Orthodontic treatment costs and financing

Name: Dan Smethurst Orthodontist
Telephone: 07-578-9166

At Dan Smethurst Orthodontics, we aim to provide high-quality, affordable orthodontic treatment for adult, teenage and child patients alike at our clinic in Tauranga.

That is why we have flexible, interest-free payment plans to suit all budgets and we keep our prices transparent, so you can see exactly how much your orthodontic treatment will cost.

Our orthodontic treatment costs:

Treatment	Costs from:
Simple cases	$5,500 - $7,500
Moderate cases	$8,500 - $10,500
Complex cases	$10,500 - $11,500

Pre-treatment fees

The following costs will be incurred before treatment is agreed upon:

New Patient Consultation costs:

$60 for patients under 10 years old
$95 for patients over 10 years old
$60 for recall (progress) visits
$240 for full diagnostic records (x-rays, impressions, photographs)

Treatment fees

At your New Patient Consultation, we will discuss the treatment fees for your customised plan and agree upon them before treatment begins.

These fees include:

Fitting of braces and auxiliary appliances
All materials
Adjustments throughout treatment
Emergency visits
Braces removal
Making and fitting of retainers

The treatment fee does not include the following, which are subject to extra charges:

New patient consultation and diagnostic records
Services provided outside our practice including dental treatment carried out by your dentist or another specialist (e.g., extractions, surgical uncovering of teeth)
Excessive breakages
Replacing lost or broken appliances including retainers
Retainer care after 18 months post-treatment

Additional fees

We reserve the right to charge additional fees during treatment for the following reasons:

Missed appointments
Revisions to the treatment plan from a problem not identified at the consultation
Unnecessarily prolonged treatment due to directions not being followed (e.g., elastics not worn as directed, appliances not cared for, excessive breakages)

Our payment options

To make payments more convenient for you, we offer automatic payment options.

An initial deposit will need to be paid on or before the date that your braces are fitted. The balance is then paid monthly in equal automatic instalments during the course of your treatment.

We offer interest-free terms for orthodontic treatment. We recommend contacting us if your payment plan presents financial difficulties before payment becomes overdue. We can try to restructure your payment schedule to suit you, provided that the balance is paid before the treatment ends.

Payment methods

We accept payment by cash or EFTPOS. Credit cards are accepted for payment in full or for initial deposits. Automatic payments commence one month after treatment commences and monthly thereafter. All manual monthly payments are due on the 20th of each month.

If a patient’s account becomes overdue, please be aware that we reserve the right to charge interest on the overdue portion and we may apply a late payment fee. If a collection agent must be used to recover overdue payments, their fee (which is likely to be 25% (min$25.00) of the overdue portion) will be added to the account.