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Understanding Invisalign Price & Cost Issues

June 7, 2010 by admin 4 Comments

Invisalign price issues

The doctor with the cheapest Invisalign Price is not always the best one for you

Woohoo! After 15 months I have finally finished paying off my Invisalign. Whilst the Invisalign have been almost completely pain free the bills have not been, so I am more than happy to see the back of them. Having said that I can tell you quite categorically that it has been worth every single cent I’ve paid -and I haven’t even seen the final result yet! However I get a lot of questions about the Invisalign price I paid, so I’ll attempt to answer them here.

The Invisalign Price I Paid

I have mentioned before that my Invisalign cost $6100, plus $200 for the taking of records and impressions. That amounts to approximately $5300 US or 3600 British Pounds at today’s conversion rates. I paid $1500 at the time of the first impressions, $1550 at the first fitting and then made 15 monthly payments of $220. I did however get around $2000 back from MBF, my health fund here in Australia. Still, even with that refund the bills HURT.

I didn’t choose the cheapest Invisalign orthodontist that I saw. That isn’t because I am too rich for the cost to bother me; with two children, two cats and a husband with a penchant for expensive gadgets, FAR from it in fact. It was just that when I was paying so much already I sure as hell didn’t want to have to pay it twice. Also, I am a perfectionist. So although I told my orthodontist that I was happy for my teeth to be better without being absolutely perfect, I really wanted them to be as perfect as they could be.

Why The Cheapest Invisalign Price Isn’t Necessarily The Best

Given that Invisalign are expensive – and I know that I have written about some of this before, long time readers might want to skip the rest of this post!- I just wanted to say a few things about the costs of Invisalign for those that have not yet chosen their orthodontist or dentist. When you are considering spending several thousand dollars you want to get the best deal possible. Nobody wants to spend more than they have to – let’s be honest, most of us will be sacrificing a lot to be able to afford braces. However, as I have repeated several times on this blog, if there is any way you can avoid it please don’t choose your Invisalign provider just based on their Invisalign price.

Some people getting Invisalign will have only very simple cases. For them, it may not matter whether they look for their provider based on price alone. For anybody with a more complex orthodontic problem like myself, choosing the right provider could be vital. It can honestly mean the difference between good teeth and great teeth. Given that whichever orthodontist you choose will be rearranging your teeth, filling your mouth with moulding gunk, and even possibly filing away parts of teeth occasionally, it’s important to choose the right person for the job.

Having said that cost is something that most of us can’t afford to ignore altogether, so I thought I would run through the things that influence how much your Invisalign are likely to cost.

What Influences the Invisalign Price Your Orthodontist Charges?

Invisalign price differences

Your Invisalign price may be different if your dentist uses Invisalign Express or Invisalign Teen

The first thing that determines the Invisalign price is which Invisalign system your orthodontist uses. Invisalign Express is a system of Invisalign used for only the simplest Invisalign cases. Generally Invisalign Express cases take less than 10 aligners and are for minor spacing issues. Full Invisalign is used for cases other than the very simplest cases where more aligners, more complex movements and possible refinements are required. Invisalign Teen is an Invisalign system aimed at teens who may still have erupting teeth or who may have issues with Invisalign compliance.

Where you live will also have an impact on the cost of your Invisalign. In areas where the dentist or orthodontist will have higher staff and rent costs the Invisalign price will obviously be more. Also, in areas where there are not many Invisalign providers there is likely to be less price competition and therefore more expensive Invisalign.

Another factor is whether you choose an Invisalign dentist or Orthodontist. Orthodontists in most countries are more specialised in tooth movement than general dentists, often having completed several more years of training at university than general dentists. This means that orthodontists sometimes (but not always) charge more for Invisalign.

Invisalign dentists and orthodontists sometimes also vary their Invisalign prices according to their Invisalign experience. Some providers offer a lower Invisalign price when they first start out with Invisalign, increasing their prices when they become highly experienced. This isn’t always the case though- please don’t take higher prices as a definite indicator of more experience. If you need to know which are the most experienced Invisalign providers where you live, the Invisalign website for your country has more information.

Check What The Invisalign Price Includes

You should check what your Invisalign costs include. Find out whether the cost that you are quoted includes everything- including any refinements that you might need if you are not happy with your teeth after the first run of aligners. My orthodontist offers three runs of refinements, but some providers offer less than three included in the price. Some providers also offer whitening and other extras whilst others charge for it. Make sure you know exactly what you are paying for and exactly what extra costs could crop up during treatment.

