new member, doing research in Dallas

[bdu1234]

hi,
I have been reading on the board for a couple of days and thought I would go ahead and add myself, never thought I would find a forum for the orthodontically challenged (doubt I spelled that right)

First off I would like to think the admin of this board for providing a place for folks to get together and share info and experiences. I have learned a ton over the last 2 days of sneaking time in while at work.

I'm 29 and have needed braces all my life and now am financially able to get this done. I have crowding top and bottom along with canines which are both quite high and a major part eyesore to me. I go back in 2 weeks to get a permanent crown put on and will then begin my search for a good ortho. I'm getting married in june and think I will wait till after to get my braces put on.

My inital thought was invisalign but my dentist said I wouldn't be a good candidate, so I said I wanted to see about having them put on the inside, (through the board I have learned this is called lingual, learning new things every minute). After reading about the cost being almost double I'm thinking I will likely go with traditional ones on the front. I'll know more after I have an inital consult. He was very adament about the fact that linguals require a special skillset and there was only one ortho he would let touch his teeth when it came to this. I have found the ortho's site and I also see he is offering SureSmile (which also happens to be based in dallas). I am trying to investigate SureSmile and see how much is hype and how much is true. I did find an insteresting article from a marketing journal of some kind that actually discussed the price elasticity of ortho treatments and how much people were willing to pay to shorten their time with braces.
I have to admit reading the journal was a little disconcerting as it basically said to charge as much as you can possibly get away with as someone who will be paying totally out of pocket I cringed. It also discussed how the optimum decrease in advertised treament was 40%, in other words more people would believe a 40% decrease in treament time (and pay considerably more for it) than would believe a 50% decrease in treatment time. This seems a little skewed as why not just be honest about the reduction in treatment time and if you have a good product it will sell, but that's another story.

Anyway I hope to do more research before coming to any kind of decision and if anyone can recommend a good ortho in the DFW area I'm all ears.

[bdu1234]

here is the link to the information I found, it's a PDF

http://www.orametrix.com/news/Praxis%20 ... -pages.pdf

I hope it's ok to post this link, I guess if it gets deleted I'll know not to do it again, I read the newb's instructions and I think this fits the "informative" category and not necessarily promoting anything

-Brad

[drh20s]

<message deleted>

[SnowSara]

Interesting. My ortho offers "orthoCAD", which digitizes the impressions like sure smile, but the files are sent back to my ortho and he is the one who manipulates the 3D models and "moves" my teeth. The software does assist in figuring out where brackets need to go, but my ortho can make tweaks as he sees fit. Then, when he is satisfied the brackets are sent in pre-made molds for my teeth. So far treatment has been a breeze and I'm satisfied with what I've seen in movement so far. It's too soon to tell if I'm really saving any time with this method, but I know it's saving office visits already. I'll keep ya posted.

[SnowSara]

Thanks Karen!
As far as spending more, my only options were ceramic uppers or all metal. I wasn't "sold" on orthoCAD or anything, in fact I had no idea I was getting anything special until after the braces were on. The day I got them I was on the phone with my mother and I told her about the bracket-molds-process and the 3D models - she was confused at first because it sounded quite different than what both she and my brother went through, that is, the brackets being placed by hand one-by-one. (I've never had braces before so I didn't know any different.) I think it's worth noting that my ortho is going to be doing a lecture on OrthoCAD in the future and I think his patients are his examples. By the looks of his 30-year bio he's always been cutting edge.

Also, I live in a very expensive resort area in the mountains and never expected to save any money on braces! Everything costs more here. I'm just happy I have a local orthodontist and don't have to drive several hours to Denver every time I have an adjustment, now that would be a pain! Plus, I love his staff, his wife is the office manager and they moved their practice here together from Texas. They are so darn sweet, and the assistants are becoming my gal-pals!