Braces and clear aligners are quoted as one case fee for treatment that runs for months, and the plans that cover them pay toward a lifetime orthodontic maximum, not the yearly one. Veneers, bonding and whitening are priced per tooth or per arch, and the plan documents we read pay nothing when the work is done only for looks. This guide gives the published estimates for each, with who published them and when, then shows how plans, taxes and payment plans change what you pay.
General information about costs, not dental, medical, insurance, tax or financial advice. Your dentist decides what treatment suits you; your plan’s documents and a pre-treatment estimate decide what it pays.
Where these pages set two treatments side by side, they compare money and time only. No figure here is a quote or a price for your mouth: each is a named publisher’s estimate, shown beside others and not averaged.
Braces
Orthodontic care uses devices such as braces to straighten teeth, correct bite problems and close gaps, and “adults get braces, too” (MedlinePlus, Orthodontia). On a treatment plan, full braces for a teenager are usually billed as D8080 and for an adult as D8090, and taking the braces off and fitting the first retainers as D8680. Code numbers are from the CDT Code, maintained by the American Dental Association; the descriptions here are our own.
For the whole treatment with metal braces, before insurance, published ranges run from $3,000 to $7,000 (Oral-B, a toothbrush maker, updated August 2026) to $2,500 to $10,000 (CareCredit, a lender that finances dental work, 2023 survey). Averages include $5,645 for braces of any type (Pearl, a company that sells software to dental practices, May 2026) and $6,343 for metal braces (CareCredit). Every source that prices lingual braces puts them highest. The braces cost guide sets out all four sources, ceramic and lingual figures, and what a case fee includes line by line.
Invisalign and other clear aligners
The FDA describes clear aligners as “a series of custom-made, removable plastic trays designed to gradually move teeth into a desired position”, available by prescription from a dentist or orthodontist (FDA, Clear Dental Aligners). Published estimates for a full course before insurance: CareCredit, a lender, $5,108 on average ($1,800 to $8,100, 2023 survey); Pearl $3,415 to $8,965 (May 2026); Oral-B $4,000 to $7,400 for Invisalign (August 2026). Align Technology, which makes Invisalign, publishes no fee. Quotes differ most in what the case fee holds: records, extra “refinement” trays, retainers and replacement trays can each be in or out. The Invisalign and clear aligner cost page lists each part with its published figures.
Braces or aligners: the money
The sources don’t agree on which costs more. In the one survey that priced both the same way, CareCredit’s 2023 study, metal braces averaged $6,343 and clear aligners $5,108; Pearl says Invisalign costs 20% to 50% more than metal braces in most markets, though its own averages put aligners lower. The ranges overlap almost entirely, and none of the three 2026 federal employee dental brochures we read sets a different benefit for trays than for brackets. So the comparison that matters is between your two quotes and what each includes. Braces vs Invisalign: cost compared works two quotes through four real 2026 plan options.
How plans pay: the lifetime maximum
In the plans we read that cover orthodontics, your coinsurance (your percentage share) applies first, then the plan stops at its orthodontic lifetime maximum: the most it will ever pay toward one person’s orthodontic treatment. On GEHA Connection Dental Federal’s 2026 High Option you pay 30% and the maximum is $3,500. On a $6,000 fee in network (our example), 70% would be $4,200, so the plan pays the capped $3,500 and you pay $2,500; after $500 down, that is $83.33 a month over 24 months.
The same brochures pay over the months of treatment, not up front, and exclude replacing a lost appliance. Adult cover bought on your own is rare: 22 of 771 stand-alone dental plan designs for the 2026 individual market in the 30 states that use HealthCare.gov list adult orthodontics as covered (our count from CMS’s public use files). The braces and aligner payment calculator runs the sum with your own fee, coinsurance, maximum, down payment and months. The terms are explained in how dental insurance works.
Retainers
The first retainers may or may not be in the case fee. Align Technology, a retainer maker, prints per-arch figures of $100 to $300 for clear plastic, $150 to $340 for a Hawley (acrylic and wire) and $225 to $550 for a bonded wire (November 2025); CareCredit, a lender, gives averages of $181, $302 and $344 for those types (2024 survey). A replacement for a lost or broken one is billed as D8703 (upper) or D8704 (lower), and none of the three 2026 federal plans we read lists it as covered. See retainer cost.
