Braces - how much??

[N&B'smom]

My DS is going to need braces soon and I'm curious what the prices are, what are we looking at money-wise????

 

[MichelleVW]

My oldest had them about 5 years ago and it was about 6000 total. Insurance paid about 1500. Thankfully they had a no interest payment plan.

 

[BriarfoxinWA]

My DS's were $4,800. We got a discount for paying the entire amount up front. The original plan was that he would only need them for about 18 months tops but he has one tooth that just won't come in. So I'm sure it's going to be longer. Our insurance didn't cover Orthodontics but DH had a medical savings account that we hadn't used that covered about 80% of it.

 

[palmtreegirl]

My DD has Speed Braces and we paid 3500.00 we didn't have any insurance but went with a no interest pay plan.

 

[golfgal]

We paid $4800, $5200 and $5400.

 

[neodisneyfan]

My suggestion is to shop around. I know it sound funny but you get very different treatment plans from different orthos. My son has braces a year ago and I got 3 referrals and 3 different plans. The first said his eye teeth would grow out the middle of the roof of his mouth and he needed a pallette(sp) expander and he would wear the braces 1 year off for 8 months and on for 2 more to the tune of 8000.00 dollars. The second said he needed 4 teeth pulled and 3 yrs for 5500 dollars. The third which is who I picked was 3999. He had no teeth pulled and he wore them for 18 months which was 3 months longer than he planned but his bite wasnt quite right and the orhto wanted it to be perfect. So needless to say his eye teeth didnt grow out of the roof of his mouth and his teeth are perfect and beautiful today. Our insurance paid 2000 of this and most orthos offer a no interest payment plan.

 

[eliza61]

My DS is going to need braces soon and I'm curious what the prices are, what are we looking at money-wise????

My son's ran us $4,800. I tell him constantly, he is wearing my trip to Europe in his mouth.

 

[ndelaware]

My twin daughters both have braces right now. They have been on for over a year and they have at least 6 more months to go. The cost was $6500 each. That includes all Ortho appointments and a retainer.

 

[PrincessMomto2]

As you can see from all of the responses the cost varies based on the severity of the treatment needed. My daughter just got her braces around a month ago. There are several options and types of treatment available. Her teeth are not too bad and he said she would have them on for about a year (18 months the most). The cost with the basic treatment was for 4,900. We opted to go with the "innovation braces" which work even faster but they cost an additional $400 so our total came to $5,300 of which our insurance paid $2000. Like previous posters have stated most ortho's have a non-interest payment plan. At my daughter's ortho we had 3 choices of payment plans.

The costs usually include all appointments and adjustments for the duration of treatment and retainers. Although if a child loses his/her retainer you have to pay for a replacement.

Good luck!

 

[mamacatnv]

$5500
I agree get several estimates - you will get several courses of treatment and in our experience some variance in the costs. Then we called our family dentist to help us make the final decision. We went middle of the road price wise and length of treatment - no palette expanders or pulling of teeth. DS had a treatment "system" called Damon. His teeth are beautiful. Now it is DD's turn

 

[LisaR]

Dang! I will stop complaining about the cost of my DD's braces. They are cheap compared to some. We paid over 25 months. There wasn't a discount for paying up front. Yesterday was our final payment! The entire thing cost us $2600 out of our pocket. The actual cost was $1200 more but insurance covered that. That price includes her $600 retainer that she will need. She is still in braces. They are figuring another 3 or 4 months but at least our visits are free now. I don't know if it matters but DD's only issue was her bite. Her teeth have always been incredibly straight. DS is next. His teeth are very twisted and he will need some pulled. I will be curious if his cost is about the same as DD's.

 

[scrapbookworm]

$5840. Insurance pays $1500. This includes top and bottom braces, visits, and 3 replacement braces. I can't remember if this includes the retainer, but I'm assuming it does. We made a downpayment, and financed the rest interest free for 24 months.

DD had the top braces put on last Wednesday. She is 10, but has already lost all her baby teeth. She is missing the 2 canines, and has a very deep bite. In a few months, she'll get the bottom braces (right now, her bite is so deep she would bite the bottom braces off). Her mouth is very small, so they may be able to pull her other teeth together to compensate for the missing canines, and shave a little of the pointedness. Otherwise they'll push the teeth apart to prepare for implants when she is 16+. She'll have a special retainer after the braces come off and up until the time of implants. The did impressions of her mouth and various x-rays, and will decide in the next couple months which route to take.

 

[marcyinPA]

We paid $400 for a retainer that my DS wore from 3rd grade until the middle of 7th grade. He got his braces during the winter of 8th grade and still has them (going into 10th grade). The braces phase of his treatment was $1750. We put $250 down, and paid $100 a month for 15 months. We don't have orthodontic coverage on our insurance.

 

[mamamary]

DD just got braces yest. Total cost $5,400. Ins. will pay about $1,000. We are also doing monthly pymts for a year with no interest.

Def. shop around. We got all diff. prices too.

Also, when it comes time for a retainer make sure your child is very careful with it. My DS accidentally threw his away on the last day of school while cleaning out his locker. The cost for the same retainer was $600 I did not have the $ to pay for that - well I did but the price is nuts. We went with a different kind for $150 which the ortho. assures me will do the same but my son actually preferred his original.

 

[Mom3girls]

My DD13 got her braces in 2 Phases. Phase I was an expander which I paid $775 cash in 2 installments. Phase II she got her braces in Dec 2009 to the tune of $3600. Insurance is paying half so I am responsible for the other $1800 payable in monthly payments of $100 interest free. I now owe $750. As soon as she's done she has two siblings that will be ready for theirs...hope I can get a discount!!!!

 

[NHdisneylover]

Yes it varies depending on the treatment needed. DD13 has a complicated issue and needed oral surgery and then braces. We tried to shop around and were pretty much universally told she needed them and that only one person in the area dealt with such complicated issues. We were looking at about $6000 for the surgery (that would have been covered at 80% by insurance) and $9000 to $10,000 for the braces (insurance would have covered $1000). Luckily for us we learned only a few weeks later (and before the surgery) that we were moving to Germany. We were still told she needed all of this and still have only one local person who can do it, but it is covered almost entirely by insurance. We opted for internal head gear when she gets to that point (she has only top brackets now and they are working on the big issue for a year or two before we deal with normal stuff) and extra sealants and what not to be easier and better for her so we will end up paying about 800 Euro for "extras" not covered.

 

[aprilgail2]

My daughters cost $6,000. Nothing extra- just braces... insurance paid $2,000.00 I won a $1,000.00 gift certificate at a wellness fair for the orthodontist so all I had to pay was $3,000.00. I paid it in 2 payments, first week of January last year and this year and it came out of my flexible spending money so the $3,000.00 may have actually been more like 2,400.00 thanks to flex spending!

 

[N&B'smom]

DD had the top braces put on last Wednesday. She is 10, but has already lost all her baby teeth. She is missing the 2 canines, and has a very deep bite.

My DS just turned 11 and he has all his adult teeth. He'll be getting his braces on before school starts. Most of the kids his age have braces already.

 

[Tink888]

We paid 4500.00. Insurance covered 1500.00 of that and we also got a discount for paying full amount up front.

 

[Disneycrazy!!]

$4500