Orthodontics! At first it was 4 million won, but by the end it was 6 million won?

Hello.

I’m Park Yeol, an orthodontic specialist and the director of Dr. Prime Dental Clinic near Gangnam Station.

One of the things people are most curious about when they come for an orthodontic consultation is, of course, the cost of treatment.

They say it can be confusing because the orthodontic fees vary so much from one clinic to another, and that makes it difficult to choose a clinic.

Orthodontic treatment takes a long time and costs a lot, so it is only natural to want to know the total cost accurately before starting.

However, many people say that since the prices and calculation methods seem to differ from clinic to clinic, I’ll explain orthodontic costs in detail today.

When people ask about the cost, many clinics explain it like this:

"The cost of the orthodontic appliance is this much. Then, after starting treatment, you pay this much per month as a monthly fee, if tooth extraction is needed the extraction cost is this much, if a mini-screw is inserted during treatment that cost is this much, and the retainer worn after treatment costs this much." Something like that.

In fact, explanations like this can be a bit hard for patients to understand.

If you understand it as the initial amount you pay and listen to the explanation, then the additional costs that come up during treatment and even after treatment ends are not insignificant.

So when judging orthodontic costs, you should not look only at the initial price.

Let me give you an example.

Looking at Clinic A, they first said 3.8 million won, but since they said monthly fees would start after one year, if the total treatment period is two years, you would pay 600,000 won until the end (one year’s monthly fees), and if two screws are inserted, add 200,000 won, so the total cost comes to 4.6 million won. The 3.8 million won you pay at the beginning is not the whole amount.

And although it is not included here, they may also charge an additional retainer fee, so you should check that as well.

Anyway, if you calculate it that way, the orthodontic cost is not 3.8 million won as first stated, but should be considered at more than 4.6 million won.

Clinic B said the initial cost was 4.8 million won, but since they said treatment would take two years, an additional 1.2 million won in monthly fees is added, and if four teeth are extracted and we assume four screws are inserted, another 400,000 won is added, so the total cost is not 4.8 million won but 6.4 million won. Retainer costs are also not included here, so there could be additional charges.

(In the past, there were many clinics that continued charging monthly fees until the treatment ended, even if the orthodontic period became longer than originally planned.

Treatment was expected to take about a year and a half to two years, so patients started orthodontic treatment assuming they would only pay monthly fees for that period. But because patients were less careful, especially elementary, middle, and high school students, appliances often came off, or because they could not visit the clinic often, or for other reasons, the treatment period became longer and unexpected monthly fees were incurred. These days, there are fewer such clinics, but if the orthodontic period becomes longer than expected, you should still check whether additional monthly fees will be charged.)

In the case of Clinic C, they said the initial cost was 5.2 million won, but there are no additional costs.

So you can think of the total cost at this clinic as 5.2 million won.

Since this total cost includes the monthly fees, screw fees, and retainer fees, there would be no additional charges at all.

I am not trying to say that one of these three methods is the best.

Rather, because each clinic has a different way of calculating orthodontic fees, what patients need to know is:

How much is the total orthodontic cost for the entire treatment period?

And whether there are any additional costs beyond the total cost.

(The total orthodontic cost does not include wisdom tooth extraction fees or cavity treatment fees.

Almost no dental clinic includes these in the orthodontic cost.)

So when you go for a consultation, after hearing the full explanation of the cost, ask, So what is the total cost? and then make your decision.

Of course, choosing a dental clinic based only on orthodontic cost is not a good approach, but when judging and comparing orthodontic costs, doing it this way will help.

Direct link to Dr. Prime Dental Clinic Naver reservation

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