Nakia Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 Our girls had dental cleanings today, and my oldest is going to be referred to an orthodontist. We knew it was coming; we'd just been waiting on her to lose a few more teeth. I called our insurance company today to find out about our orthodontic benefits, and to my surprise, we have ZERO coverage for orthodontics. We pay a lot of money for insurance, as I'm sure you all do. We have a $1000 max per person per year for dental benefits, and I was certain we had an additional $1500 per person for ortho care. NOPE! I know insurance is a blessing regardless. I know braces are, most of the time, a want, not a need. I know they'll do a payment plan. I'm still irritated. Patrick and I are going to sit down tonight and decide whether to keep dental coverage or not. We were going to cancel last year, but we waited because we figured Anna was going to get braces this year. :tongue_smilie::glare::001_huh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nestof3 Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 We pay a lot for insurance too and have no ortho coverage. They wouldn't even cover my husband's dental implant. PS -- we had our dental cleanings today too. :) PSS -- We are on our third person in the family with braces. Aaron was first, then John, now Nathan, and Ben and I are up next in about a year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nakia Posted November 13, 2012 Author Share Posted November 13, 2012 BTW, how much are braces?????? I need to start saving. Saving what, I don't know, since we are having a hard enough time as it is. Blah. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nestof3 Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 BTW, how much are braces?????? I need to start saving. Saving what, I don't know, since we are having a hard enough time as it is. Blah. It depends on whether you use a dentist or an orthodontist. We use an ortho. We also get a 5 % discount for paying the entire thing upfront. So, the first time, I used one of those credit card checks with the zero percent balance. I just made sure to pay the braces off in a year. The third time, my mom fronted me the money (she offered; I never said anything to her, but she knew about the discount). I've been paying her back. Nathan's braces are costing $5,126 for an estimated treatment time of 20-22 months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan C. Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 We didn't have ortho coverage either, but the dental coverage did come in handy for wisdom teeth extraction, wow, it was expensive even w/insurance, it would have been really bad without it. I have found that dental insurance cost vs. cleanings came out even. Then you have coverage if there are cavities, root canals, crowns, etc. Both dc needed braces, at the same time, ouch. It was about $7000 for both, the second dc got a discount. Dh just drived an older car with no payment, and we sent it to the orthodontist. Ours did a payment plan with 0% interest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fairfarmhand Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 BTW, how much are braces?????? I need to start saving. Saving what, I don't know, since we are having a hard enough time as it is. Blah. around here they are about 4500-5000. We have a 1000 payment from dental insurance that helps and a 250 family discount, so my dd;s braces were 3700 for us. We knew it was coming and withheld that amount in our FSA, so it did come off pretax. If your employer offers a FSA, adjust your withholdings to reflect that and it will help a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fairfarmhand Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 If all our kids end up with braces it will be about 15K of dental work all told. ugh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nestof3 Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 Oh, and I don't enjoy paying it. :lol: My parents had to pay so much for me, though growing up -- face gear, braces, bridge, etc. I think they paid out $10,000 or so. :tongue_smilie: I have already seen so much improvement in Nathan! He just got his bottom on yesterday. I need my bottom redone because I was never given a permanent retainer. It is so difficult to keep my bottom teeth clean because of the crowding. My top cannot move because of my bridge (I was born without two permanent teeth). Though I would love for my insurance to cover it, I understand why they don't. We pay $91 a month for a dental rider which covers all cleanings, x-rays and sealants at 100%. It also covers fillings and other things at 50%. I calculated it, and the $91 pays completely for the cleanings, x-rays and sealants, so we actually make out in the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynn Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 Shop around for ortho, most give free consultations and let them know up front that you will be paying out of pocket, this may give some discount. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nestof3 Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 Shop around for ortho, most give free consultations and let them know up front that you will be paying out of pocket, this may give some discount. Another thing, if your insurance covers x-rays, see if your dentist can do the x-rays to run through insurance rather than the ortho. I haven't tried that, but it's worth checking into. