What do/did braces cost you?

[scrapbookworm]

DD (age 10) just got braces on Wednesday. $5500. Insurance is paying $1500. She got traditional metal braces.

 

[christianne]

We are paying $6100 times two for own TWINS!!!! Yes, $13,200!! Basic wire braces, teeth not too bad, will only need them for about a year. Insurance covers only $1000 per child, ortho is giving a 10% discount up front, which is over $1000, but a ton of $$ to outlay at once. We're in Northern NJ, DH asked around, pretty standard price, but glad too see everyone else's prices too. I'm hearing from friends again & again that this was an "unforsen" cost...trying to warn all parents of toddlers to plan now!

 

[Mom3girls]

Phase I consisted of putting an expander in DD's mouth to the price of $750. Paid cash in two installments.

Phase II she had the braces put on to the price of $3600. Insurance will pay half, so $1800. I had to pay the other $1800 by paying $100 monthly at 0% int.

Ten months down and we owe $750!!! (thanks to a $50 credit for referring someone to our ortho).

Now on to the other two who will also need braces...

 

[melancholywings]

Does the age of the child matter? I never had braces as a kid, but DD needs them. She was suppose to go in for a consultation in Sept. but we had to cancel that due to an unforseen medical condittion. Now I'm trying to figure a way to budget it in.

 

[Schachteles]

Does the age of the child matter? I never had braces as a kid, but DD needs them. She was suppose to go in for a consultation in Sept. but we had to cancel that due to an unforseen medical condittion. Now I'm trying to figure a way to budget it in.

I don't think that age matters. I know our orthodontist says they all should have a consultation by the time they are 7. The earlier you get them in, the better they can be proactive about it and hopefully have less permanent damage to the teeth. My daughter is 8 and currently has expanders on the top and bottom, had we not had those put in, she would have had some more major issues because teeth couldn't fully grow in due to lack of space. Our orthodontist doesn't believe in pulling teeth, so now we are doing the expanders for 4-6 months to make room and then we will wait for the permanent teeth to come in so braces can be put on.

 

[HugsForEeyore]

I had three plus years of braces as an adult (back in 2003), paying 100% our of pocket for all of it, with no insurance and a minimum wage job at the time. I also needed surgery (8 teeth extracted!) before I could start, so all together it was probably over $9000. Today I am sure it would be over $10,000 by now.

I felt I had to get my crooked teeth fixed to finally become employable, as I was going absolutely nowhere in interviews and getting a career going. Once my teeth were straight, I was treated 1000% better by people, and had no trouble at all landing jobs. Amazing what a nice smile can do for your appearance and how others perceive you. But I had so many wasted years in there, with non-existant self esteem and not advancing in my career. Wish my parents got me braces, but they absolutely refused (that's a whole 'nother thread!).

The sad reality about teeth is that they show your class and status. Where I live, parents rush to find orthos to start braces early, so show the world their kid is one of "quality". So orthos can charge a fortune here, since every parent will pay. If I had kids, I would also start early if their appearance was being affected.

I will always see braces (even with all that pain!) as the BEST THING I ever did. Night and day difference in how much better my life is.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

We did not use classic orthodontia for our oldest son. We used the Crozat system which is supposed to be far less invasive for the child. Our son had his expanders in for about 8 months (took longer than expected due to damage to the office from Hurricane Ike...the expanders were not the kind you crank each day, they were far more comfortable than that), has had his braces on just shy of 2 years, and is expected to have them off by the end of summer. He'll have retainers for at least a year afterward. His teeth were never really crooked. His upper jaw was just way under developed and he had a bad cross bite. His bite was so bad that he never used to eat meat because he couldn't chew it up sufficiently. He'd chew as much as he could then swallow it down with water.

The entire cost for us was $4100. This included all the hardware, etc. At the start my son was warned that if he went thru a lot of brackets and things because he wasn't taking care of himself properly or was doing things he was instructed not to that the additional pieces would cost me additional. Needless to say, he has taken pretty good care of his mouth. LOL!

My youngest had his consult back in the spring. His will cost $4700. We haven't started his yet but will soon. A cash discount is also offered. Otherwise it's a $500 deposit then around $200/month.

If you want more info on the Crozat system just Google it. It's actually very interesting. We totally happened across it ourselves without knowing that there were different systems of orthodontia out there. My niece had traditional orthodontia and she was miserable. My son has had a handful of uncomfortable days right after his monthly adjustments but for the most part hasn't had any problems. I highly recommend the Crozat system.

 

[angwill]

Has anyone had an estimate done for Invisalign for teeth that only need minor correction? I had braces as a child but of course my teeth have shifted some as an adult I have a small gap (really not that noticeable) but it drives me nuts, so I want to get it fixed.

Wondering if cost for Invisalign might be less to correct such a small problem? Or maybe an orthodontist could just do a retainer to fix? Anyone gotten estimates for orthodontic work that wasn't metal braces?

I don't have an answer on the invisalign but I did have one tooth that was pushed back due to a baby tooth that didn't fall out and my mother waited too long to have it pulled. It really bothered me but over the years every dentist/ortho said I needed a full set of braces for thousands of dollars.

My current dentist asked me one day if I wanted him to fix it since he does traditional metal braces in his office. I told him I didn't want a full set of braces and didn't want to spend so much for one tooth anyway. So he offered to do 5 braces two on either side of the tooth and the tooth that needed to come forward for $600. It looks really odd when I smile but it is a conversation starter for sure. lol I have been wearing them for 6 months now and they are about to come off. My teeth are now perfect and it didn't cost an arm and a leg. It also helped me to stop grinding my teeth.

My point is to call around you just might find a dentist that will do the unconventional and save you a small fortune.

 

[McKelly]

We had our DD10 go in for a consult and the ortho told us to come back in a year because she still needs to lose 12 baby teeth. He did mention she might need teeth extracted. To those of you who have mentioned surgery for tooth extraction, was that covered under medical insurance? Did the ortho do it or did you go to an oral surgeon?

 

[splash5]

DS just got his braces off about a year ago (He had the acrylic - clear ones). I want to say that we paid around $5000. Our orthodontist had a payment plan - it amounted to about $150 per month - we had to put down about $1500 to get started then did the rest on payment plan. He had his braces for about 22 months.