Metal Mouth Message Board

My orthodontist wants me to pay $660 for surgery records in his office, while my oral surgeon is also going to charge $390 for the xrays, splint, and surgical models. My question is, is this normal? Any reason why I need to pay more at the orthodontist for what I assume will be less comprehensive than the oral surgeon's office?

I'm going to call to see why it is so expensive and why they request these models...I remember it being mentioned before getting braced along with some sort of "insurance" against the surgeon blaming the orthodontist for any problems after surgery. I just wanted to see if anyone else has heard of this before I call.

Any input would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

$350.00 records fee. Have heard of some offices charging $600.

Christina,

Thank you for your reply! Was this $350 from your orthodontist in addition to your oral surgeon? I already paid my orthodontist $285 at the beginning of braces...so asking for $660 more and then having to pay $310 at the oral surgeon's is just too much in my opinion.

So, my orthdontist's records are for legal purposes. Anyone heard of this? This means I'll have to have a lot of the same things done twice AND pay for them twice. I do plan to see if my OS can use anything my orthodontist takes...but this is frustrating from a financial perspective.

Wow, I only payed for records in my orthos office before treatment started (~$250)...and that's only because my dental insurance won't cover anything since I am over 30. The records at my OS were covered by my medical insurance so don't know how much it cost

Hi charlsie142,

don't let your ortho and surgeon nickel and dime you. Tell them you want a copy of the X-Rays to present to the surgeon, it is a copy that you paid for!

^no kidding, my orthodontist sent copies of all of my records to the OS...the *only* thing the OS did as far as records was take their own impressions of my mouth

I had to pay $450 for records at my orthodontist's office, and then the orthodontist sent my records to the surgeon.

Thank you everyone for your responses. That helps to know that a lot of you did get your records at your orthodontist. I heard back again from my orthodontist's office yesterday, and they did say they would forward anything to my OS's office that is needed, so it looks like I'll probably only have to pay once, at least for the records that overlap between the two offices.
HUGE RELIEF!

Looks like I spoke too soon as far as the two offices allowing the other to take records. My oral surgeon's office won't accept my ortho's records and sounded extremely surprised he's even taking them (understandable, seeing as he'll need his own to perform "fake" surgery on, plus I want him to do it since I've got preauthorization approval on these fees); and my ortho won't accept my surgeon's records as he wants his own taken in office for "legal purposes."

So I am still trying to figure out what to do about this. I'm waiting on a call back from my orthodontist to see if there's any way I don't have to have records taken twice within 9 days of each other and pay for them both (like $1500 total!). Why does this have to be so complicated?!?!

Sorry...I really just needed somewhere to rant where people might have some idea of what I'm talking about. Wish me luck.

Charlsie142,

you're oral surgeon is trying to nickel and dime you. I suggest you go find another surgeon . I had a surgeon that wanted his own records and x-rays all the time. Every time I bought in my ortho's x-rays or impressions he complained they weren't of quality. I got sick of paying for his crap and left.

I dumped him and found another surgeon. My new surgeon accepts all my ortho's records. He just needs one final mold from my ortho before the surgery to practice on.