Invisalign normally costs 3,500 to $8,000, with an average of just about $5,000. I got it for just $1,050. Here’s the story of how I got the price down.
I wanted straighter teeth, but I dn’t want to have ugly braces on my mouth. Invisalign was really my only option. There’s one big problem with Invisalign that has made me not get it for the last three and a half years. It’s expensive.
According to the Invisalign website, cost of treatment ranges from $3,500 to $8,000, with an average of just about $5,000. I want straighter teeth, but not that badly.
I actually had two free consultations hoping to get a price I could afford, and both times I was told it would be about $6,000 (of which my dental insurance would pay about $3,000). That’s too much for me.
That is, until I found a deal.
How Much Does Invisalign Cost?
A local dentist’s office here in Irving was offering full Invisalign treatment for just $2,800. I thought it was too good to be true. I called them to check, and they confirmed the special.
$2,800 is pretty good, but still out of my price range. The next question would make or break the deal: can I use my insurance on this offer?
To be honest, I was fully expecting the answer to be “no”. I had found an Invisalign Groupon before and they said they wouldn’t take insurance.
Good news! This time they were happy to accept my insurance (with some provisions) and I was on my way to getting my teeth straightened.
It Only Cost Me $1,050!
Now that I found Invisalign for $2,800, I had to reduce those costs even further to make it fit my price range. Right off the bat I was able to chop it in half, thanks to my dental insurance.
There was just one little problem with the insurance. The dentist wanted me to pay in full up front, and have the insurance company reimburse me over the 18 months of treatment.
While I would rather just pay the $1,400 and let the dentist’s office deal with the insurance payments, this was still too good of a deal to pass up. My insurance company will be reimbursing me $233 every three months during the treatment, for a total reimbursement of $1,400. Booyah!
So that brings the cost down to $1,400. I reduced my costs further by using my Health Savings Account. Thanks to my HSA, I have a bunch of savings that have not been taxed. Considering the fact that I’m in the 25% tax bracket, I get 25% more money in my HSA than I would get if I were to let that income be taxed.
That means when I spend $1,400 out of my HSA, it’s the same as spending 25% less, or $1,050 of non-HSA money.
My Cheap Invisalign
Promotional Price: $2,800
Dental Insurance Benefit: $1,400
HSA Savings: $350
Total Cost to Me: $1,050
Now that’s what I call a good deal! I’m like an orthodontic services price hacker!
My Review of Invisalign
I’ve actually had Invisalign for a little over half a year now and I’m not as excited about it as I was when I first ordered it.
First: I hate is stinky breath. I am cleaning these stupid trays constantly but they still smell. I hate it and my fiancee hates it.
Second: I hate removing them for meals. It sounds like a benefit because I can eat whatever I want. Unfortunately, removing them can be difficult and painful (especially in the first few days of a new tray).
Third: It takes so much longer than braces. I was told braces would only take a few months. My full Invisalign treatment is going to last well over a year.
Fourth: It’s not just the trays. To make Invisalign work they will have to put some composite on the outside of your teeth. It’s not noticeable from far away but it looks weird up close and feels very weird for the first week or two.
Overall: If I could do it all over again I would consider regular braces because of the shorter time frame. However, I’m sure there are lots of downsides of braces that I would hate as well. The bottom line: straightening teeth is not a pleasant experience no matter how you do it.
For more on this, check out Savingadvice.com’s posting on Invisalign costs. Their assessment – Invisalign costs $3,500 to $8,000.
To help you make good financial decisions about your health check out these great articles.
Coverage Options: Finding Your Dental Plan Under the Affordable Care Act
Investing in Your Health
Prescriptions, Procedures, and Policies: How to Cut Down on the Cost of Your Health Care
Save boatloads on braces
What Dental Expenses Does Medicare Cover?
What up, Kevin. Coincidentally enough, I’m have my invisalign “braces” removed today after a full 19 months of treatment. I certainly didn’t get a deal like you so, congrats on that. I think my total prices was around $3,500, all paid by me. That being said, I wore braces as an adult when I was 22 years old and it was weird then. I just didn’t like being an adult with a mouth full of metal. You would think that I would have been smart enough to immediate replace my permanent retainer once it snapped off about 3 years after my initial treatment, right? Well, I didn’t and a few of my teeth started to shift again. My only option for me was invisalign because braces sucks! So even though invisalign sucks, too, for the reasons that you mentioned above I wouldn’t change this treatment for the world. I loved being able to pop them out of my mouth when and where I wanted.
Too late for you, but if you decide to have children, you can easily prevent crooked teeth in the first place.
Simply don’t feed your children the stuff that causes crooked teeth.
Oh, what’s that, you ask? The two main causes are: 1) Sugar, 2) Wheat.
That 2nd item might come as a surprise to you, but the problem with wheat is that it has been genetically modified since the 1970’s. But as Dr. Westman discovered nearly a century ago, even the older strains of wheat were not particularly good for you.
Of course, if you use a sufficiently narrow and perverted definition of genetically modified, like the Grain Foods Foundation does, it’s not really GM; it’s actually worse than that. See
http://sn.im/wheatbellykindle for details on how avoiding “healthy whole grains” can prevent many other maladies other than just crooked teeth.
There is no such thing as a “healthy grain,” whole or otherwise.
Wow that’s definitely cheap!
How much would regular braces have cost you? Knowing about the smell etc. now, would you still choose Invisalign over traditional braces (especially since, a few months of traditional braces is practically nothing).
Personally, I have regular braces (2.5 years!) and jaw surgery and it cost around $10k. Most of the surgery was covered under my provincial insurance but I paid for my braces out-of-pocket. Invisalign was never an option 🙁
I have a few months of my Invisilign trays left, and then my teeth will be completely straight. I chose to go through an orthodontist recommended by my dentist instead of going through someone who offered them through Groupon. I’ve been making payments, interest free, although you definitely got the better financial deal!
I’ve been really happy with the experience (baking soda and water have kept my trays from getting stinky).
My dental hygenist told me that adults with regular braces can experience bone loss in their jaw, something Invisilign treatment does not cause. That bone loss information, along with the ability to easily brush and floss my teeth makes me happy with my choice.
What, it’s not wheat?