orthodontia expenses

[smartyjones]

as i am really working trying to avoid oral surgery and anethesia for ds, i'm curious for those of you with orthodontia, i know it's impossible to really have an 'average' case, but what would you say is an average price for orthodontia?

 

thanks.

[dcmom]

Hi Smarty-

 

Both of my kids need braces. To me, their teeth were average looking- not horrible, not perfectly straight either. We live in pretty expensive towns- first DC, now central NJ- so factor this into my pricing- as I am sure their are better prices in areas where half the people are not millionaires (we are not- just suffer from the affluence of our neighbors!)

 

Older daughter had a palate expander- I think it was above $3K. Now has braces $5.5k. My SIL, who has three, told me to "budget" (ha, ha) $9k per child for orthodontia. Looks like she was right as younger dd needs palate expander and braces also. I do have a friend whose daughter got braces for $3k- she drove well out of town for them- I would have done this if I knew, had already started the process.

 

The good news: our insurance covers $3k per child, that takes it down a bit. The price is all in- includes visits, retainers, etc. After they gouge you on price, they do not nickel and dime you They have monthly payment "plans" and if you have a healthcare savings account you can use that.

 

As a side note- I was apprehensive about braces due to pandas. However (just my oldest has gotten them so far) my dd was stable when she got them on, and they haven't affected her pandas- wise in the slightest.

 

Good luck!

 

Oh- btw- this is mostly for girls moms I think- something that just worked out for us. Due to moving, and pandas, we kinda delayed getting braces for my older one (and now, won't get the younger- till we finish the older one- $$$). It got to the point where all her friends got their braces- she was the last- she was literally begging for braces as she doesn't want to be the last one getting them. I have made my attitude be- well- if you really want braces we will get them - this cuts down on any complaining, because I am "happy" to go right to the ortho and have them off and save ourselves some $$. You know- finally have the upper hand on somthing! Now the younger is begging for braces- SHE WON'T EVEN OPEN HER MOUTH FOR THE DENTIST. I told her no way- until I see she cooperates regularly for the dentist.

[MomWithOCDSon]

DS just got his off . . . permanently! . . . about 2 weeks ago, and now he's in top and bottom retainers at night.

 

We had a two-phase deal, also because we were looking to not pull teeth. So he had braces mounted on partial top when he was 10 for about 1.5 years; he needed them to open up the spaces so all of his adult teeth could come in. That was about $3k. Then he had a full set put on again at about 14: tops and bottoms. That was another $6k. So all together, $9k.

 

Like dcmom said, our prices were "all inclusive." His checks, adjustments, fixes, etc. were included. The only thing we paid additional for was some sort of appliance they cemented in to take the place of a head-gear, which he tried but just could not tolerate, especially for sleeping.

 

I, too, was worried about DS's tolerance for the braces, the tightening, etc., but he was a champ. Even the days right after they were put on or tightened, when his mouth was too sore for standard chewing, he sort of dug being indulged with smoothies, jello, yogurt and other soft foods (little did he know I snuck spinach into them! )

 

It ain't cheap, but now DS is so confident about his smile, he uses it more!

[T_Anna]

We are in NYC and it's about $5-$6k. We went to see two practices. One wanted about $2k upfront to start, the other (which we liked better anyway) just wanted us to pay monthly. Our insurance does not cover braces.

 

Also, I agree that starting later is fine...especially when it isn't a complicated case.

 

T.Anna

Ds15

Edited May 7, 2013 by T.Anna

[cobbiemommy]

We live in midAmerica, more rural than urban and DS had braces, then palate expander and now braces again. We spent around $6500.00 for that great smile.

 

DS, had over jet, which is overbite, but with the teeth pointed towards the lip because of severe overbite. He will get the bottoms off next months and the tops off this summer. :)

 

DD, had palate expander and one set of braces. Cost was around $4,000.00. No insurance for any of this. I should at least get a ride in dentist's new Corvette....

 

Cobbie

[mar]

So dd who just turned 8 needs expanders and i am nervous. She needs them on top and bottom. We will probably start within a month and I hope she does well. She is my picky eater and has issues with textures so I fear she will be miserable but I think we have no choice!!?? Crazy!!

Mar

[SSS]

My PANS dd has been wearing a retainer the last 9 months, to pull in her 2 front teeth, which we protruding rather noticeably -

and therefore vulnerable to be taken out or chipped off in activity.

She has done great with it- it has caused no problems whatsoever, and has straightened out the issue.

 

Smarty, you could check to see what your insurance covers- if it's nothing, perhaps you have an option to switch to better before you start ortho work?

My DS15 had braces for 2 years, they are off - cost around 5k, but our dental insurance covered 50% of orthodontia work.

[nicklemama]

Upper Midwest, if you don't need palate expanders, just basic braces to straighten teeth, you are looking at ~4k. Many of DS friends and classmates already have braces, at 9. I had a discussion with his dentist last week at his cleaning. We are fortunate. DS will not need braces, if he does at all, until he's closer to 12 and he has more permanent teeth. They are actually coming in pretty straight and his bite is good. Who knew the boy that sucked his thumb until he was 6 would have straight teeth!

