There are plenty of reasons people love Invisalign clear aligners. They’re sleek, practically invisible, and they get the job done. Unfortunately, those benefits don’t always come cheap. After getting a quote for treatment, you might leave the dentist’s office wondering what makes Invisalign so expensive. There are several factors that contribute to the cost, so it’s not as simple as your dentist setting the price. Here’s everything you need to know about Invisalign prices.

How Does Invisalign Work?

To understand Invisalign’s price, you need to know how the company functions. Dentists have to register to be Invisalign providers, a process that requires some special training and fees. When you visit an authorized Invisalign provider, they will evaluate your dental health to make sure you don’t have any decay, gum disease, or other conditions that might affect treatment.

If they find anything (like a cavity), they’ll address that first. If not—and if it looks like Invisalign might be a viable option—they’ll take scans of your teeth, then send them to Invisalign. The company’s algorithm will create a treatment plan, complete with digital models of your new smile, and your dentist can make tweaks if they’d like. They’ll show you the plan, and if you like what you see, Invisalign will get to work producing your aligners.

When they’re done, you’ll return to your dentist’s office to make sure they fit. After that, you’ll visit the dentist every 4–10 weeks so they can check on your progress and address any issues.

Average Cost of Invisalign

It’s tough to nail down Invisalign’s average price because it’s different for everyone, based primarily on the severity of your misalignment. However, adults typically pay somewhere between $3,000 and $9,000. Mild cases that don’t take as long to correct usually fall on the lower end of that range, while complex cases fall toward the higher end.

When your dentist presents your treatment plan, they should give you an estimated price, so you can decide if it will work for your budget.

6 Factors that Affect Invisalign Prices

So what contributes to the cost of Invisalign? A lot, actually. Here are a few of the most influential factors.

Research and Development

Developing Invisalign’s proprietary SmartTrack plastic took around eight years, which gives you a sense of just how much time and research goes into their products. Over the years, Align Technology has consistently upgraded their materials and technology, come up with new innovations, and grown to over 21,000 employees. And all of it costs money, which makes their products expensive.

Dentist Fees

For the first couple decades of Invisalign’s existence, they had patents on several aspects of their technology, prohibiting other companies from copying it. That made them the only major player in the arena, and allowed them to charge dentists higher fees for courses, registration, and lab work.

More than 40 of Invisalign’s patents expired in 2017, paving the way for competitors to challenge with similar models and lower prices. Linea, for example, negotiates fees with dentists to offer low, fixed rates for patients. However, Invisalign has kept their products and services priced at a premium. Dentists and orthodontists still pay them, but they may build those business expenses into the prices of their Invisalign treatments.

Office Visits

Every few weeks throughout Invisalign treatment, you’ll pay a visit to your dentist or orthodontist so they can check up on your progress. This helps ensure that you stay on track and your teeth move as expected, but your dentist’s time isn’t free. You may have to pay per visit, or the dentist might include these costs up front in the total price of treatment.

Patient Support

Even though Invisalign will manufacture your aligners, they won’t handle the finer aspects of your treatment. That’s up to your dentist, and it includes patient support. Every Invisalign provider is responsible for fielding patient questions and concerns, plus facilitating check-ins. This is true for most clear aligner brands, but some make it easier than others. For example, Linea provides remote monitoring technology to help streamline patient support, making it easier and often cheaper for the dentist.

Technology

Invisalign needs detailed and precise images of your teeth to create aligners that fit them perfectly. So your dentist will take intraoral scans of both dental arches, then send them off. There are different brands of scanner on the market, and clear aligner brands like Linea allow dentists to use the one they prefer. But Invisalign requires one called iTero, which costs more than double the price of some competitors (around $34,000 total). That’s just another expense that the dentist might pass along to patients by increasing Invisalign prices.

Case Complexity

The more complex your misalignment, the longer it will take to correct. If you have a particularly severe case, you’ll probably have more office visits, more aligners, and you may need attachments as well, which take time to install and maintain. That can add up to a higher overall cost.

How to Save Money

There’s no question that Invisalign can be expensive, but fortunately, there are also ways to make that price more manageable. They include:

Get a Payment Plan

Your dentist or orthodontist may offer some type of financing for your treatment, which would allow you to pay in monthly installments instead of one lump sum. These often have interest, so you might end up paying more in the long run, but it can help if you don’t have a few thousand dollars to spend on aligners.

Shop Around

Ultimately, each Invisalign provider sets their own prices, so you could go to three different dentists and get three different quotes. If you have the time and don’t mind going to multiple consultations, you can compare prices and pick the one that best fits your budget.

Choose a Different Clear Aligner Brand

Invisalign isn’t the only clear aligner treatment out there, and some alternatives can treat many of the same cases for less money. For example, Linea costs $2,698 for mild misalignments, $3,698 for standard cases, and $4,998 for complex cases. Plus, patients can enroll in 6- and 12-month interest-free payment plans to break up that price.

Getting started with Linea works just like Invisalign—just find a dentist who offers it and set up a consultation. They’ll help create your aligners and you’ll have either remote or in-person appointments throughout treatment.