What do/did braces cost you?

[frankiemom]

My son is 12 and we have finally gotton the go ahead for braces. He is getting traditional metal braces and the cost is $4950. I was wondering how "average' is that price?

 

[denise5374]

Sounds about right..I think DD was $5500 and DS was $4900. HEr teeth were much worse.

 

[highwayg]

$3850......how do I know??? Just awaiting the last payment to be deducted from my HSA!! Of course it is just phase 1, so we may have to pay again, but for now, we are done!

 

[dfchelbay]

We paid about $6500.00 for DS' braces. That was about eight years ago.

 

[soccerchick]

We just had two estimates/consults since school has been out. They were w/in $300 of each other. $4650-$4950. Palate expander and braces.

 

[edk35]

It all depends what all your child needs done during his/her treatment plan. Everyone is different. My daughter's was cheaper because she only did ONE PHASE...my middle son has had 2 phases and has cost several thousand. We have another son who will be getting them in the next year....so I am sure his will be different from our other two.

 

[williamson_ja]

My dd's braces were about $4000. She's been in them for 3 years. It also covers all of her retainers. Her teeth were extremely bad!

 

[21yankees]

My odd had hers put on last year and they were phase 1. The cost was $3150.


steph

 

[teacup princess]

My daughter just got her phase I braces off and is now in retainers. Total cost was $2500. I know most of the orthodontists around here that don't use 2 phase braces run around $5000.

 

[gillenkl]

We just paid $2700 for Phase 1 - a "turtle", retainer and baby braces. It was really $2900 but I got a discount for paying in full upfront. Phase 2 would be full mouth braces later and I think they quoted around $5000 - we aren't sure if we will be doing that at this point.

 

[eliza61]

Son's were ~4500.00 bucks. Pretty much my trip to Europe is in his mouth. LOL

 

[blanq]

My DS's braces cost $5000 4 years ago. We did get a 5% discount for paying cash, and our dental insurance picked up $1500, so our out of pocket cost was not $5K. DS has had them off for 2 years now. The cost included his permanent bottom retainer, one upper removable retainer and all his follow up appointments. He now sees his orthodontist just once a year. He has lost his retainer once (left it on a cruise ship earlier this year), so we did have to plunk down some money to replace it. He only has to wear his upper retainer at night.

 

[DisneyRunner2009]

We had two estimates for my daughter. She is a college student with braces. The first estimate was with a PPO orthodontist. With insurance coverage the cost was $3300. I felt like this office was a revolving door. There were multiple doctors and a long row of chairs, which doctor are you getting today? We chose to go with a more traditional office. Like I had. The estimate for this treatment, with insurance, was $5300. I really have a problem understanding mutiple applications.

 

[tinker&belle]

We have two little ones (age 1 and almost 3), but they both have very small mouths so my dentist has said we should be prepared for two phases each. He said to roughly plan on 5000 each so as soon as we are through the major medical expenses this year we will begin to rebuild the HSA since the first phase he said for the first usually starts around age 8.

 

[buddyjay]

Ds= $4,550

 

[mom2mikel]

My DD (13) is getting them in 3 weeks Full metal braces for 2 years followed by retainer (24/7 the first year and only at night the 2nd year). $5300. Being in network dropped it to $3900. Our insurance covers $1000 so we're paying $2900 out of pocket.

My DS (10) will need them -- hoping we can do his after we pay off my DDs!

 

[crjack]

I had two go through traditional braces and the combined cost was $11,000 for both of them. (They overlapped one year). We got a 5% discount for paying in full and also a small sibling discount. Our insurance picked up $2k each which was a nice surpise.

Around here (Boston) $5,000 - $6,000 was the average. Mine are both out of them know but still have retainers and go every 6 months for a check.

Some are higher but include more, others were lower but perhaps didn't cover all x-rays, impressions, etc.

Cost is only one factor so really be comfortable with your provider and the treatment plan.

Also, mine offered 3 different payment options. In full with a 5% discount, 12 months of no-interest equal monthly payments and finally an extended payment plan with interest.

The office staff did a great job of managing insurance info, etc. which I loved. I never was involved with any paperwork which was such a time saver.

 

[mickey family]

My oldest daughter's were free thanks to your tax dollars. We were stationed in Germany at the time. Now that we are retired, well from the Army anyway, my next daughter's cost $4500. I like the free deal much better.

 

[lurkernj]

Jut getting ready to get DS's on, $3500. His teeth are barely crooked, but enough that it bothers him. Ortho said he would only need them one year. Since he is 15, he doesn't want metal, so we are paying another $600 for the clear, so $4100 total, insurance will cover $2500, so $1600 oop.

younger DS's mouth is a mess, I am expecting $5-6K for him.

 

[HeyIt'sMe]

My daughter got traditional braces early last year (she gets them off this September/October!) and the cost was $5,480 for treatment + $280 for the records fee.