How much does Invisalign cost? You might see prices online for Invisalign that range from about $2,000 to around $8,500. Those estimates might be accurate, but how are they helpful? And how can you know if they apply to the Invisalign cost in Phoenix?
With those big ranges in price for Invisalign, it can seem really challenging to feel confident about the decision you make for getting straight teeth and improving your smile. We want to help.
The cost of quality Invisalign treatment in Phoenix (and many other areas in the United States) is typically about $6000 – $7000 for a full treatment case.
While the cost of treatment is very important, avoid making your Invisalign decision based on price alone. There’s more you need to know.
Another thing – price is only one of several important factors that significantly influence the quality of treatment you receive. And sometimes, the price for Invisalign you think you’re getting up front isn’t always the price you end up paying. The same thing goes for braces and other orthodontic treatment – it’s important to know what you are getting for those fees.
We have you covered.
Making a decision about orthodontic treatment can feel confusing and unclear, but it doesn’t have to be. We believe that everyone deserves a winning smile, and so getting answers to your Invisalign questions ought to be easy.
If you want to feel confident about the decision you’re making for your smile, we wrote this for you.
When you finish reading this, you’ll walk away with clear answers to questions like:
- What the key factors are that impact Invisalign price
- Why the price you think you’re paying isn’t always the price you’ll pay
- How much of Invisalign costs your insurance might cover
What is Invisalign?
There are multiple methods that orthodontic professionals use to get your teeth to move and improve your smile. One of those methods is the use of clear aligners. Invisalign is the name of the most advanced and most popular clear aligner system in the world.
Though there are other brands of clear aligners you could use for your treatment, Invisalign is by far the one most recognized.
Invisalign – and all other clear aligners – used to only work with very simple cases. Today, with an experienced doctor, Invisalign can treat virtually any case regardless of complexity. Its advancement in this area is part of the reason Invisalign continues to explode in popularity.
How Much Does Invisalign cost?
In most areas of the United States, including Phoenix, quality Invisalign cost for standard treatments typically is between $6,000 – $7,000.
When you search online, you might find ranges for Invisalign cost as large as $2,000 – $8,500, or even higher. That is mostly accounting for the very wide range of complexity in Invisalign cases. As is true of many medical treatments, the more complex your case, the higher your cost of treatment.
The lower-end fee estimates are not typical full treatment cases in difficulty or time required to treat. Often, the lower priced cases are to simply move a few teeth.
Most of our patient cases are between $6,000 – $7,000. There are complex cases that require more, and some rare simple cases that require less, but most would land in the range for standard Invisalign treatment.
At Dickerson Orthodontics, you can expect that you’d always know your total Invisalign cost in advance. More on that later.
Although cost of Invisalign is a key factor, we want to strongly encourage you to avoid making a decision for your treatment based on cost alone. There are other important factors that have a large impact on your Invisalign experience and can significantly influence the quality of treatment you receive. We’ll break them down next.
Quick Summary: Quality Invisalign treatment for most cases of Invisalign typically costs between $6,000 – $7,000 in Phoenix and most other areas of the United States.
Why is it so hard to find a straight answer about Invisalign price online?
There are actually very good reasons for this, and it is usually done with your best interest in mind. (Although we believe that you ought to still be able to get a clear answer!)
Here’s the reason: your teeth and smile are completely unique to you.
Any good treatment plan for improving your smile should be the same – completely unique to you. That’s why it may feel challenging to find an exact price for Invisalign online. Good Invisalign treatment ought to be personalized to fit your exact smile and situation. An orthodontist would need to see your smile before being able to give you a treatment plan and price for Invisalign that is actually realistic.
At Dickerson Orthodontics, we create each patient’s treatment plan personally for them. The doctor you choose should do the same for you.
Beware of any orthodontic practice that gives you a generic price for Invisalign before they’ve seen your teeth and given you a personalized plan. It might sound like a deal, but it will be hard to know if it will deliver the results you’re looking for. You may end up paying far more in the end.
