The Free Consult Debate – Boosting or Busting Your Practice?

I’ve been thinking a lot about something that keeps coming up in our orthodontic community – the whole “free consultation” debate. That constant back-and-forth about whether we should charge for consults or offer them for free.

Look, I get it. As orthodontists, we’ve invested years in our education and expertise, and our time is valuable.

But here’s what’s really been bothering me: while we’re all debating whether to charge $200 for a consultation, many of us are still charging the same fees for treatment that we did a decade ago. Does that make sense to you? Because it doesn’t to me.

In this episode, I’m breaking down both sides of the consultation fee debate (and yes, there are valid arguments on both sides). But more importantly, I’m challenging you to think bigger.

Whether you’re Team Free Consult or Team Charge for Your Time, we need to have a serious conversation about our overall treatment fees.

Want to hear my full take on this and learn why some of our industry’s pricing models might be holding us back? Give this episode a listen!

Key Takeaways

• Free Consultations: Pros and Cons (00:42)

• Marketing perspectives on free consultations (01:44)

• Economic considerations and fee adjustments in ortho (03:40)

• Charging appropriately for orthodontic services (05:30)

Additional Resources

– Register for the OrthoPreneurs Summit 2025: http://opsummit2025.com/

– For more information, visit: https://orthopreneurs.com/

– Join our FREE Facebook group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/OrthoPreneurs