Get Several Quotes

Finally, I would suggest seeing several Invisalign doctors to get quotes and opinions before choosing who to go with. In my experience they can have very different ideas as to what to do with your teeth and how complex and costly the treatment needs to be. You will also get a feel for their personality and whether they are somebody that you would feel comfortable talking to and asking questions of during your treatment. Also, check with any orthodontist or dentist that you choose that they have completed cases like yours before and ask to see before and after pictures too if they have them.

If you are concerned about whether the quotes you have are reasonable for your area of the world have a look at the realself website. It shows the prices paid by people all over the world, often with reviews of their doctors too. I found this site invaluable whilst looking for my Invisalign orthodontist.

In the meantime, I am off to enjoy my final few days of night time only braces wear. My new aligners are due in this week at which point I will be back to 22 hours a day wear. I’ll post an update and some pictures when I get them…but for now I’m off for a leisurely coffee and some very sticky chocolate cake whilst I still can!

Filed Under: cost of invisalign, invisalign cost, invisalign costs, invisalign price, invisalign prices Tagged With: clear braces, invisalign, invisalign braces, invisalign cost, invisalign costs, invisalign pictures, invisalign pricing, invisalign refinements, invisible braces

Why Your Invisalign Dentist Provides A Free Case…

October 29, 2009 by admin 14 Comments

Invisalign case

Invisalign Case

This is a story of something that really happened on my holiday in the UK and why you should always carry your Invisalign case (If you’ve lost your Invisalign case find a new one here!). (Incidentally, the slightly squeamish amongst you may wish to stop reading this post at this point; skip merrily to the next entry– trust me on this.)
When I picked up my aligners for the first time my orthodontist was very clear about one thing. That you should never, ever, whatever else you do, wrap your aligners in paper tissues or napkins when you take them out to eat. I looked at him earnestly, nodded my understanding and then promptly went on my way to set about doing exactly that.

Until recently it hadn’t been too much of a problem. There had been a couple of close calls, a few chases across restaurants as the waiter cleared my plate, snatching aligners from the jaws of waste disposal units, but nothing too serious. I have always known that I am useless at remembering to take my aligner cases with me, but it didn’t seem like a big enough problem that I should actually change my behaviour. Until now.

I took my children to a petting farm whilst on holiday. One of those places where little people get to hand feed lambs, watch a cow being milked, climb a few hay bales, torment terrified chickens- I’m sure you’ve seen the kind of places. After a couple of hours we were all starving so we trudged along to the “restaurant” – a marvel of formica, polystyrene and plastic chairs with just a whiff of manure still lingering in the air, all set in an old metal milking shed. It was a counter service place, so after washing our hands we loaded a tray with some sandwiches and drinks and sat down. My children were tired and tetchy by this point so there was much bribing and cajoling to get them to sit in their seats and eat their food. As ever I had forgotten my Invisalign case, so I happily whipped out my braces behind my hand and wrapped them in one of those white paper napkins that such places have. By the end of the meal my children were desperate to go and jump on the adventure playground that had been beckoning to them through the open door all mealtime, so I swiftly wiped their grubby faces, picked up the tray and placed it in a tray rack over by the exit.
It was about 10 minutes before the empty feeling in my mouth alerted me to the fact that my aligners were now- somewhere. I didn’t like to think too much where. So, leaving my children with my mother I sprinted (believe me, not something you will see very often) back to the restaurant to find my discarded tray. Of course it was gone. Long ago cleared by the very efficient lady who took the trays and deposited the waste from everyone’s meals into the huge black dustbins at the back of the restaurant.




