Did I get rooked?!

Message

#1 Post by **Lex** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 6:54 am

I have been battling with the reality that I need braces for the past few years. I finally got the courage to move forward and was excited by my decision to use Invisalign.

I went to the consult; a highly recommended Ortho in my area. I trust my dentist implicitly, and he trusts this guy, so I went. I almost fell out of my chair when they came to me with the cost. Only a little under $8,000 - YIKES

They saw the look on my face and apologetically said, "the cost of this treatment just went up"; this was my only consolation. Now mind you my treatment is not that intense. I think that I have 17 trays on top & bottom (fuzzy on the number) certainly no more than 20. My treatment should be for about a year. Oh, and that big fat $8,000 does NOT cover retention.

Everywhere I read, people seem to be paying around $6,000. In extreme cases, when someone needs 40-something aligners, the cost can be around $7,000. But I have NEVER heard of someone paying this much - and without retention.

If I left that office to look for a better price, I can tell you that I never would have followed up - I wouldn't have my aligners today. I am just so busy, that running all over creation & scheduling consults is just not an option. I also trust my dentist so much......just didn't think that he would sell me up the creek!

So, what does everyone think of this? If prices really did go up, I can accept that. But, like I said, after 'sniffing' around the web, I haven't heard of anyone paying this much for a relatively short and uncomplicated treatment.

Thank you all in advance for your time
Lex

#2 Post by **Invisaguy** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 9:12 am

Hi Lex,
I have noticed the prices for invisalign treatment seems to vary by ortho.
I think the reason being is the level of service they provide. I have heard of people paying $4000 but all that was done was the checkups and one refinement. If something went wrong beyond that they would end up paying more money. However, I have heard the docs on here mention they charge up to $7500 - $8000. They will do what it takes to make sure your teeth come out straight even beyond what invisalign can do (i.e. Metal Braces to finish) and won't usually charge you any more. My dentist charged me $4500 for 48 Uppers and 21 Lowers. He gave me a good price however, I refer a lot of people to him and have had a lot of work done by him (still am). Hope this helps.
Good luck.

#3 Post by **Lex** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 9:53 am

Thank for your reply. Unfortunately, my Ortho made it very clear that anything beyond the Invisalign would cost extra....my retainers, and if braces are needed after the Invisalign, they will cost extra too.

Not feeling very good about this whole thing. I really wish that I had taken some time to check around on prices.....wish I had the time. Oh well. Too late now.

I would still love to hear if anyone else is paying anything close to what I am for treatment....or if anyone knows of a recent global price hike in this treatment.

Thank you all again,
Lex

#4 Post by **annel** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 7:52 pm

Hi I am paying 7500 for full treatment with invisalign- That is for about 18 months in invisalign approx. 35 trays top & bottom- but that included everything from start to finish and for retention . I live in Ohio & I, too, thought the price was high, but I do have insurance coverage which takes care of 2000 of the cost- so I decided to go for it- Like you, I would have never followed up with anyone else to do this . Hope this helps ! Best of luck to you!

#5 Post by **rooroo** » Fri Oct 21, 2005 8:10 pm

Hey Lex,

I would highly recommend that you check out Dr Lavine/Decker in Laurel, MD. It's a bit of a drive for you, but Dr. Lavine is excellent and is the one the offered me full braces at no charge after my Invisalign treatment. If nothing else, go get a consult with them because they are fairly priced and excellent orthodontists. Or even call them for a recommendation in your area. When I had Invisalign, I paid $4500 for 2 years of treatment. Thats 40 uppers and lowers. I did not pay for braces or retainers afterwards. Check them out, they're excellent. But yes, $8000 for only 20 aligners in this area seems very high. Maybe $6000 with inflation, but no more.

#6 Post by **alicia** » Wed Oct 26, 2005 9:10 am

I first heard about invisalign 5 years ago when I was 18. At that time I wanted braces but didn't want to go through with the traditional braces. I am also from Maryland and had a consultation with Dr. Lavine. He also has an office in Washington, D.C. I thought he was a good doctor but opted out of invisalign because it was too expensive. My payments would have been $500 a month for the first 5 months and $250 for the remainder of treatment.

Let's fast forward 5 years later. I am older now and decided that because of my case, braces would be better for me. I didn't want to go through 2 years of invisalign and then additional years in braces. I just want to get this over with. I'm glad I did this because my insurance covers adult orthodontics. For full treatment I only have to pay $2675. That includes retainers too.

With orthodontics it is a good idea to check around and get more opinions. That way you can get a better idea of what your treatment would be and a range of quotes. Good luck with your treatment.

#7 Post by **Lavender** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 12:55 pm

Hi everyone, I'm new here. I just wanted to say that I just finished invisalign last wk. I had 25 trays for my upper teeth and then 6 refinement trays. I paid $3200 for mine and that included everything. My teeth however are still not straight so I'll be having braces put on soon. The cost of my braces is also included in that price. I'm not happy that I have to get braces, because getting invisalign was to correct the problem and avoid braces. I'm sure I'll get used to them. At least I only need to wear them for a short amount of time. Around 6 months, or so I'm being told.

#8 Post by **missingu** » Tue Apr 11, 2006 4:01 pm

Quoted today - $8150 Bethesda, Maryland. 18 months uncomplicated. Don't remember the tray count. Did include retention.

Would someone please explain to me why people have to get regular braces AFTER Invisalign??? I though Invisalign were braces, and now a number of people have talked about getting conventional braces afterwards.

What's the deal?

#9 Post by **demedja** » Sat Apr 15, 2006 1:07 pm

I also thought about getting invisalign but decided against it because of the cost. I'm in Florida and my ortho quoted me $7500 for invisalign vs $4000 for traditional braces (both prices include everything, including retention). It wasn't really much a choice for me because my insurance doesn't cover invisalign anyway.

As for people using invisalign and then switching to regular braces afterwards, the company that makes Invisalign claims that it is just as good as and in some cases better than regular braces, but my ortho told me this is not really true since there are some cases where regular braces are more efficient at straightening teeth than invisalign. Guess it depends on how complicated your specific case is; and for some people its worth paying the extra $$$ for invisalign because they just don't like having wires in their mouths.