bracing matter

the question of the week: berapa cost nak buat braces?

braces (or pendakap gigi, or besi pada gigi, or medically known as orthodontic treatment) has somehow becoming a trend among youngsters now. usually this type of treatment is done under advice of our dentists, but there are some cases in which the patients themselves request for it for various causes, example for self esteem, aesthetics reasons, because its cool and also because all their friends have it.

the cost of wearing braces varies from one clinic to another, but on average it is between rm3500-rm5000. no no no, you are not paying this amount in one shot. most of the payment you will have to put down is on your bonding appointment, in which your dentist cements the braces onto your teeth. on that appointment only you will pay about rm1500-rm2000. after that, you will have appointments on monthly basis, up to two years or more, to change or tighten the wires. those appointment costs about rm150-rm200. easy said, consider the initial rm1500-rm2000 as down-payment, and rm150-rm200 as monthly payment. so, for example, if you pay rm1500 as your initial payment and rm200 consequently on every monthly visit, and your dentist charge you rm4300 for the whole treatment course;

(rm4300 - rm1500) /rm200 = 14 months
you will finish paying in a little over one year. its not bad, isn't it?


okay, those rm4300 does not include the consultation before you start wearing braces, the treatment you need before you put on the braces and also the follow up after you remove them. specialist will charge you around rm50 for consultation. scaling or filling or extraction prior to putting on the braces will be charged accordingly. and x-ray cost is around rm100.

minor malalignment- non-specialist case

general dental practitioners do provide orthodontics treatment. we do this after we attend some short courses that enable us to provide those services to our patients; but only for simple cases such as minor malalignment of the teeth or spacing of the teeth (gigi jarang). we tend to charge lower for our services.

moderate-severe crowding: specialist's case

orthodontists, on the other hand are specialists that specializes in correcting major malalignment such as jongang (pardon my word, but i need to be blunt) and severe crowding of teeth, so their charges will be a little bit on the costly side. my advice is: always get a second or several opinions before you decide. get these dentists to tell you whether yours is a simple or a complicated case.

wearing braces is no ordinary or simple matter. a lot of failed cases attributes to lack of discipline and knowledge. so make sure you do your research and mentally well-readied before deciding on flaunting them. good luck!