[smartyjones]

YIKES -- my trusted advisors of dcmom and MOMwithOCD are freakin' me out! you're a bit above my high estimate.

 

we've consulted a traditional ortho who wants to wait -- except for this surgery they want for younger ds. i'm waiting to get the estimate from an integrative ortho.

 

so, i'll have one estimate but not the other to compare it to. i'm not sure any of us can add another to the mix -- after 2 orthos and 2 oral surgeon consults.

 

i was hoping for more in the $4-5k range.

our insurance offers $750.

 

thanks all!!

Edited May 8, 2013 by smartyjones

[MomWithOCDSon]

YIKES -- my trusted advisors of dcmom and MOMwithOCD are freakin' me out! you're a bit above my high estimate.

 

we've consulted a traditional ortho who wants to wait -- except for this surgery they want for younger ds. i'm waiting to get the estimate from an integrative ortho.

 

so, i'll have one estimate but not the other to compare it to. i'm not sure any of us can add another to the mix -- after 2 orthos and 2 oral surgeon consults.

 

i was hoping for more in the $4-5k range.

our insurance offers $750.

 

thanks all!!

 

Our dental insurance didn't cover ortho, but they let me make a downpayment and then made an auto-deduction on a monthly basis until the remainder was paid off. It wasn't fun to see that money go out to that every month, but at least we didn't have to take out a loan for the work, and I just added to our medical expenses for an income tax deduction at the end of the year.

[dcmom]

Hey Smarty, believe me I feel your pain. We are getting close to paying off #1- #2 has extreme dentist anxiety, so I think we will take a little break

 

I do think we go to the mercedes of orthodontia- so hopefully you can get a little better of a price. Also- my high price is for a two phase program- expander, then braces- if you just need braces it will be less expensive.

 

My older daughters teeth and bite REALLY straightened out with the expander. The braces are PURELY for vanity reasons- so if you do need a two phase approach, you may be able to do the first phase now, and wait a year or two in between. I would say most girls (not sure where the boys are on this) want the braces off by, or at least in the first year, of high school- We did palate expander in 4th grade, and braces in 7th grade- so we had a little recovery time. Theoretically #2 is getting her expander once we are done with #1- but like I said, I am not even entertaining the idea until she can sit and fully cooperate, without pre appt hysteria, for the dentist! I am pretty clear to both of them that for the most part the braces are a "luxury" item that are for vanity purposes, and that I am not going to entertain a lot of complaining AND pay a lot of money at the same time. I do indulge dd with Starbucks frappacino's when she gets her braces tightened- but i will not listen to a lot of moaning and whining I am giddy that the braces worked out that way, because I do listen to a lot of general moaning and whining

 

We also put a down payment down, and pay monthly- which makes it a little more bearable. We are able to be reimbursed by our health savings account- so the money is pre tax, which is also helpful.

[EAMom]

We are in SF bay area (expensive).

 

My dd had severe crowding, so she had extractions. The braces were 6.5k. Insurance did cover some of that (ughh...don't remember, how much, maybe 1-2k??). They let us do a payment plan (downpayment, then monthly).

 

I would have liked to avoid pulling teeth but her mouth was too crowded (even if we did do an expander, we would have still had to pull). I even got a 2nd opinion ('cause I wanted to make sure extractions were needed) and the 2nd opnion agreed extractions were needed.

Edited May 9, 2013 by EAMom

[smartyjones]

dcmom -- makes me feel a little better -- ds11 has overbite but his top teeth are beautifully straight and you don't see the bottom - so maybe not so bad just to fix the bite. . . i hope!

 

EAmom -- sounds like it was a little while ago, but can you give me any thoughts on the extractions -- like where in health was your daughter and if they did twilight sleep or knocked her out. do you have any thoughts or advice that you can give about how/if that affected her pandas health?

 

i don't want to do anethesia, but i worry that if we do it under something lighter, it will trigger too many anxiety issues and the whole thing will be a no-go -- and then we've got to regroup and start again only with a bad experience added to it. on the other hand, i worry the anethesia will trigger an exacerbation.

still hoping the integrative guy has another plan. actually - he does but also admits it may come to extraction -- just has a few things to try first.

thanks.

[EAMom]

Hi Smartyjones,

 

Actually, her very first set of extractions (these were baby teeth at age 7.5) correlated with her huge severe PANDAS exacerbation which landed her in the hospital with anorexia. She had already started with behavioral changes (rages, some food restriction, hidden ocd) several weeks before (following FEVER) and the extractions made things even more full-blown. AT that point we didn't know about PANDAS, or that she had strep (later both she and her sister would culture positive). We suspect that 1) more strep was released into her bloodstream with the extractions 2) stress didn't help anything 3) didn't know if the nitrous oxide played a role.

 

Fast forward a few years (now needed perm teeth extracted). She did beautifully. She was on antibiotics. We did the same protocol with nitrous and a local.

 

Some people do think Nitrous Oxide is a problem if your kid has the MTHFR mutation...our dd is neg/neg for that however.