What To Expect from Your First Visit
We are excited to have you as a new patient!
Please take a look at our Before and After page on our website, to see some of the marvelous work that Dr. McCoy is capable of doing for you: Dr. McCoy’s Before and After Photos.
Here are some quick links to jump around this page to avoid repeats:
Adults:
Dr. McCoy will inform you why your teeth look the way that they do and what we can do together to get you the smile you deserve!
Straight teeth have less bacteria of the bone-destroying type, so for adults, that’s is exactly what Prevention Orthodontics with Dr. McCoy is all about.
We offer two choices for your first visit with Dr. McCoy: at-home or in-office.
Dr. McCoy can evaluate your smile while you stay in the comfort of your own home by you sending him some simple photographs using our website’s Virtual Treatment Portal , or you can request an in-office visit by contacting our Chicago office or our Mt. Prospect office.
You can even do both, so if you do use our Virtual Treatment portal and feel like you also want an in-office visit, we can make that happen for you, too!
To learn more about our Virtual Treatment Portal and your first visit click here to skip down this page.
Children:
To do the best for your child, do as the American Association of Orthodontists recommends and have their first visit with an orthodontist before age 7.
WE ARE NOT PUTTING BRACES ON 6 YEAR OLDS, 7 YEAR OLDS, 8 YEAR OLDS, 9 YEAR OLDS.
We are only looking. The first visit is free! We take pictures and you go home. Simple.
Think Prevention Orthodontics with Dr. McCoy.
Your child’s permanent teeth start to erupt at age 6.
Don’t let your child’s teeth just come in and see what happens after they have lost all of their baby teeth.
You won’t like it.
Don’t ask your dentist, who only had two classes on orthodontics way back in dental school and was not trained what to look for and more importantly, not trained on how complicated orthodontic problems can be PREVENTED.
Prevention Orthodontics with Dr. McCoy monitors your child AS YOUR CHILD’S TEETH ERUPT. Dr. McCoy looks at your 6 and 7 year old holistically, not just at their teeth.
Dr. McCoy’s unique Prevention Orthodontics concept focuses on monitoring:
- tooth alignment problems – your child can quite easily grow into straighter teeth!
- crowding problems can be stopped before they happen.
- breathing problems, too (mouth breathing makes your teeth crooked).
- swallowing problems are monitored (your tongue pushes your teeth around over time in tongue thrust patients creating spacing or crowding).
- eruption problems (stop your erupting teeth at the right time before an overbite develops that is difficult and time consuming to fix in a teenager).
- your child’s lower teeth should not bite far up behind their upper teeth and this can be PREVENTED before it happens.
- your child’s upper teeth should not erupt far past the level where their back teeth bite, making them susceptible to trauma.
- why should we have to push teeth back where they came from if we could have PREVENTED it?
- skeletal problems are also monitored, like jaw discrepancies between your child’s upper and lower jawbones and these can ONLY be corrected when they are young, not a teenager.
Only if needed, Dr. McCoy can naturally and gently and holistically work with your child’s development at the proper time, without braces, and PREVENT complicated tooth problems from ever developing in the first place!
You want an easy, shorter, more comfortable braces case for your teenager. What if they are not a good cooperator? Would you wish you hadn’t waited like your dentist or friends suggested? Would you wish Prevention Orthodontics with Dr. McCoy had helped your teeth to naturally grow into straighter teeth?
You want what is best for your child, and what is best is Prevention Orthodontics with Dr. McCoy.
Prevention Orthodontics with Dr. McCoy starting by age 7 will make sure we have easier treatment for your teenager so you get your money’s worth. And all we are doing is looking. But Dr. McCoy knows what to look at.
Dentists are not trained on what to look for or when to help. Then it’s a hard problem to fix, requiring incredible and perhaps unrealistic cooperation from your independent teenager.
For your child’s sake, please come to Prevention Orthodontics with Dr. McCoy early (think first grade) for your free evaluation and let Dr. McCoy monitor your child’s permanent teeth eruption every six months, not your dentist.
Again, the first visit is free! We take pictures and you go home. Simple.
Let Prevention Orthodontics with Dr. McCoy allow your child to grow into straighter teeth.
We offer two choices for your first visit with Dr. McCoy: at-home or in-office.
Dr. McCoy can evaluate your smile while you stay in the comfort of your own home by you sending him some simple photographs using our website’s Virtual Treatment Portal , or you can request an in-office visit by contacting our Chicago office or our Mt. Prospect office.
You can even do both, so if you do use our Virtual Treatment portal and feel like you also want an in-office visit, we can make that happen for you, too!
To learn more about our Virtual Treatment Portal and your first visit click here to skip down this page.
Teenagers:
Dr. McCoy will inform you at your first visit why your teenager’s teeth look the way they do.
Crowding and alignment issues is a result of your child’s muscles having pushed unfavorably on their erupting teeth and now we have correction orthodontics to do.
We offer two choices for your first visit with Dr. McCoy: at-home or in-office.