Veneers, bonding and whitening
Veneers
Veneers are priced per tooth: a lab-made porcelain veneer is usually billed as D2962, a composite veneer as D2960 built in the chair or D2961 made in a lab. Five published estimates put one porcelain veneer between $900 and $2,506 at their widest, among them CareCredit, a lender, at $1,455 on average (August 2026), Delta Dental, an insurer, at $1,180 to $2,185 (2024 data) and Pearl at $930 to $2,440 (May 2026). Only CareCredit prints a full-set price: $13,954 on average for six to eight veneers. The veneers cost page multiplies each range out by number of teeth.
Bonding
Four published estimates put resin bonding between $100 and $915 per tooth: CareCredit, a lender, $431 on average ($288 to $915, 2024 survey); Pearl $215 to $560 (May 2026); Healthline about $300 to $600 (2019); Humana, an insurer, $100 to $500 (2024, second-hand). There is no public code number for “bonding” as such: the office may code it as a front-tooth filling (D2330 for one surface, D2331 for two) or a composite veneer (D2960), which changes the fee and what a plan pays. See dental bonding cost.
Whitening
Whitening in the chair is usually billed as D9972 and custom take-home trays as D9975, both per arch. Published figures for whitening at the dentist don’t share a unit: Humana, an insurer, $302.96 per arch (2026); Pearl $395 to $1,035 (May 2026); CareCredit, a lender, $792 on average for laser whitening (2024 survey); Delta Dental, an insurer, $40 to $700 per visit out of network (2024 data). The teeth whitening cost page explains the units and take-home trays.
Insurance and taxes on cosmetic work
The three 2026 federal employee dental brochures we read exclude cosmetic work: GEHA names “restorations, including veneers, which are placed for cosmetic purposes only”, and MetLife and Delta Dental exclude services “strictly cosmetic in nature”. Repair work can be paid differently: Delta Dental’s brochure pays a veneer that restores a front tooth after a fracture or decay as it would a resin filling. Your own plan’s documents decide; the dental insurance out-of-pocket calculator works one procedure through your deductible, coinsurance and annual maximum.
IRS Publication 502 (2025, for 2025 returns) lists braces among dental treatment that counts as a medical expense and says “You can’t include in medical expenses amounts paid to whiten teeth.” It names neither veneers nor bonding; our reading, not tax advice, is that work done only for looks isn’t deductible or payable tax free from an HSA or FSA. The 2026 health FSA limit is $3,400 (Rev. Proc. 2025-32). More in dental expenses, HSAs, FSAs and taxes.
Children, credit and lower-cost care
Medicaid “covers dental services for all child enrollees” through its EPSDT benefit (medicaid.gov, Dental Care); that page doesn’t mention braces, so ask the state program or the child’s plan. States list dentists who take Medicaid and CHIP at InsureKidsNow.gov.
A “no interest” medical credit card promotion is often deferred interest: if the balance isn’t paid by the end, interest is charged back to the purchase date. The CFPB’s May 2023 report put a typical medical credit card APR at 26.99%, and braces take about two years on the FDA’s average, so a promotion can end mid-treatment. The dental loan and deferred-interest calculator shows the payment that clears a balance in time. For health centers and dental schools, see free and low-cost dental care.
Before you agree to a price
- Ask the office for a written treatment plan with each code number, the total fee, how many teeth or arches it covers, the planned months, and whether records, retainers, repairs and replacements are included.
- Ask your plan for a pre-treatment estimate, how much of the lifetime or yearly maximum is left, any age limit, and whether the work is excluded as cosmetic.
- Before signing a credit agreement, read the promotion end date, the APR after it, and whether interest is deferred.
Sources checked on 11 November 2026. Every figure comes from the linked pages, which give each publisher’s date and why it may lean, plus the 2026 GEHA, MetLife and Delta Dental FEDVIP brochures, CMS 2026 public use files, MedlinePlus, FDA, medicaid.gov, the CFPB’s May 2023 report and IRS Publication 502 (2025).
