Your First Visit

At this appointment, you will meet with Dr. Hurd to discuss your concerns and needs. Dr. Hurd will perform a clinical examination and then discuss his recommendations. He will answer any questions you may have, treatment timing, types of orthodontic appliances and treatment alternatives. He has a computer program that will show photographs of different types of bite problems in order to help you understand what can be accomplished regarding your particular case. At times, treatment may not be suggested right away but rather it may be better to wait for more dental development or facial growth. One of our trained administrators will also provide information regarding fees, payment plans, insurance, etc. If you have orthodontic insurance, a pre-determination form will be filled out for you at the initial visit so that you may determine what coverage you have. You will receive a letter confirming Dr. Hurd's recommendations shortly after this appointment.

Diagnostic Records

If Dr. Hurd recommends treatment, it will be necessary to gather more detailed information in order to finalize a detailed treatment plan. The diagnostic records consists of photographs, plaster models of your teeth and x-rays of your teeth and jaws. This usually is done in a separate appointment, although occasionally this can be done at the time of your examination. Dr. Hurd will then analyze these records and send you a letter confirming his diagnosis and treatment plan. At this point, appointments can be scheduled to start your treatment.

Cost of Treatment

Dr. Hurd determines the total fee at the initial examination appointment. Fees vary according to the type of treatment required. We have several different options regarding fee payment, but the typical payment is plan is one that is spread out over the total treatment time in the form of a diagnostic records fee, initial appliance fee and monthly payments.

DURATION OF TREATMENT

Treatment time typically ranges from one to three years, depending on the growth of the patient's mouth and face and the severity of the problem. Patients grow at different rates and will respond variously to orthodontic treatment, so the time to case completion may differ from the original estimate. The patient's efforts in maintaining good oral hygiene, wearing elastics or appliances as prescribed and in keeping appointments are a major factor in both the success and duration of treatment.

Repeated breakage of the braces can lead to extended treatment time. Please do your best to be careful. Please call our office if a brace becomes loose.

OFFICE HOURS AND APPOINTMENTS

We would like you to understand the goals we seek to achieve by our appointment system. During active orthodontic treatment, our patients are usually seen at regular intervals about 4 to 8 weeks apart for adjustments to their appliances. Once the appliances are in place, these visits usually take about 20 minutes.

We have a different schedule for each working day. We have attempted to provide as many varied times as possible such as early mornings, lunchtimes and late afternoons.

We want to see each patient at the time of his or her scheduled appointment. Your time is valuable; it should not be wasted sitting in our reception room!

With this in mind, we have designed a schedule whereby the vast majority of the appointments can be scheduled during more desirable times, and longer or more involved procedures are performed during reserved times throughout the morning or early afternoon hours.

We will try our best to accommodate your schedule taking into consideration, work, school, extracurricular activities such as dance, basketball, etc. Unfortunately, there will likely be times in which your preferred spots may already be filled and we will need your cooperation in either rearranging your schedule or accepting an appointment at a less than ideal time. We do have a cancellation list that we can refer to as well.

Confirming: We do call and confirm all appointments

Because the schedule is carefully crafted, arriving late or missing your appointment can pose a problem. In fairness to the other scheduled patients, we will not jam a late arrival into the schedule. We may have to reschedule the appointment unless there is an opening that we had not expected. All failed or late appointments should be rescheduled as soon as possible. Since the after school and work hour appointments are booked many weeks in advance, it will likely be necessary to reschedule the missed appointment during the middle of the day. If you need an emergency appointment, we will bring you in as soon as possible to correct the problem.

Appointment times may be checked by logging on to our website once you have entered your e-mail address in our office and created a password.