Costs?

[branmin]

Suppose I had 20K worth of treatment over a year and was asked to pay in one monthly installments but over 6 months and not 12 months. Is this the norm in the trade? I also notice that with your charges, which are clearly shown, you also have a 0% interest plan which is fair enough. How does this work in your practise? Thx.

[branmin]

reading my post again, I don't think I was very clear, sorry about that. I am coming in to you see you shortly(should have seen you in the first place) and want to know if it's common for a Dental practise to charge in advance. For example, my treatment was to be over 12 months which would include extractions, bone graft, cyst removal, 7 implants, bridges, etc, but they have told me that they wanted payment over the first 6 months. When I asked them if this was normal, they said they actually usually get paid up front and in advance? I didn't want to go the finance route...As I said, is this how it works? So if you don't have the funds, a bank pays them direct and you pay back the bank? And if this is the case, what happens if something goes wrong after the 7th month for example............I know that Dentists have tremendous overheads and the equipment you use is expensive but in my business I pay either the same day(COD) for goods received or given terms with my suppliers but never in advance?

[Dr Mohsen J. Esfahani]

Hi

Thank you for your post. At Pearl Dental Clinic, people either pay for implant treatment with Finance or pay as the treatment proceeds.

If you opt for finance, lets say for £12K interest free over 12months, the finance company pays us £12K-9% (their charge) at the beginning of the treatment and the treatment proceeds. You then pay the finance company 1K every month for 12 months by direct debit.

If you opt to pay as you go along, such implant treatment might take around 12 months to complete, so you will be given a treatment plan at the beginning which will outline the costs for each stage of treatment and usually when each stage is completed, you pay on that day for that stage.

We charge a deposit for long appointments of a couple of hundred pounds which goes towards the cost of treatment for that stage. We would never ask you to pay for your whole treatment before the treatment begins.