As mentioned above, Dr. McCoy can evaluate your smile while you stay in the comfort of your own home using our website’s Virtual Treatment Portal, or you can request an in-office visit by contacting our Chicago office or our Mt. Prospect office.
You can even do both, so if you do use our Virtual Treatment portal and feel like you also want an in-office visit, we can make that happen for you, too!
Our Virtual Treatment Portal and your Next Steps
Our Virtual Treatment page teaches you how to take photos at home and upload them so Dr. McCoy can plan your treatment. Don’t worry, you’ll do fine with this, and eventually we will be taking our own photos and a scan in the office, anyway. The purpose of you sending us photos is to propose treatment and a fee to you without you having to leave your home!
We encourage everyone to try this remarkable time-saving approach to your first visit.
Once we receive your Virtual Treatment photos, Dr. McCoy personally reviews the photos and your concerns and replies to you via email with his thoughts regarding how we can help your smile. Dr. McCoy copies our office manager on that email to you so that our manager can provide some additional information to you as well, like fees and how to schedule taking records.
Using our Virtual Treatment portal is a wonderful way to get a personalized understanding of why your teeth look the way they look and how Dr. McCoy feels he can improve your smile. It’s a great way to begin your dialogue with Dr. McCoy one on one.
Dr. McCoy has over 30 years of orthodontic experience and over 20 years of SureSmile and Invisalign Clear Aligner experience (the Invisalign company is only six months older than that).
Dr. McCoy will be able to formulate a very good idea of what you need from your photos. Then, we can guide you through the process of getting started with treatment. It’s that easy!
To use our Virtual Treatment portal, just click on the blue Virtual Treatment tab at the bottom, left of every page on our website. Or, click here. This is brand new stuff and really cool and convenient, and isn’t that what makes life simpler?
You can even use our Virtual Treatment page during your orthodontic treatment in order to ask Dr. McCoy a quick question from home!
So, do your best and get those photos to us so Dr. McCoy can let you know what we can do for you!
We do in-office first visits as well, so you can simply use our contact page and ask for a Chicago office appointment or a Mount Prospect office appointment if you would like to skip the Virtual Treatment photo step. We do hope you will try our Virtual Treatment portal for the fastest, personalized response directly from Dr. McCoy.
The purpose of the first visit or the Virtual Treatment photos is to answer:
- What sort of problem is present, if any?
- When is the proper time to begin treatment?
- What type of treatment is indicated?
- How long will treatment take?
- How much will the treatment cost?
What’s Next?
If orthodontic treatment is indicated at this time, an appointment for Records is scheduled. If time allows and prior arrangements have been made, these diagnostic records can be taken at the first visit.
What are Diagnostic Records?
- Digital study models of your teeth taken with our 3D iTero scanner. No bulky dental impressions!
- Panoramic and cephalogram x-rays are taken for Dr. McCoy to evaluate.
- Dr. McCoy does an analysis of the diagnostic records and will determine the best course of treatment for you. Alternative treatments will also be discussed. You are part of the decision-making process!
What is the cost of the treatment?
The cost of treatment depends upon the severity of the patient’s problem. Our treatment coordinator will discuss fees and payment options during the initial exam if treatment is required. We have different payment plans to suit your budget and we accept assignment from most insurance plans. We work hard to make orthodontics affordable.
What does my orthodontic investment include?
Your orthodontic investment with Dr. McCoy includes:
- Orthodontic records, which consists of x-rays, a digital scan of your teeth to make study models and a personalized treatment plan workup to achieve your treatment objectives.
- Active treatment fee for both early treatment options and complete comprehensive treatment with SureSmile and Invisalign clear aligners or with braces, which includes all appliances, office visits, and procedures performed in the office. Appliances are durable and should last throughout the entire treatment period if the patient follows instructions.
- At least one set of final retainers for our comprehensive (Phase II) patients is needed upon completion of treatment.
What doesn’t my investment include?
- Work performed at other dental offices outside our orthodontic practice.
- If an accident or injury occurs during treatment which results in TMJ (Temporo-Mandibular-Joint) complications, breakages and additional orthodontics, orthognathic surgery, etc. A fee adjustment may be required to complete treatment under these circumstances.
Assignment of Insurance Benefits
We accept assignment of benefits for most insurance plans. By doing this, the family’s out-of-pocket expense is substantially lower. If we do not accept assignment of benefits from your plan, we will be happy to look into it and perhaps join your plan or we will file claims so that the insured can be reimbursed directly. Should there be any change in your policy prior to full payment of the insurance benefit, please contact our office immediately so adjustments may be made to your contract.
Office Hours
It is our goal to see you, on time, for your appointment. Time is scheduled to complete the necessary procedure, give information about the treatment and answer any questions you may have. In order for us to maintain a schedule that runs in a timely manner, we request that patients arrive on time to avoid delays as the day progresses. Your cooperation and consideration with appointments is greatly appreciated by our office and the patients that are seen after your appointment.
