Pricing Issues with Braces

use her name

So I went on to a certain Dublin dental clinic's website and found they were only charging €1,900 for 6 month cosmetic braces on one arch, which is exactly what I want. I thought my lucky day had finally come as most other places I had priced were at least €2,800 for traditional braces. So I booked my appointment straight away and was very excited.

I arrived at the clinic and met the dentist and so we started talking about what I wanted and I told her it was really only my top arch I had a problem with as my bottom teeth are straight. First she did a general checkup of my teeth. She said apart from the overlapping of one of my front teeth (which is what I want to correct with the braces) my teeth looked healthy. I have a good few fillings (from childhood) so she decided to take x-rays. That's when the trouble started. She began pointing out all this tooth decay between my teeth and fillings that would have to be replaced either because they were done "incorrectly" or were "not cosmetically pleasing", and replacing a molar because it "might need root canal in a few years". She said she wouldn't fit the braces without correcting these problems first (even though most of them were on the bottom arch which I didn't even want to have braces!) Then she calculated all the work that needed to be done before braces which added up to €925 !! :eek: I was shocked. I never have any problems with pain or sensitivity in my teeth, I brush and floss regularly but I guess the x-rays don't lie..

Then she began to tell me I needed braces on my lower arch because I have a slight over bite (which I had never noticed before and didn't really affect me). I told her I'm a student who had saved money from my summer job to get these braces and that right now I couldn't afford more than one arch. She became very persistent and told me there was no point doing something if you don't do it perfectly and it wasn't a case where I could get the bottom arch corrected later on, that they had to be done simultaneously. So she did up a price plan for me which came to over €3,800.

I left the clinic pretty disheartened (and minus €95 for my troubles) as I knew I couldn't afford it. I was also pretty angry as I have a simple case which she said herself could be corrected in just 4 months. I understand she is a professional and she is obviously going to correct what's wrong but I didn't like how she was forcing the lower arch on me when I was pretty adamant I only wanted one arch. I think alot of the work before the braces go on is not necessary at the moment as it is mostly on the bottom and is not causing me any trouble atm. She could easily just give me the 2 fillings required on my top arch where I want to get the braces and it would only cost €2,160? I know alot of dentists hate people like me but surely what the patient wants should matter? I'm not insisting I know better than her, I just want her to understand my situation..

Back to square one for me anyways! Even if I was willing to get all the work done and both arches, there's no way I could afford it. Any advice folks?

sorry for the long post and dentists of Ireland please go easy on me

btkm8unsl0w5r4

Go see a orthodontist for a second opinion, General clinics with low cost headline treatments may try up-sell the cost because the fact is money cannot be made at the prices they advertise. It could be the case that the dentist is correct however and this is what you require, sometimes what we want and what we need are different. Quality dental work is necessarily expensive due to the time, manpower and equipment and materials used. Sometimes if you cannot afford to do it correctly dont do it at all until you can.

Best of luck.

day dreamer

Hi there

Before you have orthodontic treatment you need healthy and clean teeth. This means any decay or bad restorations need to be replaced. You should have this work done upper and lower even if you never get the braces. The health of your teeth is most important.

There is no way to determine here if you need all the fillings advised or if you realy do need upper and lower treatment but you could get a 2nd opinion from your own dentist.

Assuming you get all the necessary work done then if you still want orthodontic treatment you can get treatment on the upper teeth only. The orthodontist you saw was giving you the "ideal" option of upper and lower treatment. You can have upper treatment only but it will probably not give the best outcome possible. If this is what you want then it is your choice but you would get better value and a better outcome by having upper and lower teatment.

good luck
Look up www.orthodontics.ie for an orthodontist near you

Big_G

This topic cannot be discussed without talking about upselling. However, this dentist would be negligent if they saw cavities and other work that needed to be done restoratively and went ahead and did orthodontic treatment.

The upper vs. upper/lower arch treatment is neither here nor there to be honest. If I was an orthodontist I wouldn't treat without the teeth and gums being in top condition.

I think this a case of unrealistic expectation, you expected to walk in and get something and it didn't happen. Which is exactly the problem with advertising cheap ortho.

Joncol

Definitely shop around. My experience of dentists so far would be not to trust them, well certainly not the first one.

There are lots and lots of good dentists out there but like anything else shop around so you can cross off the bad ones and go with the best ones.

davo10

OP when you have fixed arch wires (train tracks) on, cleaning in between the teeth is very difficult as you cannot floss out any food which gets caught between teeth like you normally would. For this reason orthodontists advise patients to get any suspicious areas of the teeth checked/filled prior to the appliance going on as there is nothing worse than when the braces are removed and your teeth are lovely and straight, you find there are now large cavities between the teeth.

In relation to upper v's upper&lower treatment. Stand in front of a mirror with your teeth closed together. See how the outer cusps (pointy bits of the teeth) on the upper teeth bite down into the spaces between the lower teeth. Now if you have the positions of your upper teeth altered to straighten them and do not make corresponding alterations to the lower teeth, you end up with a situation where the cusps of the upper teeth bang down directly against the cusps of the lower teeth. This would mean you would not be able to close your teeth together in the corect biting relationship leading to cuspal wear/fracture and a very unsatisfactory end result. If you move some teeth it often but not always means you have to move the opposing teeth in the other arch. Remember in order to straighten the front teeth you probably have to move your premolars and molars backwards a couple of millimeters to make space.

Orthoman

Joncol wrote: »

Definitely shop around. My experience of dentists so far would be not to trust them, well certainly not the first one.

There are lots and lots of good dentists out there but like anything else shop around so you can cross off the bad ones and go with the best ones.

Joncol, Still waiting for the link in the other thread for the 4€ expanders you mentioned. Thought I'd remind you in this thread as your help would be gratefully appreciated as I'd like to pass on the saving to my patients.

Joncol

Orthoman, I don't have the details, will try find them but I'd imagine you'd have a better idea than me of the manufacturers. For what it's worth I do remember they are based in Nottingham in the UK if that helps....

Orthoman

OK, Thanks. Sounds very cheap.:)

orchidsrpretty

Hey OP, there would be no point in getting a half done job on your teeth for it to cause problems in a couple of months/years. I got a full set of braces a few years ago, the total price was 5000E and I was able to claim back 20%. There was also the option of paying in installments over the course of your treatments, don't think they charged anything extra for this option. I know that the Ortho has dropped their prices recently as I had to replace my retainers which used to cost 300e but are now 220.

If you would like the number PM me. I found this dentist to be very honest about what was needed etc and provided great aftercare if I had concerns issues etc at no extra cost.