Price for full braces in Montgomery county...

[Anonymous]

We go to Dr. Heller in downtown Bethesda and I think the price was around $4700. We didn't pay anything out of pocket b/c my husband and I both carry dental so most of it was covered, then my company gives each employee $2000 for medical expenses. It was great. Dr. Heller is really good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I recently paid $5,000 for 18 months and insurance covered $2,000 of this amount. The fee included lifetime retainer maintenance but not the retainer itself which was about $350 (there are various retainer options that cost more or less than this.) This was in upper Silver Spring.

Do shop around. Our son has near-perfect teeth, yet one popular orthodontist on New Hampshire Avenue wanted to start a 3-year program for $4,000. We had heard other funny stories about this orthodontist. DS' dentist expressed doubt, so we went for a second opinion. The second orthodontist said that DS only needed braces if he were going to pursue a career in movies (actual quote). This ended up being the orthodonist I chose for my own messed-up teeth, the orthodontist I mentioned in the 1st para.

Also, just FYI, almost every kid and adult I know has needed to keep the braces for more than the stated time. I've wondered with other parents if this is a way to suck you in. You will not need to pay anything more, however, because fee quoted at the start ($5,000 or whatever) is fixed.

NP. Who did you go with? I think we consulted with the same place on NH Ave and we would like to get a second opinion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I recently paid $5,000 for 18 months and insurance covered $2,000 of this amount. The fee included lifetime retainer maintenance but not the retainer itself which was about $350 (there are various retainer options that cost more or less than this.) This was in upper Silver Spring.

Do shop around. Our son has near-perfect teeth, yet one popular orthodontist on New Hampshire Avenue wanted to start a 3-year program for $4,000. We had heard other funny stories about this orthodontist. DS' dentist expressed doubt, so we went for a second opinion. The second orthodontist said that DS only needed braces if he were going to pursue a career in movies (actual quote). This ended up being the orthodonist I chose for my own messed-up teeth, the orthodontist I mentioned in the 1st para.

Also, just FYI, almost every kid and adult I know has needed to keep the braces for more than the stated time. I've wondered with other parents if this is a way to suck you in. You will not need to pay anything more, however, because fee quoted at the start ($5,000 or whatever) is fixed.

Was one of these Erickson and the other one DeMarco?

I have to take kid into ortho this week and he hasn't been wearing retainer, and teeth look bad. I'm dreading it.

[Anonymous]

Op Here. Thanks folks for the advice. I didn't even ask about the retainer. So I will call them tomorrow and ask about that as well as get a second opinion from one of the names mentioned here.

[Anonymous]

Also try Dr. Darlene Byrd. She's terrific and charged us significantly less than another Bethesda practice to fix my son's very messed up bite. We got an initial quote over $10,000 and he had significant issues so we did ask around.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I recently paid $5,000 for 18 months and insurance covered $2,000 of this amount. The fee included lifetime retainer maintenance but not the retainer itself which was about $350 (there are various retainer options that cost more or less than this.) This was in upper Silver Spring.

Do shop around. Our son has near-perfect teeth, yet one popular orthodontist on New Hampshire Avenue wanted to start a 3-year program for $4,000. We had heard other funny stories about this orthodontist. DS' dentist expressed doubt, so we went for a second opinion. The second orthodontist said that DS only needed braces if he were going to pursue a career in movies (actual quote). This ended up being the orthodonist I chose for my own messed-up teeth, the orthodontist I mentioned in the 1st para.

Also, just FYI, almost every kid and adult I know has needed to keep the braces for more than the stated time. I've wondered with other parents if this is a way to suck you in. You will not need to pay anything more, however, because fee quoted at the start ($5,000 or whatever) is fixed.

NP. Who did you go with? I think we consulted with the same place on NH Ave and we would like to get a second opinion.

PP here: We went with Dr. Ravi Kaur off Randolph Road. My only regret is that it's quite a hike from our house. However, she came recommended to us and we've been happy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I recently paid $5,000 for 18 months and insurance covered $2,000 of this amount. The fee included lifetime retainer maintenance but not the retainer itself which was about $350 (there are various retainer options that cost more or less than this.) This was in upper Silver Spring.

Do shop around. Our son has near-perfect teeth, yet one popular orthodontist on New Hampshire Avenue wanted to start a 3-year program for $4,000. We had heard other funny stories about this orthodontist. DS' dentist expressed doubt, so we went for a second opinion. The second orthodontist said that DS only needed braces if he were going to pursue a career in movies (actual quote). This ended up being the orthodonist I chose for my own messed-up teeth, the orthodontist I mentioned in the 1st para.

Also, just FYI, almost every kid and adult I know has needed to keep the braces for more than the stated time. I've wondered with other parents if this is a way to suck you in. You will not need to pay anything more, however, because fee quoted at the start ($5,000 or whatever) is fixed.

Was one of these Erickson and the other one DeMarco?

I have to take kid into ortho this week and he hasn't been wearing retainer, and teeth look bad. I'm dreading it.

The orthodontist we didn't chose was in the same practice as DeMarco.

[Anonymous]

^^^ choose

[Anonymous]

Prices seem fairly uniform and negotiable, depending on your insurance and what is needed. Main advice, as others have suggested, is to get multiple opinions. We had one who was ready to put braces on my son during the consultation, another wanted to use headgear. We went with the ortho who said (1) he is not going to wear headgear and (2) no reason to put braces on until his baby teeth fall out because he will just need them again. Convenience is also important because you end up going for regular 5 minute appts and it is a total drag to drive 30 minutes for those appts.