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| - It's affordable but may not be worth it in the long run.
Fall 2014, I consulted a conventional orthodontist and Risas about getting adult braces. This would be the 2nd time for me since I had had them as an adolescent. The traditional orthodontist quoted me: $5K & 3 years for a perfect smile and bite with brackets on my molars. He even said that would include shaving my teeth so they'd align perfectly. Risas quoted me: $3K & 2 years for a nearly perfect smile with bite work and neither brackets on my molars nor shaving my teeth.
Since my teeth were quickly becoming a mess, and I didn't believe I'd get financing at the traditional orthodontist's office, I went with Risas. I obtained financing from Care Credit in only a few short days. I paid in full with Risas in order to get the discounted price for the braces, labor, and retainer.
Adjustments are every 6 weeks and no sooner and they run a tight schedule, so if you miss an appointment, you may have to wait AT LEAST 6 more weeks before you can get back. Like most people, I can't just leave work whenever I want; I have to get permission from a supervisor in advance. So this was a foreseeable issue. As such, the Risas orthodontist assured me that they'd work with my government schedule.
Unfortunately, life happens! Sometimes, you miss an appointment because you end up at the hospital, in a huge traffic jam due to a pile-up, or your office requires that you hold down the fort due to an unforeseeable issue, say a VIP drops in unannounced.
I really regret NOT looking into financing options at the conventional orthodontist because it has been a loooong 2 years. My teeth moved faster than expected but weren't removed sooner because, with all my missed appointments (life happens!), I wore my braces for about 6 months longer than I really should have.
I think that a conventional orthodontist could have straightened out my teeth sooner by seeing me once every 4 weeks instead of every 6 weeks AND by accommodating my work schedule. In short, it could have taken only 12 to 24 mos for perfect teeth instead of 2 years for straight teeth.
Given all the time I've used at Risas, I could be only a few months away from a perfect smile with a perfect bite and straight molars. Because my molars are not straight, they catch food-not plaque-but food! This will become an issue when I'm a senior citizen and elderly. I'm not an orthodontist and I had NO IDEA that crooked molars would capture food. I just thought it would be a cosmetic issue.
This is such a bummer.
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