Cost of Invisalign/Braces for teenage/tween boys
Fellow parents of teenagers and tweens. Sadly, we have waited until now to consider braces or Invisalign for our sons.
- Older son is a rising 9th grader. We were quoted 14 to 18 months with a cost of $6.5K
- Younger son is a rising 7th grader. We were quoted 18 to 21 months with a cost of $9.1K. He may need extractions since his mouth is crowded and that is included.
Is this reasonable? Also, the practice charges the same for braces and Invisalign so we are leaning towards Invisalign because they aren't torture devices! I had braces and I still have memories of the pain when they cranked the wires!
Our insurance which is a Delta Dental PPO will kick in $1K so I suppose that's a blessing.
Jul 9, 2025
Parent Replies
Parent of two teens here with local ortho. Elder child got braces in 2022 for $6K, and they were on about two years. Took longer than we expected. Definitely experienced bouts of pain/discomfort along the way but my spouse, who had braces in the 80s, observed it seemed much less than in the olden days. Child's teeth look fantastic now IMHO.
Younger child got Invisalign in 2024 for $5685, there was a choice between that and braces (older child did not have a choice, their teeth were a mess). Chose Invisalign to avoid the "torture". We were told about a year. Child does not consistently wear the devices, does not scan promptly, has lost or let the dog eat them repeatedly, and we're going on 14 months with no end in sight. If I were to do it over again, I'd do braces for that one too!