We live in Ann Arbor, home of the U of Michigan. Since they were toddlers, my 2 girls have received all their dental treatment at the pediatric division of the U of M's Dental School. All the work is done by graduate students specializing in dentistry under constant supervision by the teaching staff, top notch professors. As you can imagine, this reduces our dental costs. A recent check up, cleaning and fluoride treatment for our second daughter, aged 12, cost us $58.50 (with an identical amount charged to our dental insurance which pays 50% of such bills). I have no idea what independent dentists charge for such treatment, but it must be more.
Both our girls have also received all their orthodontic care under the U of M's dental school care. We pay a set amount per month. For our eldest daughter this was $158 for about a year, or year and a half. For our youngest, it is $125 a month. It is still a couple of thousand dollars per child for the full treatment, but I think the ortho bill can run to about $5,000 with independent orthodontists: am I right?
Yeah, I am right. I just found a site online (
www.bracesinfo.com/dentalcosts/) where you can find out the average and the highest amount spent on orthodontics for youth/adolescents or adults in cities across the USA. I compared Ann Arbor, MI with San Diego, CA. The highest amount paid last year in Ann Arbor for ortho for an adolescent was $6749. The highest for the same age category in San Diego was $7249. So, there you have it. Ortho/dental schools with good reputations can save you a bundle!
It is definitely worth checking out. And, if you have better dental insurance than us (ours hardly pays any of the ortho treatment, pretty shitty), it can reduce your bill even more.
Clare
