Welcome

Thank you for choosing us! We appreciate the confidence you have placed in us, and we are pleased that you have turned to our office for your family’s orthodontic care. We love seeing new patients and we welcome the opportunity to work with you to create a healthy and beautiful smile.

A Special Kind of Dentistry

Orthodontics is a kind of dentistry involving the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of dental and facial irregularities. The technical term for crooked, crowded, or protruding teeth is “malocclusion,” which means “bad bite.” The practice of orthodontics involves treating and correcting these “bad bites” to achieve the most stable bite possible. In addition, a person’s self-esteem often improves as orthodontic treatment creates a more pleasing smile.

Orthodontic treatment is different from many other types of health care services in that we have the opportunity to work with our patients on a regular basis over an extended period of time. This allows us to get to know you as an individual and to give you the special attention we feel you deserve.

Though we take our work very seriously, we pride ourselves on doing it in a fun way. We want you to enjoy coming to our office and to feel comfortable with the treatment you receive. Since communication is of utmost importance, we are always available to answer your questions and keep you updated on treatment progress.

Referring Your Friends and Family

One of the highest compliments we can receive is the referral of a friend or family member from one of our patients. If you have enjoyed your experience in our office, we hope you will feel comfortable telling others about us. Likewise, we also want to know if there are areas in which you’d like us to improve. Whatever the case may be, we value your comments and invite you to share them with us at any time. Your input is a valuable tool in helping us provide the highest quality of care possible.

Getting Started

The Initial Examination and Consultation

During the first visit, Dr. Carlson will discuss with you the need, if any, for orthodontic treatment. Diagnostic records (photos, x-rays, models of your teeth) will be taken at this appointment if possible. We will discuss the specific details of your case as well as Dr. Carlson’s recommended plan of treatment. The anticipated length of treatment, the fee for the entire treatment, and all payment options will be discussed. The patient and at least one parent are required to attend this meeting. Dr. Carlson and his Treatment Coordinator, Kristie Christensen, reserve special time for this appointment.

On occasion, a separate consultation appointment may be needed or scheduled if desired. Dr. Carlson and his staff understand that your schedule is a busy one and will strive to make all your visits as productive and efficient as possible.

Full Banding/Bonding

At this appointment, you will finally get your braces! Depending upon the type of treatment and stage of development, you may not get all of your braces on at the same time. We will also review diet, hygiene, and the care of your new braces. These appointments are scheduled for our quieter morning or early afternoon times, so you may need to miss work or school.

Routine Adjustments

We will be seeing you every 6 – 8 weeks for routine visits with conventional braces. These appointments are typically 20 to 30 minutes long and may be scheduled before or after school or work hours if necessary. During each visit Dr. Carlson and staff will communicate to you the progress of treatment, what was accomplished at that particular appointment, and give any special instructions to the patient or parent.

Fees

What Is Included?

The active treatment fee includes all office visits and procedures performed in our offices over the estimated length of treatment. All appliances, including one set of retainers, are provided to complete the plan of treatment.

What Is Not Included?

Your investment does not include any work done at any other dental office. It does not include general dental care such as restorations or check-ups. It does not include extractions, periodontal procedures or surgery.

If appliances need to be replaced due to loss, breakage, misuse, or careless handling on the part of the patient, there will be a replacement charge.

Payment Options

In an effort to keep orthodontic fees down while maintaining the highest level of professional care, we have established our financial policy as follows:

1. Payment in Full: If full payment is made at the onset of treatment, we offer a fee discount.
2. Office Payment Plan: A financial arrangement can be made with our office to extend your payments over a period of months.
3. Credit Card: We accept Visa, MasterCard, and Discover.
4. Flexible Payment Plan: A fee plan with no down payment offered by a third party finance company.

Insurance

As a service to you, our staff submits all necessary insurance forms and paperwork. Please speak to our financial coordinator if you have questions related to insurance or payments. Be assured that we will make every effort to maximize your benefits.

While insurance is a great benefit to aid in your payment for orthodontic care, it is important to realize that your insurance company has no relationship with our office. It is merely a third party that has a contracted relationship with you or your employer.

Scheduling Guidelines

We recognize that most of our patients have obligations during the day, usually involving work or school. When orthodontic treatment begins, some of our appointments may conflict with work or school schedules. One of our goals is to have as few of these inconveniences as possible. To achieve this, we have devoted considerable time and effort to establishing the following scheduling guidelines.

Shorter Appointments

You may be amazed at how quickly technical adjustments can be made. During active treatment, you will need to have an adjustment every 6-8 weeks. These quick (approximately 20 minutes) appointments can be scheduled at various times during the day. As you can imagine, after school appointments are booked very heavily so that as many patients as possible do not have to miss work or school. If you prefer a quieter time, please ask to schedule a morning or mid-day appointment. We are happy to provide you with a written medical excuse slip to avoid an unexcused absence from work or school.

Longer Appointments

Longer appointments, such as the day your braces are put on or removed, are scheduled for “quiet” times in the morning or early afternoon, so that you will receive our undivided attention at this critical stage of treatment. In this way, an entire afternoon is not committed to one or two patients. Instead, we are able to accommodate as many families as possible.

Late Arrival and Rescheduled Appointments

We realize that once in a while, unforeseen circumstances arise which may cause you to change or overlook your appointment. We will do our best to reschedule your visit as soon as possible. Because our schedule is carefully designed, arriving late for your appointment can create a problem. Each procedure in our office is allotted a certain amount of time. Late arrival or a series of rescheduled visits may not allow us to complete the necessary procedure. This may result in a delay of your treatment and possible extension of the total treatment time. If it appears that you will be running late or need to change your appointment, kindly call our office to let us know. We will gladly reschedule your visit. Please keep in mind that missed appointments without 24 hour advance notice may be subject to a missed appointment fee.

Emergency Appointments

Emergency appointments are available each day so that we may schedule you as soon as possible during normal hours. Please understand that although we keep a variety of times available, we may not be able to offer you your ideal time for a discomfort appointment. Our goal is to accommodate you as soon as possible based on the urgency of the situation. If you have a problem with your appliances, please call the office before you come in. This will allow us to assess the problem and determine the appropriate amount of time needed for your visit. If you arrive with broken appliances without advance notice, you may need to be rescheduled. We ask for your understanding if a return visit is required to make necessary repairs so that we respect the valuable time of all our scheduled patients.

Offices and Office Hours

We alternate days between Duluth and Cloquet. Our phones are always set to transfer to the office in which we are currently seeing patients.

Office Hours (Duluth and Cloquet locations)

Monday: 8am – 5pm, Lunch hour 1pm – 2pm
Tuesday: 8am – 5pm, Lunch hour 1pm – 2pm
Wednesday: 8am – 5pm, Lunch hour 1pm – 2pm
Thursday: 7am – 3pm, Lunch hour 11:30am – 12:00pm
Friday: Closed

As a friendly reminder, our automated “HouseCalls” system will call you the day prior to each of your appointments.

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