How do so many lower income families afford braces for their teens?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Military families. It is a perk.

Military or Tricare does not pay except rare exceptions.

Actually, the Tricare Dental Program covers 50% of orthodontia, up to $1750 lifetime allowance. Not huge, but a nice benefit.

Yes, but that's not free, and its similar to any other dental insurance. We have tricare and its not covered. I asked. We have private insurance as retirees and ours paid I think around $2K.

Why on earth would Tricare cover braces? It's for medical care. Tricare DENTAL, however, DOES cover it 50% up to $1750 (not $2k). It's literally online; stop claiming otherwise and giving readers bad information. And no, it's not free, but it's SUPER cheap, much less than any commercial insurance. We pay $29.98 a month for the entire family.

https://tricare.mil/FAQs/Dental/TDP_Covered

They can cover it for active duty. Why would they? Medically necessary for starters but they don’t.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:21,000 braces for three kids.

Possible if did 2 phase treatment and went to the most $$$$ office in the area.

She's crazy. We're doing Invisalign with a Diamond provider or whatever they're called, two phases, and it's only $3800 total, minus our dental insurance allowance. Maybe surgery? But even then, I find it hard to believe all three kids would need it.

She just wants us to think she's rich.

Really? Different poster. We are in the midwest and currently doing Invisalign for my 13 yo. It's 6K+ minus dental insurance. He has around 1k left of orthodontics allowance - the other half was used for phase 1 when he did the palate expander a few years ago. So we are on the payment plan for the rest of the 5k.

5K for the inivisalign right now + a few thousands we already paid for the first phase (forgot the amount).

I would think it's more expensive in the DC area.

[Anonymous]

I'm lower income on DCUMs. I used a tax refund for the deposit and then paid every month for years. Thankfully I only have one child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm lower income on DCUMs. I used a tax refund for the deposit and then paid every month for years. Thankfully I only have one child.

Also a lower income DCUMer. We pay monthly. It’s a lot, but our kid was in pain so we had to just figure it out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn’t consider myself middle class if I was struggling to cover something as basic as braces.

Braces are not that cheap. Have have three in braces and it’s about $21000 in Arlington.

$7k each for braces? Liar.

If a kid has really messed up teeth it can run a couple of thousand more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn’t consider myself middle class if I was struggling to cover something as basic as braces.

Braces are not that cheap. Have have three in braces and it’s about $21000 in Arlington.

$7k each for braces? Liar.

Not lying. Iverson in Arlington. One invisalign one two phases, one one phase. No orthodontic coverage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:21,000 braces for three kids.

Possible if did 2 phase treatment and went to the most $$$$ office in the area.

She's crazy. We're doing Invisalign with a Diamond provider or whatever they're called, two phases, and it's only $3800 total, minus our dental insurance allowance. Maybe surgery? But even then, I find it hard to believe all three kids would need it.

She just wants us to think she's rich.

Please tell me who you are using. I'd love to switch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Military families. It is a perk.

Military or Tricare does not pay except rare exceptions.

Actually, the Tricare Dental Program covers 50% of orthodontia, up to $1750 lifetime allowance. Not huge, but a nice benefit.

Yes, but that's not free, and its similar to any other dental insurance. We have tricare and its not covered. I asked. We have private insurance as retirees and ours paid I think around $2K.

Why on earth would Tricare cover braces? It's for medical care. Tricare DENTAL, however, DOES cover it 50% up to $1750 (not $2k). It's literally online; stop claiming otherwise and giving readers bad information. And no, it's not free, but it's SUPER cheap, much less than any commercial insurance. We pay $29.98 a month for the entire family.

https://tricare.mil/FAQs/Dental/TDP_Covered

They can cover it for active duty. Why would they? Medically necessary for starters but they don’t.

Would you stop with your ignorance? No, Tricare doesn't cover braces. However, TDP does. I literally gave you the link!