Quick Summary: any good Invisalign treatment plan should be created to fit your unique situation and smile. Only trust the plan and price from the doctor who’s actually seen your teeth.
p.s. A little pro tip – Some doctors and orthodontic practices will charge for your initial consultation and treatment plan. They might do a great job, but before you pay for a consult, get a free Invisalign consultation with us at Dickerson Orthodontics. We have 4 locations in the Phoenix area to make it as convenient for you as possible.
What are the other key factors – besides price – when it comes to Invisalign?
There are two other really key factors you need to consider when evaluating Invisalign cost:
- The complexity of your treatment
- The expertise of your doctor
We often talk about these two elements as being the ‘silent influencers of Invisalign price’ because they don’t show up anywhere on your invoice but they sure do significantly impact the quality of your results and the length of your treatment.
Factor #1: Treatment Complexity
When websites give you a very generic cost range to cover all levels of case complexity, they aren’t giving you much in the way of usable information.
What we typically find is that many of our Invisalign patients require a very similar level of treatment – that’s about $6,000 – $7,000. A more complex case might cost a little bit more, and less complex cases can cost less.
Factor #2: Doctor Expertise
The expertise of your orthodontist is probably the most important consideration in your cost analysis of Invisalign and the quality of care you or your family is receiving.
If a doctor is offering you a price that is significantly less than between $6,000 – $7,000 for a ‘standard Invisalign treatment’, it is often a signal of their expertise. Yes, it’s possible you might have found a deal, but be careful. As with many things, with Invisalign, you often get what you pay for.
Many general dentists these days do clear aligners and some do a nice job in many of the simpler cases. The general dentist fee in these cases can be less because they often simply let the software do the work and modify very little to fit an individual patient.
The problem is that many cases are not as simple as they look, and that is often realized too late by the treating general dentist because they have only taken a few hours of courses on orthodontics.
Among orthodontists, there can be a quality of care difference, too. Treatment provided by dental and orthodontic practices owned by corporations will often be less expensive in dollars, but more expensive in time, convenience, and sometimes hidden fees (more on this later).
Proceed with caution, and make sure you know what you’re saying yes to.
On the other hand, a good orthodontist has years of additional training and sees thousands of different cases over time. A great orthodontist will never be the cheapest option, but they’ll feel like a bargain when you see your new, winning smile.
Quick Summary: Be sure to consider the expertise of your doctor as you are comparing prices for Invisalign treatment. Avoid falling into the trap of paying a lot in silent costs for Invisalign.
How does Invisalign cost compare to the cost of other orthodontic treatments, like braces?
Today, the cost of Invisalign is generally comparable to the other main methods of orthodontic treatment – like braces.
This wasn’t always the case. In 1999, when Invisalign first came out, it was way more expensive than braces and couldn’t handle anything beyond simple cases. Those days are long gone.
In the United States today, braces and Invisalign are very comparable in price. You might see a slightly higher monthly payment for Invisalign, but it’s nowhere near the significant cost difference it used to be. (You can read a complete breakdown of braces vs. Invisalign.)
Braces and the other most common orthodontic treatment methods fall into a very similar broad price range to Invisalign costs: $1,800 – $8,000. Most other clear aligner treatments you would have through an orthodontic practice would be comparable to the cost of Invisalign, too.
Quick Summary: Is Invisalign cheaper than braces? No, but the cost of Invisalign today is comparable to the other popular orthodontic treatment methods – like traditional metal braces.
What does insurance cover for Invisalign?
If you have dental insurance with orthodontic coverage, it may cover a part of your Invisalign treatment. In the United States, some plans only cover adults, some only cover children, and some don’t cover anything at all.
If you are covered by insurance, the average coverage is about $1000. Some people might get up to $1500, but that is rare. Humorously, the amount of insurance coverage hasn’t changed since 1970.
Pro tip – if you are thinking of joining an insurance plan to get the $1000 coverage, you will pay $1500 in insurance premiums to the insurance company for that $1000 benefit. So for you, the cost of Invisalign without insurance might actually be cheaper!
What about DIY aligners and services?
Maybe you’ve seen an ad online for one of the at-home clear aligner companies, or read one of the amazing DIY aligner success stories of someone who paid next to nothing and got a great smile.
