Orthodontics: Saving Money on Braces

If you've had any experience with orthodontics, you probably already know that braces can be expensive. With the cost of putting them on to begin with combined with the regular visits to the office for the next couple of years, you'll be lucky to escape without going well into the thousands of dollars. For some people, this simply isn't an option, no matter how much they would like to straighten their child's teeth, much less their own. There are chances to save, however. While bargain basement shopping until you find a lower price isn't necessarily the best idea, here are some things you can do to make the treatment more affordable. Insurance Dental insurance is finicky when it comes to orthodontics. Some policies view it as a purely cosmetic situation and will refuse to cover it at all. Others will cover some of the costs. Some of it just depends on which plan you purchased into. In any event, check with your carrier and see what is covered under your plan. Sometimes, the insurance coverage will only kick in if an orthodontist concludes that something about the state of your teeth could be causing problems, rather than only being undesirable from a cosmetic viewpoint. Schools If there are any dental schools in your area, you might consider giving them a call. Students looking to become dentists need patients to practice on. You may be more willing to entrust a teeth cleaning and examination to a student before you entrust braces or orthodontics to someone looking to go into that field, and that's understandable. Still, they will be well supervised, so you can be assured that nothing is going to go terribly wrong. Best of all, you're certain to pay much less for the pleasure than you would at a traditional office. Payment Plans If you can't come up with the money all at once, talk to the office and see if they will work with you on a payment plan. This is a very typical way of doing things and many orthodontics offices are more than happy to extend this courtesy to their patients. Naturally, you won't want to take this option if you have doubts as to how this monthly payment will fit into your budget. While you can also look into financing options from third party companies, these are going to be very high interest. They are best avoided if you can find any other options. If you need financing, you may be better off looking to your own bank first.