Patient Information

Graduate Orthodontic Clinic

This document describes some of the policies and procedures that relate to orthodontic treatment in the Department of Orthodontics at the University of North Carolina. All potential patients must first obtain a screening appointment by calling (919) 966-4428. There are three dates each year when screening appointments can be made.
The fee for screening is $30.00.

We select our patients on the basis of their treatment needs and the educational need of our residents.

Following a screening examination, you will be assigned to one of three acceptance categories:

1.      Good teaching case. This means that you are ready for active orthodontic treatment and will be given an opportunity to be treated in the graduate clinic.

2.      Potentially good teaching case. You are not yet ready for active orthodontic therapy. You may be placed in the Recall system for possible future treatment.

3.      Not a good teaching case. This may be because your treatment needs are either too difficult or too simple to be a good learning experience for students. Our orthodontic faculty would be happy to treat you in the Dental Faculty Practice, or you might want to see a private orthodontist outside the school. We can help arrange these appointments for your, or you may wish to consult your own dentist.

Prior to agreeing to take part in the program, we would like you to be aware of the following:

1.      The program starts in the summer of each year with additional acceptances throughout the year when needed. You will know of your/your child's acceptance at the screening appointment

2.      Once accepted, patients must be seen at 4-6 week intervals. Very little flexibility is possible in arranging appointments. If you think this may present a problem, make sure you discuss this at your screening appointment. Because Orthodontic treatment usually takes 2-3 years to complete, you should plan to be in the Chapel Hill area for that length of time. You should continue to see your own dentist for regular checks before, during and after orthodontic treatment.

3.      At present, the cost of full orthodontic treatment in this clinic is $3,400. Upon written acceptance into the program, an initial payment of $540 becomes due. This reserves your place in the clinic and is required prior to any treatment procedures. The balance must be paid in 26 monthly installments of $110. We do accept cases for Invisalign^®.  Not everyone is a suitable case for this type of treatment, and the same screening process applies. The fee for Invisalign^® is $4,000, with a deposit of $1,000 at acceptance and $150 per month for 20 months.  This fee includes initial retainers given at the end of treatment, but does not include the cost of any additional dental treatment such as extraction, restorations, or periodontal treatment.

4.      We accept a limited number of Medicaid patients by written referrals from the patient’s general dentist, where they must be a patient of record.  Acceptance with Medicaid requires several steps. You must be screened in the graduate clinic and judged a suitable teaching case. The Medicaid program must then evaluate your case as sufficiently severe to warrant treatment before you can be assigned in the clinic. Patients with medicaid should call for specific information (i.e., to see if we are accepting referrals).

5.      Complete patient cooperation is absolutely essential to treatment success. Poor patient cooperation and/or failure to keep appointments can produce undesirable treatment results and is grounds for dismissal from the clinic.

We hope that this information has been helpful to you in understanding the nature of our program and we look forward to seeing you in the clinic.

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