What braces cost

Why there is no single price

Orthodontic fees are set by the case, not by a menu. Twelve months of alignment in a well-proportioned bite and a thirty-month case involving extractions, elastics and an impacted canine consume very different amounts of appliance, chair time and clinical attention. Anyone quoting a firm figure before examining the teeth and reviewing radiographs is quoting a guess, and the correction usually arrives later.

What genuinely moves the number:

• Length of treatment. The largest single driver, because it determines how many appointments the fee has to cover.
• Complexity. Skeletal correction, extraction space closure, impacted teeth and asymmetry all require more mechanics and more visits.
• Appliance choice. Metal is the baseline; ceramic carries a modest premium and lingual a substantial one.
• Additional appliances. An expander, TADs or a functional appliance phase add to the plan.
• One phase or two. Early treatment followed by a later phase is normally quoted as two separate stages rather than one combined figure.

What your quote here includes

You will get the figure in writing after your examination and records, with the payment schedule alongside it. At this practice the quoted fee includes your retainers at the end of treatment and the first year of retainer checks, and monthly payments are arranged interest-free directly through the clinic with no credit application and no third-party lender. Children who are being monitored rather than treated are seen on free recall visits until the right time to begin.

Questions that make two quotes comparable

• Are records, radiographs and the consultation inside the fee or billed separately?
• Are retainers included, and how many? What happens if one is lost?
• How long are retainer checks covered after debond?
• Are repairs to broken brackets charged per visit?
• What happens to the fee if treatment runs past the estimate?
• Who performs the adjustments — the orthodontist, or a staff member?
• Is there an additional charge for an expander, elastics or a second phase?

A fee that looks lower and excludes retainers, repairs and overrun is not lower. Ask for the inclusions in writing from anyone you are comparing, including us.