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 MAny times they are a need. I wish to God my Dh had a palate expander and braces when he was younger. He has SUCH breathing problems now because of his jaw and nasal cavities. (palate expansion enlarges nasal cavities, too.) Braces/expanders for my two girls will cost 12,000 and our insurance will pay 900 of that (6000 a girl). Booyah. Not. And yes, we pay an arm and a leg for that insurance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momofkhm Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 BTW, how much are braces?????? I need to start saving. Saving what, I don't know, since we are having a hard enough time as it is. Blah. I want to say the number bandied around here is $5000. Both my girls had them. One we paid it all up front - insurance paid. The other we did the payments. I think it was $165 every month for 24 months. But that works out to be more like $4000. I don't know they've been out of braces for 2 or 3 years now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan C. Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 Another thing, if your insurance covers x-rays, see if your dentist can do the x-rays to run through insurance rather than the ortho. I haven't tried that, but it's worth checking into. We did that and I took copies to the ortho. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plink Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 Dental insurance is crazy. We found that we could pay out of pocket for all of our employees' dental needs, including orthodontics, emergency root canals, and everything else under the sun, for SIGNIFICANTLY LESS than we were paying for insurance. I have no idea why it is so out of proportion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy22alyns Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 I have yet to see a good dental insurance plan, personally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klmama Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 Definitely shop around with those free consults with estimates! Prices can vary tremendously! After our first finished up with what we thought were very expensive braces, we went in for a free consult with another ortho, thinking maybe it would be cheaper. Not! We ended up with our original ortho who was $1000 cheaper right off the bat, plus she offered a 2nd child discount. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marbel Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 (edited) Our girls had dental cleanings today, and my oldest is going to be referred to an orthodontist. We knew it was coming; we'd just been waiting on her to lose a few more teeth. I called our insurance company today to find out about our orthodontic benefits, and to my surprise, we have ZERO coverage for orthodontics. We pay a lot of money for insurance, as I'm sure you all do. We have a $1000 max per person per year for dental benefits, and I was certain we had an additional $1500 per person for ortho care. NOPE! Did the insurance company change your plan without notifying you? We paid about $2800 each for our kids' braces through the University of PA dental school. Student dentists, under supervision, work on the teeth. It's not convenient (going into downtown Philadelphia, ugh) but the care is good and it's a lot cheaper than the typical orthodontist. They also took payments; $50 a month for what seemed like forever! If you have a U dental school, check it out! We haven't had dental insurance for years; it's just too expensive for what is covered. Edited November 13, 2012 by marbel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristyB in TN Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 I sold insurance in a past life. ;) Dental coverage is rarely worth it anymore. It stinks, braces are expensive. I'm so sorry! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitestavern Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 We dropped our dental insurance when we realized we were paying the same for coverage (that only covered cleanings really) as we would oop. My braces a few years ago cost about $7000. They do have payment plans and are generally very happy to work with you to set something up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freerange Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 The more I read here, the more I appreciate the NHS. DD will most likely need braces in the next year. I don't know where we'd find that sort of money, but equally I can't imagine not having the work done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justLisa Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 Ugh that just sucks. I remember our last insurance for medial SUCKED. They didn't cover anything and it was so expensive. WE had a high deductable. I had to pay $500 for my IUD. DH switched jobs 2 months later and of course they 100% cover that :glare: Orthodontics are just so expensive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali in OR Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 Youngest is just finishing her phase 1 (12 mo, ~$3k), middle dd will be starting her 20-24 month adventure in Jan (~$5k), then youngest gets phase 2 (~$5k). Our insurance will pay a total lifetime amount of $1500 per kid--that helps. Still, it's expensive. Dh informs me that the max allowed in a health care reimbursement account has been LOWERED to $2500 per year, which doesn't even cover braces much less all of the other medical expenses we have per year. I need to look into what changed and write an angry letter to someone, maybe a congressman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaKinVA Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 Dh informs me that the max allowed in a health care reimbursement account has been LOWERED to $2500 per year, which doesn't even cover braces much less all of the other medical expenses we have per year. I need to look into what changed and write an angry letter to someone, maybe a congressman. And too add to that... they raised the amount you have to spend OOP before you can deduct it from your taxes. It used to be 7%, now it's 10% I'm having DH check on our dental, we switched to an in-network dentist for the kids because paying $50 OOP (AFTER insurance) for 2x a year cleanings, and 50% of fillings was killing us. Now, pretty much everything is covered. 