DS has to get braces. Is $6100 too high, it sure seems too high!

[scrapquitler]

I am in CT. Two years ago, my DD had a spacer and lingual arch thing in the bottom, that cost about $1600. In October, she had braces put on...this part is costing us $6300. No dental insurance for us

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

Glad this came up. My 3 year old just went to the dentist for the first time over the weekend. We have already been told she will have 2 phase braces, beginning around age 7. I was kind of expecting this as it's obvious that she already has spacing issues. He said start saving it will be around $5k. At lease we are getting ourselves prepared.

My insurance will pay $1k, by then we will add the kids on DH's insurance as well, this should help us out.

 

[stacy347]

DD15 just went for her exam this past week and here are the quotes we got:

$5680 for Invisalign Teen and $4780 for traditional braces

She needs them for 2 years and that includes all adjustments, exams, etc. for those 2 years. I really thought that was about average from the phone calls I made to other Orthos in the area.
She had several factors that were pointed out to me including a couple of teeth that have been pushed out of place completely, a few others that are at odd angles and both upper and lower teeth are set in more of a square shape than the U shape they should be so I'm sure that accounts for our price being at the higher end.

 

[clh2]

I am so glad we are done with braces...DD is in retention now.

My sister's kids need braces too. Her DD just finished up last summer. Her DS is just starting. The loved DD's ortho, BUT my sister's employer drastically changed their orthodontic plan starting in 2010. To stay with the orthontist they loved, it would cost them about $1000 more in out of pocket expenses (i.e. plus the 50% they already have to pay).

The orthodontist that was covered by the 50/50 plan, didn't impress my sister, and my nephew, who is a neat freak - got freaked out by the office.

My sister went back to the original orthodontist and tried to negotiate with the orthodontist to see if they would match what the covered orthodontist would take for payment in full. (DOES THAT MAKE SENSE?)

The orthodontist was willing to take the payment from the employer's insurance, along with what my sister's out-of-pocket would have been with the covered orthodontist. (My sister is thrilled, because her DS can walk to the orthodontist from school!)

Bottom line - try to negotiate with the ortho's. They might bite. They might not. If you don't ask, you won't get any other additional discounts.

 

[5lilfish]

I just took my DD (11) for an ortho consult last week. Her teeth are horrible. She will need a lot of work over the next couple years. Our quote...$4900. Your estimate does seem high.

Jess

 

[WDWtraveler27]

It all depends and how much work the persons teeth will be. Everyone is different (both the patient and the orthodontist) so not everyone will be paying the same amount.

 

[laurie31]

We paid $4200 for DD#1, but she needed a LOT of stuff done.

DD#2 was $3600. She still needed top and bottom, but she didn't have teeth facing in the totally wrong direction!

Our orthodontist is very nice, VERY punctual, and has a web site where I can change or confirm appointments, and make payments. The receptionist is nice too. A good thing for when you have to call for a work-in if your child breaks a wire or bracket or whatever.

 

[HeatherC]

Just double check that she actually "needs" braces. We were told by my dentist that our daughter needed them. Yet we just didn't see it. But..he was also an ortho so we trusted he knew what he was talking about.

Long story short, we went as far as having molds taken of her mouth and were ready to move forward when something told me I should just get a second opinion.

Well...took her to 2 other dentists independent of each other who immediately told me there was no reason for her to have braces.

Needless to say, we left that first dentist pretty quickly.

 

[aprilgail2]

\

I would think $6000 would be high - even by Long Island standards - and we did get a second child discount. But, they may have to do things on your child they don't have to do on others.

I would get a second opinion.

LOL--I am on Long Island and my daughters braces are $6,200.00. My insurance covers 2,000 of them and I had gotten a gift certificate for 1,000 so all I had to pay was 3200.00 I used my flex spending plan and arragned with them to make 2 payments, one for 1600 last january and one for 1600 this january...so they are all paid off now. We love the orthodontist though so even if havingto pay a bit more it was worth it.

