Payment plans: how families actually pay for treatment

At our practice, a treatment fee is typically split into a down payment and equal monthly instalments spread across the length of treatment, arranged directly through our office — flexible down payments, 0% interest, extended plans where a family needs them, and family and pay-in-full discounts. Contact us for details. On an 18–24 month case that lands most families in the low hundreds per month before insurance.

How ours works

Flexible down payments. 0% interest, always. Extended plans where a family needs a lower monthly figure. Family discounts when more than one of you is in treatment, and a pay-in-full discount for those who'd rather settle at the start. Contact us for details — the coordinator will lay out the options at the free consultation.

• Written fee first — with retainers included and every inclusion listed, so the plan is built on a complete number.
• Down payment at the start of treatment, then monthly instalments by automatic payment.
• Direct billing — we submit to your insurer so your instalments reflect only your share (see insurance in BC).
• Two-plan coordination mapped before you start, if the family has two benefit plans.
• Discounts for paying in full, and family discounts when more than one of you is in treatment — contact us for details.

What to check in any clinic's plan

Whether there's interest or a financing fee buried in the monthly number. Whether the plan is with the clinic or a lender running a credit check. What happens if treatment runs longer than estimated — does the fee change? Whether retainers, refinements and emergency visits are inside the number being financed. A plan can look small per month and still be built on an incomplete fee.

Children's treatment and timing

Two-phase treatment has two fees at two different times, years apart. We'll tell you both at the first phase so the family can plan; see what Phase 1 costs and why. Families in genuine hardship with a child who needs treatment should ask us about Smiles Change Lives, which exists for exactly that situation.

A worked example

A comprehensive case quoted at $7,200 with retainers included. Down payment $1,200. Balance $6,000 over twenty months at $300 a month, interest-free, by automatic payment. The family's plan covers fifty percent to a $2,500 lifetime maximum; with direct billing, the insurer's $2,500 is applied across treatment and the family's monthly figure drops to roughly $175. A second family plan coordinated behind the first would lower it again. Numbers vary with the case and the plan, but that's the shape of most arrangements we make.

What if circumstances change

Tell us. Job changes, insurance changes, a family emergency — we've restructured plans for all of them, and we'd rather adjust an instalment than have treatment stall. Paying ahead is always allowed without penalty. And if treatment runs a few months longer than estimated, the fee doesn't change; that's part of quoting a complete number in the first place.

Payment plan questions

Related reading

• Costs — the fee ranges
• Insurance — how direct billing lowers your share
• Phase 1 costs — two fees, two plans

The bottom line

A complete fee, split into a down payment and interest-free monthly instalments through our office, with insurance direct-billed so you pay only your share. No lender, no credit check, no change if treatment runs long. For most families that puts comprehensive treatment in the low hundreds per month. Bring your benefit booklet to the free consultation and leave with the exact figure.

If it were our own budget

We'd confirm zero interest, no lender, a fee that doesn't grow, and retainers inside the financed number — then choose the monthly figure that survives a bad month rather than the shortest term.