50% of my kids braces are covered (max of $3,000), implants are supposedly covered under our insurance, but they have found a way to deny, deny, deny $50,000 of oral reconstruction for me (over 10 years, still $11k to go!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delaney Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 We don't have coverage and they range here from 6-7K depending on the number of appliances. We do get free retainers for life and after the first we don't pay anything for evaluations on the remaining kids. Stinks doesn't it? Let me tell you the end result is AMAZING:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brilliant Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 ... I was certain we had an additional $1500 per person for ortho care. NOPE! You probably DID have it at some point. We've had $1500 included on our plan for years (used it with ds a few years ago). For 2013, they are dropping it from the current provider's plan. My dh' company is switching insurance providers, and the new plan doesn't have it either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyfaithe Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 BTW, how much are braces?????? I need to start saving. Saving what, I don't know, since we are having a hard enough time as it is. Blah. For my dd it was a need...not a want. her jaw was deformed and it was causing sleep apnea...along with buck teeth and a receded bottom jaw. Her appliance (Herbst) and then her full set of braces will cost $7000 total. It is like having another car payment...bt we have no dental insurance...so we are paying the dr. out. Faithe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LMA Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 Youngest is just finishing her phase 1 (12 mo, ~$3k), middle dd will be starting her 20-24 month adventure in Jan (~$5k), then youngest gets phase 2 (~$5k). Our insurance will pay a total lifetime amount of $1500 per kid--that helps. Still, it's expensive. Dh informs me that the max allowed in a health care reimbursement account has been LOWERED to $2500 per year, which doesn't even cover braces much less all of the other medical expenses we have per year. I need to look into what changed and write an angry letter to someone, maybe a congressman. Are you talking about the flexible spending account that reimburses for uncovered expenses? Yes, it was lowered by the IRS to $2500 a year for 2013. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaT Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 BTW, how much are braces?????? I need to start saving. Saving what, I don't know, since we are having a hard enough time as it is. Blah. They are $4,000 to $5,000 around here. We are on our 5th set. Thank goodness for payment plans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieW in Texas Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 My dd's braces were $5200 and insurance covered $2500 of it. We were happy to get away with just $5200 for the braces. Because of her jaw issues, we were looking at the possibility of jaw surgery for her, but fortunately her lower jaw didn't recess or tilt any further, so that most likely won't need to happen. She is only 14yo, so there is still the possibility of her jaw moving, but it's a lot less likely now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasmama Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 We are paying (out of pocket because dental insurance covers none of it) $5500 for my oldest ds to have braces. His mouth is a hot mess. We probably could have found a cheaper ortho to do the braces, but my ds has so many complex dental issues that we knew he needed an experienced orthodontist. I need one more dental implant. I've gotten one already, several years ago. (congenital missing permanent teeth) My dental implant money went to ds's braces...and then some. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidbits of Learning Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 I would keep the dental unless you know you won't need any dental before the braces. I say this b/c we were sent for several oral surgeries before dd could get her braces on which included sealing some teeth as well. You also sometimes need to go to cleanings every 3 months with braces depending on how well your child can clean their teeth with the braces. We had expenses equaling almost the cost of braces for dental work the ortho requested before braces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GailV Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 Did the insurance company change your plan without notifying you? We paid about $2800 each for our kids' braces through the University of PA dental school. Student dentists, under supervision, work on the teeth. It's not convenient (going into downtown Philadelphia, ugh) but the care is good and it's a lot cheaper than the typical orthodontist. They also took payments; $50 a month for what seemed like forever! If you have a U dental school, check it out! That's what I was going to suggest -- look for a school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 My insurance covers ortho for the adult but not the kids. I think. Well, it only covers part of it, so I'd still be paying an arm and a leg, and I'm not that vain. At least one of my daughters will probably need braces. I am "bracing" myself. I'm sure it will be out of pocket like everything else for that kid seems to be. (But she's worth it, of course. ;)) Dental insurance is often uneconomical. You might want to consider dropping it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