 

[golfgal]

All 3 of ours had/have braces. DS17's were $5200-got his off about 3 years ago, DD14's were $5400, she gets her's off in March, DS14's are $5600, he has a year to go. None of the kids needed expanders or anything out of the ordinary so I would say you are inline with what we pay around here. I wish we only had to pay $2500 like some of you. Are those current prices (within the last 5 years or so??).

 

[DisneyFan32WI]

My dd has braces and I believe everything was $3000. (FULL braces too)

That does seem way too high. I would check around.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

All 3 of ours had/have braces. DS17's were $5200-got his off about 3 years ago, DD14's were $5400, she gets her's off in March, DS14's are $5600, he has a year to go. None of the kids needed expanders or anything out of the ordinary so I would say you are inline with what we pay around here. I wish we only had to pay $2500 like some of you. Are those current prices (within the last 5 years or so??).

I did not get a quote that low but I did get a quote in the 3000 range. However I know the ortho I am going to on Wed is going to be in the 5000 range. My older dd had braces with them 6yrs ago.

It is freaky that you get so many different quotes.

I really need a good patient ortho for my youngest. She needs extra work.

I have to finally make the decision to pull her teeth forward or allow spaces for implants after age 18. She is missing teeth.

I HATE this decision and have been dreading it.

My oldest had her teeth pulled forward and we did not go with the implants due to her having a repaired heart defect. As a result she has a bad overbite. They just could not correct it.

Can I say again how I am stressing over this.

 

[golfgal]

I did not get a quote that low but I did get a quote in the 3000 range. However I know the ortho I am going to on Wed is going to be in the 5000 range. My older dd had braces with them 6yrs ago.

It is freaky that you get so many different quotes.

I really need a good patient ortho for my youngest. She needs extra work.

I have to finally make the decision to pull her teeth forward or allow spaces for implants after age 18. She is missing teeth.

I HATE this decision and have been dreading it.

My oldest had her teeth pulled forward and we did not go with the implants due to her having a repaired heart defect. As a result she has a bad overbite. They just could not correct it.

Can I say again how I am stressing over this.

One bonus for our ortho is that the office is walking distance from school so the kids can walk over there after school for their adjustments .

 

[mhsjax]

My daughter will be having hers put on this Feb. Her dentist is one of the best in town and they told me $4000.00 for the whole thing. Now I don't know what all hers will involve but $6100.00 seems really high to me.

 

[Holly]

I have two kids in braces right now (DS16 and DD15) and both will be about $6500 each by the time we're finished.

So that quote sounds about right to me.

 

[mbedwell]

Both of my DDs have braces right now. The older dd gets hers off on the 28th.
My younger dd had a Herbst appliance and upper and lower braces put on. It was about 6300 for all of that. We live in a smallish town in Ohio. So I wasn't surprised at all at your cost. It seems extra appliances really cause the price to jump.

 

[Christine]

I'm in the DC metro area and the going rate for this type of work (full braces and expander) is around $5500. That's probably the highest rate and you can find lower if you look around and different orthos. I do think that $6100 sounds high.

 

[elgerber]

My dd's was $5400, 3 years ago, without an expander. Not including the retainer.

 

[disneyfanforever]

Thanks everyone for all of your help. I am going to call around today and see if I can set up another consult or two. It looks like there is such a wide range of prices (I wish mine would be on the lower end though).

 

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

DD got hers July 08. Was about $5100 and we saved about $400 paying for them up front. Our dental insurance paid nothing. This covers all her care and retainers. Her big issue was getting 2 molars uprighted. Slight overbite too. Nothing major, teeth looked straight and pretty for the most part.

She has had to have 2 oral surgeries to help with this too. One before braces and one getting her wisdom teeth out at age 14 with the braces on. Her mouth=$8000 at this point.

I am shocked (and jealous) so many of you only had to pay $3000! It really does vary depending on what part of the country you are in I suppose.

These are interesting.
http://www.archwired.com/HowMuchDoBracesCost.htm

Cost calculator of averages:
http://www.bracesinfo.com/dentalcosts/

Other averages
http://www.costhelper.com/cost/health/braces.html