Jean in Newcastle Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 What was involved in the free consultation? Esp. were x-rays or scans of any kind included? I'm getting varying answers and I'm not sure what is normal to expect. It seems funny to me that they could give me any sort of a "true" consultation as to what is needed without a scan of some kind, but do understand that scans would be probably expensive to run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WTMCassandra Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 We did three such consults. An x-ray was taken for each consult and seemed standard. We were very open and told them that we were getting three opinions before making a decision. They seemed fine with that. It was very educational to see the different approaches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trilliums Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 DS had one free visit, no xrays, but we did get a long consultation and a cool computer simulation. DS had one $30 visit with xrays and a consultation. The second consultation said DS's front teeth were being ground down due to nail biting. First consultation did not mention this. In any case, neither one convinced DS that bracers were necessary and he feels they are not worth it for purely cosmetic reasons. I think he was more surprised by the price than I was. Also, the free consultation kept on calling and calling me, even after I asked them to stop calling. Very persistent little buggers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted January 14, 2012 Author Share Posted January 14, 2012 We did three such consults. An x-ray was taken for each consult and seemed standard. We were very open and told them that we were getting three opinions before making a decision. They seemed fine with that. It was very educational to see the different approaches. So that's ok - to get different opinions? (I've never done this before and no one in my family had ever done it before either.) I'm calling around now but only found two orthodontist's offices actually open on a Friday:glare:. But of the ones I talked to, one doesn't take my insurance but does a very thorough free consultation including a panoramic 3-D scan and the other one does a free consultation where the orthodontist tells you everything you need to know by simply looking in my ds's mouth.:confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myfunnybunch Posted January 14, 2012 Share Posted January 14, 2012 Depends on the ortho and the child. Our dentist sent x-rays to our ortho before our second free check-up. Many orthodontists will do a check every 6 months until the patient is ready for braces. Our orthodontist checked ds8 and said that he could tell he wasn't in need of immediate treatment, and so he could wait to see ds's dental x-rays on the next free visit. You should definitely visit more than one orthodontist. We visited three different orthodontists before choosing. The treatment plans were pretty much identical between two of them. (The third recommended very expensive two-phase treatment.) We chose the one who gave ds and I the best "vibe" and was recommended by our hygenist. He's a great guy. Ds11 gets his braces on Monday; ds8 (the original patient) will keep seeing the ortho until he loses the rest of his baby teeth. Cat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted January 14, 2012 Share Posted January 14, 2012 So that's ok - to get different opinions? (I've never done this before and no one in my family had ever done it before either.) I got 2 consultations for my ds15. He just got his braces on Wednesday actually. Both consults did xrays at no charge to us. We were very impressed with the 2nd orthodontist and felt comfortable with his treatment plan. He asked us lots of questions and decided with us what we thought was important rather than just telling us how it would be. We felt like the first guy made the decision too quickly. He knew what Aspergers was and told us that he has treated children with special needs. I also liked that he had a slight underbite himself, which is one of my ds15's major issues, and he explained that he didn't have braces until he was an adult and only did as much treatment as was medically necessary. I liked the idea that he was focusing more on correcting the issues and less on the end result of a perfect smile. The fees were comparable between the 2 consults, so we went with the guy we felt more comfortable with. He sent the treatment plan to our dentist. We've been with our dentist for 11 years so we trust his opinion and he said the treatment plan looked really great. We were totally prepared to go to as many consults as we needed to in order to find one that would suit us. But the 2nd guy just did it for us and we chose not to pursue any other consults. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WTMCassandra Posted January 14, 2012 Share Posted January 14, 2012 So that's ok - to get different opinions? (I've never done this before and no one in my family had ever done it before either.) I'm calling around now but only found two orthodontist's offices actually open on a Friday:glare:. But of the ones I talked to, one doesn't take my insurance but does a very thorough free consultation including a panoramic 3-D scan and the other one does a free consultation where the orthodontist tells you everything you need to know by simply looking in my ds's mouth.:confused: 1. Yes, it should be fine to get different opinions. 2. Bummer that the one giving the 3D scan doesn't take your insurance. 3. No way do I believe that the ortho would know everything by simply looking in the child's mouth. I wouldn't touch this one with a 10-ft pole. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbgrace Posted January 14, 2012 Share Posted January 14, 2012 We've had initial consults with three orthodontists with my son who will need early work. He did have a full mouth x-ray from his pediatric dentist that we brought with us. Two of the offices didn't do x-rays and the third would have done them (free) though I declined them as we're not ready to start the work right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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