Office Policies
Your First Visit
At the first visit, the orthodontist will review your medical and dental history, do a careful examination of your face and mouth, and if indicated, propose a comprehensive plan for correcting your malocclusion. At a minimum for the exam, a panoramic x-ray is necessary to view developing teeth and examine the health and position of teeth already in the mouth.
Before actually beginning treatment, complete diagnostic records are generally required. They consist of digitizing impressions of the teeth, photos of the face and teeth, and in addition to the Panoramic x-ray, a cephalometric x-ray. Sometimes other x-rays are indicated. This information is used to confirm a custom treatment plan for each patient. These records are also helpful in tracking the progress of treatment as the teeth move under orthodontic care.
Occasionally a malocclusion is too complex to propose a treatment plan without first consulting all the diagnostic records. In these cases, the diagnostic records are completed before a treatment plan is proposed.
Regular Appointments
The appointment for beginning your treatment will consist of putting your braces on or placing an initial appliance. The appointment will take between 45 and 90 minutes and you will leave with all the tools and instructions you need. You'll then see us at regular intervals 4 to 8 weeks apart for an adjustment, which takes 20 to 40 minutes. Our regular office hours are Monday thru Thursday from 7 AM to 3 PM in the summer and 4PM when school is in session.
We know your time is valuable and we work hard to be on time for you. It is a great help for us when you are on time too. If you can't make your appointment, please let us know immediately. We will do our best to accommodate rescheduling requests, but because appointments are made 4-8 weeks in advance, we may have to ask you to be flexible.
Please remember the adjustments keep treatment moving toward your goal of a beautiful smile. Missing appointments slows down your treatment and will keep you in braces longer. We love having you as a patient and hope you love being our patient, but we can guarantee that the sooner your braces are off, the happier you will be!
Post Treatment Tracking
Patient Rention
After your braces are removed, we will have follow up retainer wear appointments for seven months, after which your treatment will finish with us. Please make sure that you bring your retainers to each of these appointments.
New Issues and Treatment Plans
If new orthodontic issues arise, after completion of treatment or not originally part of the initial treatment plan, we'll create a customized treatment plan with associated costs.
Payment and Office Policies
Fees
In an effort to keep orthodontic fees down while maintaining the highest level of professional care, we have established this financial policy:
- If full payment is made at the onset of treatment, we will offer a 5% fee discount. (If you have insurance, we will offer a discount for payment of your portion of the fee that will not be covered by insurance)
- To fit your individual needs, financial arrangements can be made to extend your payments over a period of months.
- For your convenience, we accept payment by VISA and MASTERCARD.
- In cases of serious delinquency, treatment will be discontinued, although we will make every effort to accommodate patients with temporary difficulties.
- If excessive bracket or appliance breakage occurs during treatment, additional fees may be charged to your account.
Insurance
If you have insurance, we will be happy to help you determine the coverage you have available. To keep your paperwork to a minimum, we ask that you assign your insurance benefit to us. The balance will be arranged for you to pay (see above). Professional care is provided to you, our patient, and not to an insurance company. Thus, the insurance company is responsible to the patient and the patient is responsible to the doctor. We will help in every way we can in filing your claim and handling insurance questions from our office on your behalf.