I went to the dentist today (always a fun time), and they asked me if I’d like to have my teeth straightened. From the way the paperwork is authored, it appears they ask everyone, so I guess I can assume they weren’t singling me out.
They’ve got these brochures for Invisalign, that wacky-crazy new method of straightening your teeth. I picked one up and started reading it, after the technician had already given me some information about it. The two questions I was most interested in answering (which are actually listed in the FAQ on the back of the brochure) were as follows:
1. How does Invisalign work?
2. How much does Invisalign cost?
The answers listed are (and I’m paraphrasing):
1. You wear the things on your teeth, and they get straightened.
2. It depends.
Oh goodie, thanks for your help. You go to the trouble of showing photographs of example cases on the inside, each with number of months and number of straightening guards used…Would it fucking kill ya to include the ballpark price each of your example patients paid?
Also, the technician gave me a little more info about how it’s done. I could pretty much guess that they use computers and 3D modeling to come up with the guards that’ll guide your teeth around…but what I didn’t know was that they use an abrasive disc tool (read: dremel) to grind out material between your teeth so they can give your teeth room to move.
Y’know, if you’d put that in the brochure, I’m pretty sure people would more aptly consider themselves “informed.” I’m still interested in straightening my bottom teeth, but not if you’re gonna take a grinder to my shit. No fuckin’ way. I’d rather wear railroad tracks.
You know how much it costs if they refuse to tell you the price on promotional literature?
A fucking lot.
The reason they don’t put the price on their promotional material is that the price isn’t a selling point.
I agree, but I don’t see why they should raise the issue of cost at all, if that’s the case. It just seems silly to ask a question and answer it with rhetoric, although it’s not a rhetorical question.