting.[/quote]

This is why id still make monthly/fortnightly payments too, if something went wrong, if like to feel like I hadn't lost ALL my money, just a % of it, iykwim?

[kennyandrew85]

Sorry that was not intended as advertising, the only adverts I see left on these message boards are for thos highly useful l greatest thing ever dentakits!!! Amazing denta kits, out now

[DrJasonKTam]

While it is true that orthodontists can close their office or you may move, if you trust your doctor with your teeth, you should trust that they will make things right in a situation that is unexpected. I have written checks back to patients who are going to move with a prorating of their treatment progress. On a day to day basis, I also have no idea who has paid in full and who is on a payment plan, so the way I treat patients has nothing to do with that. If you are suspicious that you might be treated differently because of that, I would probably tell you to find another office.

Payment in full discounts in our office tend to reflect the interest rate. Right now it is at 3% because that is a very good after-tax savings that you cannot find at the bank. Also, as pointed out earlier, many of our patients do not want the hassle of working with the insurance company every single month, especially in Canada where we do not take assignment from their policies.

Again, each office, orthodontist, and personal circumstance will be different, but there are still reasonable and nice doctors out there who aren't looking at their patients as check books .

[oldfart]

I am not worrying about paying up front. As they know i have two more kids coming up that will need them after these two are done.