Getting Started:
Your first step in improving your smile, your bite, and your overall health is scheduling an appointment for a FREE, no obligation initial examination! You can do this online by clicking here. You can also call us at 423-531-4533 or contact us via e-mail by clicking here.
Once you are scheduled, we will e-mail you our intake forms which you can complete and bring with you to your appointment.
At your examination appointment, Dr. Marie will thoroughly examine your mouth, teeth, jaws, and smile, and our staff will take a panoramic x-ray and/or photographs if indicated. The exam, x-ray, and photographs are all complimentary to you.
Dr. Farrar will share with you her initial impressions about what will be involved in your treatment, an answer the two most common questions patients and parents have: “how long?” and “how much?”
If you would like to proceed after the initial exam appointment, there are 4 more steps to actually getting your braces on. Step 2 is the completion of your diagnostic records (taking an x-ray of your skull and molds of your mouth). Then we will schedule a pre-treatment consultation (Step 3) a week after your records are taken.
Typical braces require separators or “spacers” (Step 4) to be placed on either side of the molars 5-10 days prior to the day you will actually get the braces placed (Step 5--hooray). This spacer appointment only takes about 5 minutes, but the appointment to have the braces put on will take about an hour and a half.
As a convenience to you, our office is happy to work with you to combine these five steps into as few as two appointments when possible. We will never pressure you, however, into getting started before you are fully informed and ready to proceed.
Once the braces are on, you will be rescheduled for braces adjustment appointments roughly every 6 weeks until it is time for them to be removed. Before you know it, your braces will be off, especially if you do your part by coming to all your scheduled appointments, by wearing your rubber bands, and by being careful not to break any brackets or wires!
How Can I Afford Braces?
Well, it's a whole lot less expensive than you might think. Especially when you consider the value of a lifetime of healthy, confident smiles!
Our office offers discounts for full payment at the start of treatment, as well as payment plans using a monthly automatic draft service, OrthoBanc. So that mean no pesky payment booklets! Your monthly charges can be paid from a checking or savings account, or they can be charged to your Visa, Mastercard, Discover, or American Express. Some patients are able to charge their monthly payments directly to their health savings account.
We also offer outside financing options through Care Credit.
Maximizing your Insurance Benefit
Our office is happy to file your insurance claims and help you receive the maximum allowable benefit. We regret that we do not participate with any HMO insurance plans because of the steep reduction in fees that they require. We are not able to provide the high quality of care and service our patients are accustomed to if we have to reduce our fees significantly.
If you have PPO plan, we may not show up on your list of "in network" providers. However, we can file your insurance, and your insurance benefit will be exactly the same as if you seek treatment in network. It's a little understood fact that most orthodontic fees are not limited by a PPO plan because orthodontic insurance uses a lifetime maximum.