besroma Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 We just found out today that there is a 24-month waiting period before DH's policy covers braces. The financial consultant at the ortho office said many people sign up for dental insurance expecting braces to be covered, only to be disappointed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amyrobynne Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 Our girls had dental cleanings today, and my oldest is going to be referred to an orthodontist. We knew it was coming; we'd just been waiting on her to lose a few more teeth. I called our insurance company today to find out about our orthodontic benefits, and to my surprise, we have ZERO coverage for orthodontics. We pay a lot of money for insurance, as I'm sure you all do. We have a $1000 max per person per year for dental benefits, and I was certain we had an additional $1500 per person for ortho care. NOPE! I had pretty much the same experience a couple weeks ago. My 8 year old's mouth looks like a shark's, with teeth coming in 2 rows because there's so little space. The dentist referred him to an orthodontist in January but I really, really didn't want to hear that we'd need to pay gobs of money. We finally made an appt in October. They ended up recommending that he have 4 baby teeth pulled -- the ones next to the front eight. Then those crooked front 8 will have room to straighten themselves as his jaw grows because the pulled ones won't come in for a few years. He'll almost certainly need braces but not until he has more permanent teeth. But we too have $1000 max dental coverage and I was sure we had some ortho coverage but was wrong. Boo. Definitely go get the free consultations though -- ours included free x-rays. They told us braces usually run $5000-$8000. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassy Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 The more I read here, the more I appreciate the NHS. DD will most likely need braces in the next year. I don't know where we'd find that sort of money, but equally I can't imagine not having the work done. :iagree: I was just thinking the very same thing. I'd been feeling increasingly annoyed about losing child benefit from January, but reading this it just doesn't seem such a big deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reeciecup Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 Definitely shop around. Usually orthodontists don't charge for the consultation, and we saved almost $2000 on one kid doing that! If we'd had just gone to the first orthodontist, the cost was so much more, than what we ended up paying. DD is out of braces now, in the same length of time that the more expensive ortho recommended, and she looks great. My son's getting his braces on Thursday, and my youngest dd will be right after him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownie Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 Dental insurance is often not worth it because the concept of insurance is to share the risk. Unlike with medical expenses, where one person ends up with cancer and the rest of us are paying in to cover their treatment, hoping it's not us, there really are comparatively few dental emergencies. Most of us aren't worried about dental emergencies and willing to pay a premium for it. The advantages are 1) your insurance company usually negotiates lower rates for everything and you pay at that lower rate (I don't know if that applies to ortho though) and 2) sometimes your company helps pay the premium. We have a choice of low, med and high dental. We take the low. I think we break about even in the end, but as soon as one person needs a filling we start to come out ahead. I think we may even come out ahead as soon as xrays are done...I'm not sure. I'd have to double check. BUT dh's company covers money toward our total benefits plan so that helps. No braces so far...thank goodness! That's as much as my college education cost each year! Brownie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 Youngest is just finishing her phase 1 (12 mo, ~$3k), middle dd will be starting her 20-24 month adventure in Jan (~$5k), then youngest gets phase 2 (~$5k). Our insurance will pay a total lifetime amount of $1500 per kid--that helps. Still, it's expensive. Dh informs me that the max allowed in a health care reimbursement account has been LOWERED to $2500 per year, which doesn't even cover braces much less all of the other medical expenses we have per year. I need to look into what changed and write an angry letter to someone, maybe a congressman. Our insurance paid $1500 for ds16's braces too. And DH and I are disappointed that they lowered the medical account amount by half. We used our $5000 by the end of October this year. We had braces and 3 oral surgeries (2 for me and 1 for ds), plus prescriptions. Thankfully we won't be having anymore surgeries, and I'm hoping the $2500 covers our monthly braces fees as well as our regular medical costs and prescriptions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 His front teeth stuck out so far that he couldn't close his mouth properly, so the NHS deemed it a medical need. If the teeth had just been uneven, then we would have needed to pay the full cost ourselves. Hobbes' dentist is starting to talk about braces, but I'm not convinced that they are needed - he certainly wouldn't qualify for NHS funding. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 The more I read here, the more I appreciate the NHS. DD will most likely need braces in the next year. I don't know where we'd find that sort of money, but equally I can't imagine not having the work done. The NHS pays for braces if there is a demonstrated medical need. Calvin's ortho had to take a lot of measurements and send them off for approval. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenC3 Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 I sold insurance in a past life. ;) Dental coverage is rarely worth it anymore. It stinks, braces are expensive. I'm so sorry! Right. The insurance company doesn't make any money from you, because you actually USE it:( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassy Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 The NHS pays for braces if there is a demonstrated medical need. Calvin's ortho had to take a lot of measurements and send them off for approval. Laura This surprises me. DS13 was sent by our dentist to the orthodontic department at our local hospital because his 'bite' was distorted. The orthodontist examined him and basically said that if DS13 wanted the work done to correct it then he could do it, on the NHS, but if DS13 wasn't experiencing any discomfort then it wasn't really necessary. We chose not to have the work done, but it was made perfectly clear that it was available on the NHS if we wanted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 My son did not have full mouth braces--they were only on the top front teeth. There were two oral surgeries at the time--these were covered under insurance. We were lucky because the orthodontia work came in around $2000 (including retainer) with dental insurance covering $1000. Part of the variation in costs depends upon the number of appliances needed and the length of time required. In my son's case, it was oral surgery that solved much of the problem. Certainly shop around but your daughter's mouth is going to be different than the next kid's. So don't expect comparable charges. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 This surprises me. DS13 was sent by our dentist to the orthodontic department at our local hospital because his 'bite' was distorted. The orthodontist examined him and basically said that if DS13 wanted the work done to correct it then he could do it, on the NHS, but if DS13 wasn't experiencing any discomfort then it wasn't really necessary. We chose not to have the work done, but it was made perfectly clear that it was available on the NHS if we wanted. If he, for example, had just been a bit snaggle-toothed, then the NHS would not have paid. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparrow Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 Agreeing with others that I don't hear of orthodontics covered that often under insurance, and if it is, the coverage is minimal. It just plain stinks. We are so thankful that most orthodontists will work with you on payments! My ds's teeth are paid off! We have a little bit of a reprieve waiting for my dd's slow to erupt teeth :hurray:. When all is said and done, after two phases of ortho for ds, unknown phases for dd, all of the extractions, and cleanings, we will have sunk close to $20,000 in our children's mouths :svengo:. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stayseeliz Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 DH sells insurance and tells people that it's pretty much throwing money away. I think the only thing good about it is that people are more likely to go if they have that coverage. My kids have cleanings the second week of December and I know they'll be referring DS11 to an ortho at that point. I'm going to shop around big time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dani3boys Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 My two youngest will be getting braces next month. They just got x-rays yesterday. Our insurance will pay for half of the total up to $2500. We have worked out a monthly payment plan with them. We will put $1000 down and then pay $216 a month for 18 months. We already saved about half of that using our flexible spending account for this year, and the rest will come out of our 2013 account. My oldest had braces two years ago. Even with decent insurance it will cost us $7500 for all three boys in the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassy Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 If he, for example, had just been a bit snaggle-toothed, then the NHS would not have paid. Laura Ah, one of those "first world problems", as DS13 would say :D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 Ah, one of those "first world problems", as DS13 would say :D. With Calvin, it was the exact degree of tilt that was the issue: he had to be buck toothed enough that the NHS thought it might cause medical problems. Just being buck toothed was not enough. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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