It may seem as though the price is incredibly appealing, but that tiny price tag comes with some very significant risks:
- You are responsible for all of the research, work, and effort.
- Even more, you are fully responsible for your own treatment and the results – no insurance or professional support to back you up.
- With the big DIY aligner companies, all you get if something goes wrong is a 1-800 number. You don’t have the care of an orthodontist.
- Most teeth movements and smile corrections are just not possible with DIY aligners.
- You have absolutely no supervision, coaching, or expert support
What’s more – the price might not even be as low as it seems. If something goes wrong, or you need new sets of aligners, that’s more costly to you.
All the things an expert would do to improve your treatment and results don’t happen with DIY services. They’re completely up to you. When you’re researching invisible aligners price, make sure you factor in these risks as you calculate the most affordable teeth aligners for you.
Unless you’re comfortable with the big potential costs of those risks, avoid DIY aligners, please.
If you are considering DIY clear aligner services, we’d love to talk with you before you commit to that direction for treatment. Get a completely free consultation – we’d love to talk with you. At no cost to you!
Quick Summary: Your results are going to be so limited with DIY aligners, and your risks are nearly unlimited. Invisalign might not be the cheapest teeth aligners, but for you they may be the best value. Avoid the downside, get a free consultation for Invisalign with a professional.
Are there hidden fees and secret costs for Invisalign?
Each orthodontic practice has their own way of approaching treatment fees and costs associated with Invisalign. There are all different kinds of approaches. And the variety of approaches is exactly why hidden fees and secret costs are definitely something you need to be aware of as you make your decision about Invisalign.
The prices you’ve been given by each orthodontist you are considering might not all be created equal.
Some of the prices for Invisalign might include everything associated with your treatment, and others may just be for the clear aligners alone – with many other things being an additional cost.
Here are some common parts of treatment that practices may charge extra for:
Initial Consultation + Patient Records – Patient records would include things like models of your teeth, photos, and exams from your initial consultation. Your initial consultation might also cost a fee. Some places still charge for you to access your records – not all. It can be between $200 – $500.
Treatment Equipment + Tools – in the age of technology, many practices incorporate technology tools and other equipment into their treatment process to help with monitoring and speeding up treatment results. All of these tools have a cost, and some practices may charge you for them.
Custom Re-Shaping + Slenderizing – these are examples of two common services, especially in adult cases, that can make huge impacts for you. They lead to significant functional and cosmetic improvements with your smile. Often practices charge $200 – $500 for a service like this.
Retainers – often offices charge for retainers. It can range from $200 – $400 for 1 set of retainers.
Tooth Whitening (at-home) – many practices might charge for an add-on like this if you’d like it at the end of treatment. This can add $200-800.
Many orthodontists might charge you for these items, and sometimes others as well.
Quick Summary: The key takeaway for you is that fees are a mixed bag, and it is very important to know what the fee includes (and doesn’t include) before you start treatment. If not, you may end up surprised by your total Invisalign cost later.
What Is The Average Invisalign Cost?
Getting your winning smile ought to be easy – and it shouldn’t be mysterious what it’s going to cost you, either. At Dickerson Orthodontics, we make it simple: there’s just one total price for Invisalign. The price you see is the price you pay. Period.
We work directly with your insurance provider to make sure you’re saving the maximum amount possible based on your coverage. If financing is something you desire, we have flexible monthly payment plans .
Avoid the complicated fee structures and hidden Invisalign costs that come with orthodontists, and skip the waiting, too.
The average orthodontic treatment time in the United States is about 22-24 months. At Dickerson Orthodontics, many of our patients finish treatment in closer to 12 months with those same great results it takes twice as long to get elsewhere.
We use the most advanced techniques and technology, and that’s how our patients are able to reliably achieve great results in half the time it would take you elsewhere.
Even better, you’ll need fewer appointments to get there. You’ll save on costs and time when you choose Invisalign at Dickerson Orthodontics.
And because we believe getting your winning smile should be as accessible as possible, your initial Invisalign consultation is completely free. Sign up to get your free consultation today.
