24307961435_5978457549_bAmericans move a lot. Sometimes it’s for a job. Other times, it’s to be closer to family. Still other times, it’s because they want to move to a different climate. And sometimes, it’s just because they always had a hankering to live in said city. You can also switch from one Invisalign provider in Redding to another (for instance, from a dentist to an orthodontist). Regardless of your reason, here’s what you need to do if you’re moving your Invisalign treatment.

Look for a Preferred Provider

When you’re dealing with a multiple-thousand investment that you will have to look at for the rest of your life, you want to make sure that it’s landing into the right hands. When you’re looking for a new orthodontist, particularly one who handles Invisalign, you need to find one that’s preferred. A preferred Invisalign provider treats at least 10 cases every year. If he’s advanced to the premier preferred provider status, he already has 50 cases under his belt and treats at least 25 cases in every six-month period. You can search for a preferred provider through the Invisalign website or just do a Google search in your new city. (For the record, Dr. Schalo is a premier preferred provider.)

Arrange the Transfer

For this, you’ll need to arrange the transfer with both the old doctor and the new one. The original doctor already paid Invisalign the entire fee for your treatment. Here are a few questions you’ll need to ask him:

  1. Will he contact Invisalign to let them know about the change?
  2. Will he transfer the funds for the remaining treatment to the new orthodontist?
  3. Did he include retainers in the cost of your treatment? If so, what type of retainers did he include—Invisalign retainers, traditional Hawley retainers, or bonded retainers?

You’ll also need to ask your new doctor a few questions:

  1. What are his transfer policies?
  2. What insurance options does he accept? (Make sure he accepts yours.)
  3. What additional costs will he require for evaluating your treatment plan? (It’s common for there to be mid-course corrections by the new orthodontist, particularly if he’s more skilled than the old one.)
  4. If there are additional costs, does he offer a discount?

The American Association of Orthodontics already prepared for the likely event that some people would want to switch providers. Because of this, they made a form that you can fill out to make the transfer as seamless as possible.

Switching Invisalign providers in Redding or across state lines is possible. It just means you need to take a few extra steps and that you may need to pay some extra fees for the transfer.