[Anonymous]

I am a an adult whose parents truly didnt have money for dental care and I never had any sort of dentistry until I was an adult. So, the answer for some families is they just dont do it. Its optional.

For my son, it is actually far less expensive than I expected. We started putting money in an FSA to cover it and didnt need all of it. I think we paid $2K out of pocket. Its definitely something you can shop around for, use tax free accounts, hsas, or ask for a no interest payment plan. Its not that hard unless you just dont plan and dont take any actions to research.

[Anonymous]

We will pay a little over $12k for all of my oldest child’s work all together. We definitely could do it more cheaply but they have significant issues and we love our ortho

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a an adult whose parents truly didnt have money for dental care and I never had any sort of dentistry until I was an adult. So, the answer for some families is they just dont do it. Its optional.

For my son, it is actually far less expensive than I expected. We started putting money in an FSA to cover it and didnt need all of it. I think we paid $2K out of pocket. Its definitely something you can shop around for, use tax free accounts, hsas, or ask for a no interest payment plan. Its not that hard unless you just dont plan and dont take any actions to research.

Your parents did not take you for a basic cleaning??? WTF. I believe that is covered by medicaid at least.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a an adult whose parents truly didnt have money for dental care and I never had any sort of dentistry until I was an adult. So, the answer for some families is they just dont do it. Its optional.

For my son, it is actually far less expensive than I expected. We started putting money in an FSA to cover it and didnt need all of it. I think we paid $2K out of pocket. Its definitely something you can shop around for, use tax free accounts, hsas, or ask for a no interest payment plan. Its not that hard unless you just dont plan and dont take any actions to research.

Your parents did not take you for a basic cleaning??? WTF. I believe that is covered by medicaid at least.

if you are on medicaid you likely work multiple jobs and are really scraping by. dental visits are still a luxury. and there could be competing medical needs, so dentistry gets de prioritized.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn’t consider myself middle class if I was struggling to cover something as basic as braces.

Braces are not that cheap. Have have three in braces and it’s about $21000 in Arlington.

$7k each for braces? Liar.

NP.
I paid almost $8k for my kid. 18 months in braces. NW DC.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I am a an adult whose parents truly didnt have money for dental care and I never had any sort of dentistry until I was an adult. So, the answer for some families is they just dont do it. Its optional.

For my son, it is actually far less expensive than I expected. We started putting money in an FSA to cover it and didnt need all of it. I think we paid $2K out of pocket. Its definitely something you can shop around for, use tax free accounts, hsas, or ask for a no interest payment plan. Its not that hard unless you just dont plan and dont take any actions to research.[/quote]

Your parents did not take you for a basic cleaning??? WTF. I believe that is covered by medicaid at least. [/quote]

I went around age 12 for a cleaning, my dad found some deal and paid in cash. I remember it because it was the first time and I hated it! Then when I was in high school he must have had a switch in insurance because i started going 1x yearly. Never went in college though. For most of my life he didnt work a job that offered dental insurance. I dont think they had medicaid, though im really not sure. My point is for families that truly dont have the money they do not take their kids to a dentist. And we weren't starving or homeless or anything extreme, just didnt have dental insurance and it wasnt something my parents bothered with. Im sure there are many other families like that too.

I very much grew up thinking braces were only for rich kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a an adult whose parents truly didnt have money for dental care and I never had any sort of dentistry until I was an adult. So, the answer for some families is they just dont do it. Its optional.

For my son, it is actually far less expensive than I expected. We started putting money in an FSA to cover it and didnt need all of it. I think we paid $2K out of pocket. Its definitely something you can shop around for, use tax free accounts, hsas, or ask for a no interest payment plan. Its not that hard unless you just dont plan and dont take any actions to research.

Your parents did not take you for a basic cleaning??? WTF. I believe that is covered by medicaid at least.

DP and my first dentist visit was in college. My parents never took me. I didnt know it was expected. This was the 90s. Yes they were low income.