Shopping around!

[money-pit!]

Hi all,

I've gone to two places to get consultations so far (orthodontist, and my current dentist) and received similar pricing - around $5400. I live in CA btw (SF to be exact). The orthodontist I went to said that I am an easy case and treatment would be done in about 4 months, but they didn't offer Invisalign Express.

For those of you who currently have Invisalign, did you negotiate the price they initially gave you? I have minor spacing on the top front and minor crowding on the front bottom - but all my teeth are where they need to be. Trying to find a good place but save some money too!

TIA!

[mommamorin]

Wow being youre from San Fran, you may have to pay that price or do some driving. Go on the Invisaline site and search providers, prolly wouldn't be a bad idea to drive an hour or so, it may well be worth your while. I paid $4200 for 15L/20U (10 months) in CT. I want to say he told me he charges 2800 for express and that is with one refinement. Keep looking. good luck,

[myhollywoodsmile]

Hi there. Have you looked on realself, that gives a good average for where you live I find.
Invisalign website is pretty good for finding the providers and I guess you could then ring around for costs. The only thing I would say is that I wouldn't let cost be your only concern, more important to get someone experienced even if you have to pay a little bit more I think. I found here that some of the cheapest were only cheap because they hadn't completed any cases yet. I would ask about number of cases completed as well as price before you sign up.
Good Luck.

[money-pit!]

I've looked on realself and some of the prices there are about $1000 cheaper than my quote, which is the reason why I'm trying to find out how they're determining their pricing. The ortho I went to a few months ago said pricing for them starts at $5000, but mine was $54XX for 4 to 6 months worth of treatment. Just called them today to ask if I was qualified for Express, and now they're saying I don't qualify since I actually need 12 months of treatment. Umm....interesting. So in some ways, I feel they're just pulling numbers out of a hat to make it seem believable.

Of course price isn't everything. I'm trying to search for the right dentist/orthodontist: knowledge, detail, price, location - just being some of the factors.

We'll see how it goes!

[mommamorin]

wow, funny they should change their tune on the time/pricing. Im with hollywood on that one, being careful of the quality of service you will receive, and frankly didn't even think of it. My dentist does it much less expensive than area (Hartford) dentists/ortho because he thinks the over pricing is rediculous. My prior dentist charges $6k to start, a baseline for an "easy case". I wonder if that is what he charges for express. eeks
Google dr's and see what their reviews are as well as asking them how many cases they have had and testimonials. good luck