What did you pay for braces, and how much of a time suck are they?
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Anonymous
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We have our first consultation this week and I can’t stop freaking out about how much this is going to cost, and how much time we will be spending at the orthodontist.
DD is 12 and her teeth weren’t really an issue until our dentist office got a new dentist, and now they are urging a consultation. Apparently DD molars are “slanted”? I guess we will find out what that means. How often are you at the orthodontist? Is it weekly? What did you end up paying out of pocket vs what you were quoted? |
Anonymous
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12 year old, Metal braces, 7k, which includes Invisalign afterwards. An appointment every 6 weeks or so. Predicted length of time is 18 months.
They’re just printing money. Insurance covers 50%. |
Anonymous
Thanks for your reply! Is the $7000 before or after insurance’s 50%? |
Anonymous
| Get 3 consults. I've finished getting opinions for my 16yo. 2 plans were similar and one plan involved pulling 2 adult teeth (nope!). After insurance, the range is $3,200-$4,600 for metal braces 24-30 months and retainers for 2 years. |
Anonymous
Ours was a little cheaper, insurance paid half. The appointments after the initial are about 15 minutes long |
Anonymous
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Invisalign for my DD, took about a year and was $7500. Now they’re trying to hit us up for another couple thousand for extra sets of her retainers which she’s apparently supposed to wear at night forever, so it seems.
They predicted 18 months so we are happy with the 12 month timeframe. Appointments weren’t bad at all. Maybe only 5-6 total. |
Anonymous
Are you in the DMV? That’s a very low price. I would jump on it. |
Anonymous
This is what I’m afraid of. Our DD’s teeth look fine to us, and I’m afraid we will spend all this money and then she will just not wear the retainer. In some way I feel like they know we have good insurance and want to take us for a ride. OP |
Anonymous
| We just paid $3600 (insurance is covering $2000 but its a one time payment and now there is no more left for that kid) to have a spacer for a 9 year old. Her adult teeth were not coming in and she definitely has a narrow upper jaw. Ortho said there is a small chance she won't need braces after this but most likely will. |
Anonymous
Definitely plan on getting three. |
Anonymous
The 7k is before insurance. Our cost is about $3,500. We might have been able to find a little cheaper but we went for a location convenient to us. |
Anonymous
Thanks. This is a good point. There is a popular office that is rumored to be more expensive, but it’s close to us. I have so many friends that complain about their drives to the ortho, so this makes a lot of sense. |
Anonymous
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For both my kids, we paid $1500 after federal Met Life insurance; I believe both were about $5k before insurance. One or two sets of retainers is included. Both were predicted to be around 20-24 months.
My older child got braces off before the 24 month mark and had one phase of braces. My younger child technically had 2 phases, but the first was just a space maintainer. He probably will finish up right around 24 months. Appointments were generally 8-10 weeks apart. I didn’t (and still don’t) feel like I live at the ortho, but I would say it’s important to pick one that is convenient to both your house and school, if all else is equal amongst multiple options. |
Anonymous
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About $6K, on kid #2 now so there’s a 10% family discount.
I don’t remember how much insurance covers but our ortho does a payment plan and I made sure we’ve got enough FSA funds to cover the payments for the year. Appointments every 5 weeks unless something is pokey and needs to be fixed. |
Anonymous
Yes, in the dmv. We visited only in network orthos, so we get the in network rate and up to $1500 from insurance. |