How do so many lower income families afford braces for their teens?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Braces aren’t always a purely cosmetic issue. Improving a child’s bite can make a big difference in future health.

And, yes, braces can also help a child’s appearance, maybe in a way that might improve the child’s ability to make a good impression in a job interview as an adult, which could lead to a better job, and a way out of poverty.

A good smile is very important in life, especially for teens, and as you said can help elevate your class status. Which is why I'm troubled that the rich can casually afford braces for their teens and apparently the poor can get them for free (?), but orthodontics may or most likely may not be in the cards for middle class teens.

The poor cannot get them for free. OP is assuming the poor get them for free because she hasn't considered that these folks may not be as poor as she thinks they are, plus ignoring PPs' great points about dental schools and payment plans, and ignores the fact that these kids are getting braces years after middle class kids have finished their treatments.

[Anonymous]

See the link above. There are shady dentists that will deem braces to be medically neccessary and therefore covered by medicaid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’re a two parent house, college educated, decent careers. Even with supposed good insurance we really struggled to pay for braces for our two oldest. My youngest daughter plays on a cheap YMCA sports league and it seems basically every lower income teen her age has braces. Meanwhile we’re still saving $ to put her in braces. Where do they all find the $ for orthodontia? I’m at a loss as to how this is possible.

I'm struggling to understand how you can't come up with $3K - before insurance.

If you have two incomes, and decent careers - where is all of your income going.

Two years of braces and everything is not $3k - more like $5k+. And even if it was, that’s more than their car is worth, in some cases.

then you're getting royally ripped off.

You and the other person who said it was $4-10K are TOTALLY getting ripped off. I've got 2 kids in braces now and a 3rd one will get them next year. We pay about $2,500 for each kid. It's a set rate and includes all visits/follow up.

In Nebreaska? Name the ortho in DC working for that price or I call troll.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe they budget and save better than you do?

CNN says 40% of Americans can't cover a $400 emergency expense, but low-income families have thousands laying around for (sometimes multiple) kids to get braces? Something doesn't add up.

https://money.cnn.com/2018/05/22/pf/emergency-expenses-household-finances/index.html

Again, how do you know how much money these parents make and how much their expenses are?

Please read the thread, as this has been answered. The girls qualify for $80 YMCA league fee waivers and if their parents work, it's low-paid entry level service industry gigs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://www.mykoolsmiles.com/content/can-i-get-braces-with-medicaid

From that link, a list of what kinds of deformities and side-effects qualify a person for braces with Medicaid. So, basically, the answer is: only if you are severely severely impacted and sometimes not even then.

Cleft palate

Difficulty opening the mouth, usually caused by structural jaw issues

Problems eating or chewing normally

Experiencing speech impediments from tooth and jaw problems

Severe underbites, crossbites and overbites

Teeth that are positioned horizontally rather than vertically (also known as overjet)

Impacted teeth with an eruption

Teeth that are missing due to pre-existing hereditary conditions (such as hypodontia)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:See the link above. There are shady dentists that will deem braces to be medically neccessary and therefore covered by medicaid.

But this seems too widespread to be some isolated shady scheme. There are maybe 100 plus low-income young teens in the league currently in braces.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They probably get it for “free” (#yourepayingforit).

Okay, how? I don’t want to pay another $7k.

The same way they qualify for their food stamps. They don’t work.

Many people on food stamps actually work minimum wage jobs. Maybe if states raised their minimum wages more people could get off food stamps. That was a novel idea floated by a wealthy R in CA.

https://www.cbpp.org/research/policy-basics-the-supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program-snap

Raising min wage will only make braces (among other things) more expensive for the rest of us.

Op this is just another example of how the middle class loses. We make too much to qualify for assistance yet too little to easily afford things like braces.

OK, so don't raise the minimum wage, don't provide welfare, don't help poor people at all. Let them pull themselves up by their bootstraps?

Isn't this a similar argument for illegal immigrant workers? They pick your produce for dirt cheap so you can afford organic strawberries, but if we raise wages because American workers won't take these jobs for $10/hr, then we'd have to raise the price of food. Should we do that, too?

Basically, yes let them pull themselves up and work for a better life. That’s what we had to do. No one was giving me free handouts. I’ve worked my butt off since I was 16!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.mykoolsmiles.com/content/can-i-get-braces-with-medicaid

From that link, a list of what kinds of deformities and side-effects qualify a person for braces with Medicaid. So, basically, the answer is: only if you are severely severely impacted and sometimes not even then.

Cleft palate

Difficulty opening the mouth, usually caused by structural jaw issues

Problems eating or chewing normally

Experiencing speech impediments from tooth and jaw problems

Severe underbites, crossbites and overbites

Teeth that are positioned horizontally rather than vertically (also known as overjet)

Impacted teeth with an eruption

Teeth that are missing due to pre-existing hereditary conditions (such as hypodontia)

The bolded one is surprisingly common...

[Anonymous]

A shady dentist will tell anyone they have a severe overbite or underbite.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A shady dentist will tell anyone they have a severe overbite or underbite.

you are going to begrudge a child braces?

[Anonymous]

Do they have a union job that you just think is crummy but actually comes with really good benefits? I've seen some union dental plans that have terrific coverage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A shady dentist will tell anyone they have a severe overbite or underbite.

....and risk being charged with Medicaid fraud? Does it happen? Probably. Is it common? Probably not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A shady dentist will tell anyone they have a severe overbite or underbite.

....and risk being charged with Medicaid fraud? Does it happen? Probably. Is it common? Probably not.

Because most DCUM posters are not going to these crappy dentists nor are we going to the crappy doctors that hand out prescriptions for painkillers like candy for a fee. I've seen both where I grew up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think part of the answer lies in OP's question itself. She's asking how families of TEENS are affording braces.

As another PP pointed out, best practice is now to have the orthodonia completed before a child hits that age. Third through fifth grades, mostly.

So, these families are saving until their children are older than the ideal, because they DON'T just have $3K sitting around. It took them a while to save enough to pay. Hence the beater cars, etc.

Maybe if your kid needs extensive care, yes. My kid just has a slight overbite and the dentist and ortho didn't want to see him until he was turning 13.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A shady dentist will tell anyone they have a severe overbite or underbite.

....and risk being charged with Medicaid fraud? Does it happen? Probably. Is it common? Probably not.

Because most DCUM posters are not going to these crappy dentists nor are we going to the crappy doctors that hand out prescriptions for painkillers like candy for a fee. I've seen both where I grew up.

I grew up in the a** end of Methville, Idaho and here's a thing that taught me - Medicaid requires an enormous amount of paperwork and justification for coverage. Fraud, particularly for something like this, is just not worth it for the provider or the patient. The cost margin isn't high enough for the provider, and the upside isn't high enough for the patient (no one is addicted to braces).