At this point I knew that my braces were gone. There was no way I would would be either willing or able to find them amongst the half eaten scraps of so many meals. Except there was just one tiny problem. I was in the UK in the depths of country Dorset, 28 hours flight from my home in Australia and 3 hours drive from my only other set of aligners in the UK. Those only spares (my next set, not due to be worn for 5 more days) were sitting in my spare Invisalign case in my husband’s suitcase somewhere north of London where he had gone to work. For some crazy reason I had thought that him keeping the spares would be a safer idea. Consequently, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to get to the spare set for at least four days, and to any other set for four weeks. Not good. Not good at all.
I had a choice to make. Abandon the braces there and then and be braceless for the best part of a week, having completely eliminated the possibility of finding them. Or, forage through the bins, arm deep in other peoples half eaten meals, find the aligners and then figure out whether or not to actually wear them. So forage I did. The very nice lady who cleared the tables looked at me in a very bemused manner but kindly gave me a pair of rubber gloves and I in return told her the little white lie that my eight year old had removed her braces and left them on the tray, and that I needed to find them because they cost $5000. I know you shouldn’t blame your children for your mistakes, but I am putting this one down as karma for all the times that my daughter has embarrassed me.I’m not sure why but I just couldn’t bring myself to give the lady a truthful explanation of the whole sorry, humiliating tale.
There were two bins that they tipped scraps into. Each of them larger than a household bin, just above waist high, but wide; wide enough that it was a stretch to lean across them. They were three quarters full of food scraps, balled up napkins, half finished drinks- you name it, it was in there. Very carefully I set about lifting every paper napkin and delicately squishing it to feel whether my aligners were inside. It took about 10 stomach churning minutes of bending over the enormous bin, backside high in the air as I went on tiptoes to reach far enough into the bin to get to everything. 10 long minutes of rooting amongst the detrius, the sandwiches with a single bite taken, the yoghurt coated chips, the large wet splodges of cold baked beans that seemed to have attached themselves to every other piece of rubbish, before I finally found them; still nestled safely inside the napkin, wrapped tight and unsullied, a little wetter than when I left them- but there.
I couldn’t face putting them in though. Even after sterilising them thoroughly, brushing them, soaking them for twice the recommended time in denture cleaner. Even though I knew that they had stayed wrapped in the napkin and were probably just as clean as when I had lost them. I still couldn’t bring myself to actually put them into my mouth. I don’t know if it was the dustbin, or the half eaten food, or the proximity of so many animals that put me off, but I just couldn’t do it.
So I set about a series of frantic phone calls: to my husband, my mother in law and my brother. Somehow from the jaws of disaster, and after no more than 40 minutes of pure unadulterated begging, pleading and negotiating, my dear, dear, slightly bemused brother came up trumps. He was coming to Dorset anyway to see me the next day, and via a series of complicated 25 mile detours would meet up with my husband on the way and deliver my spare, fresh, sparkling new aligners to me. I would have to wait more than 12 hours to get them, but I figured it would be worth it just to avoid having to choose between 5 brace free days and the inevitable alignment problems that would cause and wearing “bin braces” and the potential revulsion/sickness that would cause.
I’d love to be able to say that since this whole sorry episode I have been ever diligent about putting my Invisalign case in my bag whenever I leave the house, but somehow, although less forgetful than before, I am still not perfect at remembering. So if any of you have any tips as to how to remember these things or can even reassure me that I am not alone in my stupidity I would love to hear from you via the comments section.


Filed Under: cleaning invisalign, invisalign cases, invisalign dentist, travelling with invisalign Tagged With: aligner cases, braces cases, cleaning invisalign, denture cleaner, invisalign braces, invisalign case, invisalign cleaning, invisalign cost, invisalign prices, invisible braces, lost invisalign, orthodontist, steradent invisalign, sterilising invisalign

Invisalign Cost – How Much Is Invisalign?

November 24, 2008 by admin 6 Comments

I thought it might be useful to let you know how much I am paying for my Invisalign as one of the most frequent questions I am asked is “How much does Invisalign cost?” I’ve also added in the average cost of Invisalign for other parts of the world just to give a general comparison. Notably, there are very different figures according to the country you are in.

How much does invisalign cost

How Much Does Invisalign Cost

Invisalign Cost UK

In London, for example, costs can range from £1500 for very minor cases and up to £5000 but insurance covers very little as a rule, even if you have dental insurance. Orthodontics in the UK can be covered by the National Health Service but they never cover Invisalign sadly. If you have serious orthodontic issues and are under 16 you can have treatment with metal braces free, however this is not available for adults or for cases that are purely cosmetic and don’t have an underlying health implication.

Invisalign Cost USA

In the US overall the average price is around $5000 but the cost may be higher in major cities. In New York much higher figures of up to $9000 or more are often quoted. Private health cover is more common in the US and may cover some or all of your treatment – you need to check with your own provider what is and isn’t covered.

What My Invisalign Cost

The total price (in Australian Dollars) for my Invisalign treatment is $6150 for the braces treatment plus $200 for records. I believe that they bill the records separately in order to maximise the refund from health funds. I am hoping to get about $2700 back from my health fund out of the $6150 total.
Payment is $1300 at the time first impressions are taken, plus the $200 for records. Another $1550 is due at the first fitting, followed by fifteen monthly payments of $220. After that there are no additional costs even if treatment is not yet finished.
Please do help other readers establish the price of invisalign in their area by commenting below with the costs of your own treatment.
Convert these figures to your own currency here
Click to see my latest post about my Invisalign braces

Click to start from the beginning of my Invisalign Blog

Filed Under: cost of invisalign, Invisalign blog, Invisalign blogs, invisalign price, invisalign prices, invisalign review Tagged With: braces, braces cost, cost of invisalign, health fund, invisalign, invisalign braces, invisalign cost, invisalign costs, invisalign prices, orthodontist

About Me

Ex model, mother, English & Australian. 2 daughters, 1 dog, 2 cats, 2 rabbits, a horribly expensive beauty habit and an obsession with straight teeth.

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