Newbie queston about widely varying treatment time estimates

[Phillymanhere]

Hi,

I'm a newbie here, and I've done some reading of back posts.

I know that different orthodontists have different approaches and that there are many ways to achieve good results. But I've been to five orthodontists, and I've got estimates of treatment time from about 1 year to 2.5 years.

Ironically the guy I liked the most gave an estimate of 2.5 years, the longest estimate. I had all but ruled him out based on this, but I'm now I'm rethinking this. I figure if I'm going to go to an office and let someone into my mouth , I probably should go to someone I really like (who is also competent of course). And this guy (Mr. 2.5 years) was also the one who gave the most thorough exam of my teeth during the consultation.

So my question: when estimates vary from 1 year to 2.5 years, are these folks taking wildly different approaches to straightening my teeth and my bite problems? Or are some people just more cautious or optimistic in their estimates of treatment time.

My discount plan pays only for conventional braces or ceramic. So all the above estimates were of treatment involving conventional braces.

Thanks.

[MCOMarkhamOrthodontist]

Make sure all of these treatment time estimates are going to be achieving the same thing. It doesn't sound likely that this will be the case with such a discrepancy in the time. Some may simply be lining up your teeth within each arch, while others may be coordinating the top and bottom jaws together.

Good luck!

[Dr.B]

Sad to say that it usually involves competition with other orthodontists for the lowest treatment times or making your payments as low as possible. For Example on a 25% discount plan;

ortho A charges $4000 ($3000 with discount plan) for 12 months of treatment = $250/mo He will probably finish in 18-19 months and you'll be mad
Ortho B charges $4800 ($3600 with discount plan) for 18 months of treatment = $200/mo He will probably finish in 18-19 month and you'll be satisfied
Ortho c charges $5600 ($4200 with discount plan) for 24 months of treatment = $175/mo He will finish miraculously in month 24 and you'll be satisfied.

[Phillymanhere]

Thanks Dr. Tam for the insight ... It totally clicked when I made my last visit before I chose the orthodontist I wanted. They were indeed seeking different goals, some very modest, some full-scale ... aligning the bite and all ...

Dr. B, great information for the readers here ... It so happens that in my case, my discount plan has a set copay for all orthodontists in the network. My copay and the fee the discount plan would pay were the same for all the orthodontists I'm talking about.

Some orthos seemed to think straightening the teeth within each arch was sufficient, and others right away said they would want to try to fix my bite, most likely using rubber bands at some point ... Funny thing is ... it took me visiting 6 or so orthodontists and coming here (and doing tons of reading) before I figured all this out--again thanks Dr. Tam.