Have you been considering orthodontic treatment but aren’t sure how to manage the financial component? You aren’t alone! Many of the people who we connect with at our office are concerned with paying for orthodontics, and we understand that it isn’t cheap! While we believe that straightening your smile is totally worth it for the long-term health benefits, we understand that you have other factors to consider!
Not sure whether you need to have dental insurance to cover your orthodontic care? We are here to go through all the details on insurance, paying out of pocket, and what we do to ensure that just about everyone has access to life-changing orthodontic care! Dr. Pakravan and the Windy City Ortho team, including our treatment coordinators, will work with you individually to ensure that we make a plan uniquely suited to you and your family!
What is Orthodontic Treatment?
To get us started, we need to have a better understanding of what orthodontics is and why it’s essential to your long-term health! Orthodontics is a specialized area of dentistry that focuses on the alignment of your teeth, jaw, and bite. Aligning the mouth is about more than just a pretty smile–though we do love that outcome for our patients!
More importantly, an aligned bite and jaw means a healthier smile. When teeth are overly crowded and crooked, it can cause unhealthy clashing when you bite and chew, wearing away at tooth enamel. This can cause sensitivity and eventually lead to decay, cavities, and tooth loss in the worst cases. A misaligned bite that puts too much pressure on the muscles of the jaw can create painful conditions like TMJ when left untreated. Overall, orthodontics can help you preserve your teeth for a lifetime and support a great quality of life as you age.
What is Dental Insurance?
So now, let’s dive into the financial side of orthodontics! Dental insurance comes up a lot when we talk to our patients about finances. Dental insurance is a plan that covers some dental care in exchange for a monthly premium that you pay. Each insurance company is a little different, and their policies can be unique to each person, so be sure to read the fine print and give them a call if you need to know more about what they will cover.
Some dental insurance plans include orthodontics, and others require separate policies. If you have dental insurance, it’s worth doing a little bit of exploring to find out what options you have under your coverage and how that might assist you as you look into orthodontics. We would be happy to check your orthodontic benefits for you. Our office accepts most major insurance plans in Illinois!
One of the challenges with dental insurance is that they often dictate which treatments and procedures they will cover with their own limitations and exceptions. This might impact the treatment plan that you devise with Dr. Pakravan, so you will need to take those things into consideration and decide if you want limited insurance options or if you would rather cover things on your own.
Is Dental Insurance the Only Way to Pay?
Thankfully, insurance isn’t the only way to pay for orthodontics! Our Lakeview and Lincoln Park offices are set up to support patients of all different budget sizes to ensure that their care is affordable for each family. Here are a few of the ways that we can work with you:
Tailored Payment Plans
Everything about you is unique, which is why your payment plan should be unique as well! When you come into our office for your free consultation appointment with Dr. Pakravan, you will also sit down with our treatment coordinator to talk through payment details. The cost will depend on the complexity of the treatments you need, and the payment will reflect your monthly budget and ability! Feel free to be open and share your realistic goals for payments, and we will do our best to make sure it all fits!
Flexible Financing and Payment Options
When you are planning for the future, you need to be able to predict how much and how long you will be paying for your orthodontic treatment. This is where our financing plans come in! We also allow payment through all the major credit cards, HSAs, and more. What we are trying to say is–you’ve got options! Feel free to ask us questions if you have them!
Get Discounts!
While we aren’t able to offer every discount to every patient, there are some discounts we can give based on circumstance! If you have multiple family members all getting treatment with us, you may be able to get a discount. We also periodically have other discounts available! Be sure to ask our treatment coordinator when you sit down with them!
We Are Here to Support Your Smile for Life!
The time is now to start caring for your smile, and we are the right team to support you! Let our orthodontic team at Windy City Orthodontics work with you to make a plan so that your orthodontic care won’t break the bank, and you’ll still get the results of a dazzling, straight smile. Don’t let finances get in the way of exploring all of your options! Give us a call today to set up your free consultation appointment, and we hope to see you in our office very soon!