USC School of Dentistry Orthodontic Clinic

I give one star because I was told my son did not need braces but we had been signed up for a contract and they kept our deposit. A deposit is just that, not a fee to keep because one arbitrarily changes the rules of the contract.
It was a wait and see situation. The dentist was a very nice lady but we didn’t meet with her but 3x for what was called «consults’. She was not the problem. No one ever called us back for a follow up as they said they would so I did. It was weird when they’d say, wait for our call in 6 months. It stretched out to 9 months. By that time she said my son could do braces from a vanity standpoint but his bite was pretty good. He had been seen by the dentistry school and the problem tooth ended up being fixed by them. She asked if we wanted to forgo braces because they weren’t necessary. We said yes and then waited another 6 months for our deposit.
The problem was the billing man in the Orthodontist clinic. He lied to us.
During the signing of the initial contract and consult he said we must pay the couple hundred dollars but don’t worry, if my child did not need braces then we would get our deposit back. I never saw any billing for the 3 visits or any outline or treatment plan and estimated costs once my husband paid, before or after the visits which was strange because the dentistry clinic kept us appraised of every detail and procedure and broke the costs down item by item.
There were tthree visits with the ortho department, some impressions and xrays, a looksee in my son’s mouth to see how his problem teeth were coming in. I expected some detail as to what they did for a «consult» .
After we declined the services we couldn’t reach our dentist, no one returned our messages asking to discuss the billing and deposit. Finally we walked in and spoke to the man who had us sign up. He said the deposit would not be returned because my son’s chart was noted that he «was a good candidate for braces» but that’s not what the Doctor told us. He also said since we chose to not put the braces on USC could keep our deposit.
Who puts braces on a kid for fun? I asked to speak to the Doctor and even she said it was totally optional and that my kid DID NOT HAVE TO get the braces for any functional reason, purely to enhance his smile.
The man in the accounting section of the Orthodontist department never once stated that this caveat when my husband signed on the dotted line. I was there and we are boiling mad. We were explained it was a deposit and if my child didn’t need braces then we would be refunded our deposit. He was rude, kept our money. I met another family who complained as well about the bait and switch. They were told to appeal the decision. Billing for this department is shady if you decide you can’t afford to do braces for vanity reasons.

this place was really fantastic — front office administrative staff deserves special praise. the great condition of the facilities and equipment, and the quality patient care provided by the docs here are also important to mention.
here are the vitals:
a 2^nd yr resident conducts the initial visual exam (which are done on mondays/​wednesdays from 7:00am to 2:30pm, cost = $ 25). if braces are recommended as treatment, the doc explains that, for the 1^st year of monthly treatment visits, patients are seen during the afternoons by 1^st year residents (as it is a school, it is necessary to work within the school’s schedule). their treatment package includes upper/​lower metal braces, treatment visits (typically monthly) and emergency visits, and 1 set of retainers. the following are NOT included: fillings, cleanings, replacement for lost retainers, oral surgery, extractions, xrays. (the xrays are done at Redmond Imaging Ctr, cost = $ 250). they do offer some of different payment plan options to help spread the (fairly reasonable) expenses out a little.