Hours and Appointments
We realize how important your time is and we make every attempt to remain on schedule. For your convenience, appointment times are available Monday through Thursday, 8 to 5 p.m. with the exception of the lunch hour, which is 12 to 1 p.m. The office is also open on Friday morning for administrative purposes only. During active orthodontic treatment, our patients are usually seen at regular intervals about four to six weeks apart for adjustments to their appliances. Once the appliances are in place, these visits usually take about 20 minutes. Patients are seen by appointment only. If you cannot keep an appointment, please notify us immediately. It may be difficult to reschedule an appointment with very short notice, since most appointments are made weeks in advance. Please try to provide us with at least 24 hours notice if you wish to reschedule an appointment. We understand fully that many of our patients are adolescents who wish to be seen after school. Our schedule has been designed for the convenience of our patients with very specific objectives.
- To accommodate patients at their appointed times
- To allow our communications throughout treatment to be as thorough as possible and as frequent as may be needed
- To minimize the need for excessive time away from school or work
With this in mind, we have designed a schedule whereby the vast majority of appointments can be scheduled during more desirable times, while longer or more involved procedures are performed during reserved times throughout the morning or early afternoon hours. By doing this, we do not reserve an entire afternoon for just one or two patients but rather, we can accommodate as many families as possible with after school appointments. If you prefer to come to the office during our quieter time, you may schedule your appointments during school hours.
Late or missed appointments
We realize that occasionally unforeseen circumstances could necessitate changing an appointment, or could cause you to overlook one. Our goal in rescheduling appointments is to keep treatment progressing and on time. We will do our best to reschedule your appointment as soon as possible. However, in order to avoid a delay in treatment, it may become necessary to reschedule a previous after-school or work appointment to a time during school or work hours. Missing appointments, waiting a month for late appointments or making numerous appointment changes could inevitably result in an extension of your treatment time.
Treatment Fees
Orthodontic fees are determined by the complexity of the orthodontic problem, the types of appliances required to correct the problem and individual therapeutic requirements. Occasionally, multiple methods are available to treat a single problem. We will give you a fee estimate at the initial examination along with financial arrangement options. The exact financial arrangements will be made once Dr. Hallgren has been able to study the orthodontic records, finalize his diagnosis and present you with the treatment options available. We do not believe in “hidden costs”, and all fees, insurance coverage and payment plan options will be presented and discussed prior to starting any treatment. We offer a no-interest payment plan with a down payment at the start of treatment and consecutive monthly payments to cover the remaining balance. We are also happy to accommodate your medical savings account/flexible spending plans. For your convenience, we accept cash, personal checks, Visa and MasterCard and can, if requested, provide automatic payment plans with the use of credit or debit cards.
Dental Insurance
We accept most major insurance plans. Patients should bring all insurance information to their first appointment. We are happy to complete your insurance forms and submit the appropriate claims information to ensure that our patients receive their maximum insurance benefits.
There are many different agreements between insurance carriers and their subscribers, and each contract provides a different benefit. However, orthodontic insurance generally differs from regular dental insurance in that each insured individual usually has a lifetime maximum benefit for orthodontic services. This benefit is paid as a percentage of the orthodontic fee until the benefit maximum has been reached. Charges for lost or broken appliances may not be covered by insurance.
For your convenience, we will gladly assist you by submitting all insurance claims pertaining to charges for care rendered in our office. If you have orthodontic insurance, we apply your orthodontic benefit to the total treatment fee and your remaining “out-of-pocket” payments are usually paid with a down payment at the start of treatment and consecutive no-interest monthly payments to cover the remaining balance.
Please be aware that our primary financial relationship is with our patients or their families and not with their respective insurance companies; therefore, should you lose your insurance benefits during treatment or if your insurance benefits are not paid as expected for any other reason, the remaining balance becomes your responsibility.