Free Really Should Mean Free
A consultation should cost you time and nothing else — no charge for the exam, no charge for the x-rays and scan, and no obligation to start treatment. That is how ours works, and it is a fair thing to confirm when you call any office.
What to Bring
Your insurance card, recent dental x-rays if your dentist can send them over, and a list of questions. If your child has been complaining about jaw clicking, difficulty chewing, or snoring, write it down. Those details change what we look for.
Step 1: Records
Digital x-rays, photographs, and a digital scan of the teeth. The scan takes a few minutes and has replaced the tray of impression material entirely — nothing to gag on. See our technology page for what we use.
Step 2: The Exam
The orthodontist examines tooth position, how the bite meets, the jaw joints, the gums, and, for children, how permanent teeth are developing beneath the surface. This is the part where specialty training shows: a growing child’s case is about timing as much as alignment.
Step 3: The Findings, in Plain English
You see your own images on the screen while we explain what is happening, whether it needs treatment, what happens if you do nothing, and how urgent it is. “Nothing needs to be done yet” is a legitimate outcome, especially for younger children, and it means we put you on a periodic growth check instead of starting appliances early for no reason.
Step 4: Options and a Real Number
If treatment is recommended, you leave with the options for your case, the estimated length, the full cost, an insurance estimate, and monthly payment options — in writing, before you commit to anything. Anything vague here is a warning sign anywhere you go.
Step 5: Take It Home
There should be no pressure to start the same day. A treatment plan is worth thinking about, and a good practice expects you to.
How Long Does It Take?
Budget about an hour. Same-day starts are possible if you are ready and the case is straightforward, but that is your call, not ours.
Questions Worth Asking While You Are There
Does the quote include retainers and all adjustment visits? Who will I see at each appointment? How are emergencies handled? What happens if treatment runs longer than estimated? Our what makes us different page answers a few of them in advance.
Why the Records Are Worth Sitting Through
The temptation at a free consultation is to skip straight to the price. The records are what make the price meaningful, and they are the part patients most often undervalue.
A panoramic radiograph shows the whole jaw at once – unerupted teeth, the angle they are heading in, missing or extra teeth, the position of the roots, and the state of the jaw joints. In a child it is the only way to see whether a permanent tooth is blocked or heading into a neighbouring root, which is a problem that becomes far harder to solve once it has happened.
A lateral cephalometric radiograph shows the jaws in profile and lets us measure the relationship between them. That measurement is what separates a tooth problem from a jaw problem, and the answer determines whether the case is a straightforward one or a growth-timing one.
None of that is visible in a mirror or a photograph. A plan offered without it is an estimate rather than a diagnosis.
What “Nothing Yet” Actually Means
A meaningful share of children who come in for a consultation need no treatment that day, and being told so is a good outcome rather than a wasted visit.
What happens instead is periodic observation – usually a short check every six to twelve months while permanent teeth arrive and the jaws grow. Those visits are free at most practices, including ours, and their purpose is to catch the small number of developments that have a timing window: a crossbite causing a jaw shift, a canine erupting off course, a developing underbite.
Be wary of the opposite answer. If every child who walks in is recommended for immediate treatment, the recommendation carries no information.
Reading the Written Estimate
You should leave with a document, not a verbal figure. When you get home, check it for the items that commonly sit outside a headline price.
Diagnostic records – sometimes billed separately. Retainers at the end of treatment, and replacements if one is lost. Repair visits for broken brackets. Refinement trays in an aligner case. Extended treatment if the case runs past its estimate.
Any of these can add a meaningful amount, and a quote that excludes them is not comparable to one that includes them. The useful question is not “how much” but “what does that number cover”.
Bring the Details That Sound Irrelevant
Several things patients think are unrelated change what we look for.
Snoring, mouth breathing or restless sleep in a child are worth mentioning, because breathing patterns influence how the upper jaw develops. Jaw clicking, locking or morning soreness point to the joint. A history of thumb sucking or prolonged pacifier use explains a lot about front tooth position. A tooth knocked in a fall years ago may have a root that needs watching before any force is applied to it.
Also bring a list of medications. A few affect bone turnover, which is directly relevant to how teeth move.
Take the Plan Home
There should be no pressure to decide in the chair, and a practice that creates urgency around a two-year commitment is telling you something about how it operates.
Second opinions are ordinary and free almost everywhere. If two practices propose materially different plans – one recommending extractions and one not, one recommending early treatment and one monitoring – ask each why they would not do what the other proposed. Good clinicians answer that readily because they have already considered it.
What to Expect Afterwards
If you decide to proceed, the next appointment is usually placement, which is longer than an adjustment visit and entirely painless, though teeth are typically sore for several days afterwards.
If you decide to wait, nothing is lost. Your records stay on file and you are entitled to copies of them, which saves repeating radiographs elsewhere.
Book It
Consultations are free at both our Tulsa and Bixby offices. Request yours and get a straight answer about your smile.