hey this is dr amanda from street smile solutions street smile solutions.com we are an orthodontic
company that supports dentists orthodontists pediatric dentists general dentists to do
more ortho and we do not work with patients or consumers but we do love to make instructional
videos um just to help the community so in any case i'm referring right now to a blog post
i wrote it's on our website if you want to go to straight smile solutions you can click to see this
blog you can click about us and go to blog and it is october 2020 so it's the top one right now but
um you may have to search around if it's later and you're watching this but anyways the topic
that i wanted to discuss today is how much should i pay for invisalign or is this a good price for
invisalign and i probably get this question like between five and ten times a week um not only
from consumers but also from doctors just wanted to check to see if their fees are good you know
like nobody wants to be ripping off patients they want to kind of be in the ballpark so i'm going to
kind of tell you the doctor perspective of this and then i'm going to tell you the what i would
tell a friend or family member so first of all let's compare apples to oranges apples to apples
um just because people are saying it's invisalign doesn't mean it's invisalign so first of all
you need to find out is it actually invisalign it's okay if it's not but you need to know what
you're getting paid for because i'm looking for a different price point if it's not
actually that brand and of course you're going to know because it's going to come in the kit
it's going to say invisalign all over the aligners it is not legal for the doctor to bait and switch
and replace your liner with another brand it's quite clear if you get invisalign it has
the logo and the name on everything so that would be my first question
just because you're asking for invisalign sometimes doctors offer more than one brand
and some other brands might give you the exact same outcome slightly different shape maybe wear
them a little bit longer but you might still get the same result for a way cheaper price
so it's a good question do you offer another brand besides invisalign and are your prices lower now
i'm going to tell you the real truth and the real truth is that you can get the exact same
outcome with another brand do not listen to align technology that is not true when they tell you
that some things can't be done with other brands because they can't and i've done them and i've
seen them and i've seen hundreds if not thousands of cases done as well if not better for cheaper
prices um and a way lower fee for the doctor so that's a load of crap basically if you're hearing
that if a doctor's telling you that they are basically ignorant um it doesn't mean that they're
wrong they just that's what they believe so every school is teaching you different things okay
aligners can be done by orthodontists and they also can be done by dentists okay many doctors
that are doing aligners or invisalign are not orthodontists that's ultimately your choice
if you want to pick a general dentist to do it and i've seen some awesome work done by general
dennis but i've also done some seen some bad work done by general dennis i've seen some
awesome work done by orthodontist i've also seen some bad work done by orthodontist so
i i it's hard because i know the orthodontists know what they're doing so if they're just rushing
or being a factory that's where the bad work comes in so ultimately first thing you want to
do is you want to look at the office the location the hours meet the doctor whether it's virtually
or in person meet the staff and does this work for you would be my first question because if
it doesn't work for you then it's off the list right don't even worry about the price start there
you know then i've got a couple other questions you can ask you know obviously am i getting
invisalign branded or am i getting an off label if it's invisalign branded you should expect to pay
significantly more if you're getting off label you can expect to pay less good thing to know right um
is my dentist an orthodontist or a general dentist orthodontists generally are going to charge
a little bit more general dentists are generally gonna charge a little bit less you still might get
the same outcome you might not okay so um these are all things you just wanna ask the beginning
then there's a few other questions that you would never think of asking that and these are questions
that i tell friends and family members who aren't where i am you know where i am i tell them where
to go but um first question is besides asking am i getting actually invisalign brand or not
um what percentage of your invisalign or aligner cases you submit as comprehensive or moderate
versus express assist go light or flex you can just cut and paste this because they know exactly
what you're saying okay and this is where it gets confusing because our lab fee we okay when we do
braces we buy braces in bulk we buy the ties i mean this cost me maybe a hundred dollars to do
a braces case in terms of my actual overhead cost hard overhead costs for the supplies and equipment
um obviously i'm paying there's a there's a value for the time that you're in the
chair there's a value for the time you're with my staff there's a value for the time you're with my
with me it takes me more actual physical appointments to treat a braces case than
it does to treat an aligner case i can do an aligner case in three appointments
no problems slam dunk if i have a good patient um three actual appointments the rest are going
to be virtual and many doctors are starting to do that and there's another question for you
how many appointments are you anticipating and what percentage will be virtual or in person
how often do you like your patients to come back for checks physically there's no right or wrong
answer here to me if they're using virtual services for screening or virtual check-ins
that shows you they're pretty sophisticated and they know what they're doing so that's
a great question to ask as well and i don't have that one written down here but anyways
asking what percentage is comprehensive or moderate versus express assist light go or
flex most orthodontists are going to do cases as comprehensive or moderate um they might have some
more limited cases that are the other ones but your price point should be significantly lower
if it's express assist um go light or flex well assist is not really a thing anymore but express
go lighter flex because they're paying less for it and i would want to know that
also any case that's submitted as comprehensive has a five-year expiration date if it's in the
invisalign if it's clear correct unlimited has a five year expiration date that means you can
take your time if things shift and move you can always get them tweaked later it is so much
less restrictive if you're trying to get from a to z if you're doing any of these other more
limited ones they have to get it done in x amount of aligners anything else they want
to do they generally have to pay for it's gonna so they're gonna try to rush it and get it done
that doesn't mean there's anything wrong with that but i certainly am not paying five thousand
dollars for a flex light go or express case no way know how you should be paying 2 000 to 3 000
3500 max maybe and that's like in san francisco and stuff that's i mean if you're in midwest maybe
last small town maybe less so if you're doing comprehensive or unlimited maybe 4 500 to 6 500
would be u.s prices i would say that's the going rate moderate maybe 3 500 to 4 500
and that's not including insurance of course um that's just their price right that you know pays
for the doctor's time and the fee they have to pay a line technology now if your doctor is like
a high level i'm trying to remember what they have now diamond whatever um super elite level provider
they're getting a hefty volume discount up to 38 um then i would like to see my fees lower that's
the honest truth so just things for you to know if they're silver they're not getting a discount
if they're gold they're getting an eight percent discount and so on so i mean nothing wrong with
bringing that up hey i see that you're gold i know you're getting an eight percent discount do you
pocket that or do you extend that discount as a courtesy to the patients good question to ask
right i'm not gonna be popular for posting this but that's the truth so um you know if i really
believe that you should share the wealth and if you're doing a lot of volume and you're an
awesome provider you should have slightly lower fees matter of fact your fee is for your aligners
your invisalign should be the same price as your fees for your braces you shouldn't be charging a
higher higher down payment that should be part of the volume that you're at but that's just
my opinion that's not a requirement okay next question what percentage of your liner cases
need attachments elastics bite ramps ipr or other kinds of auxiliaries if they're telling you that
their cases don't need these things that's a run like get out and run run away because that means
they're not doing they're just doing improvement and they're not doing perfect which is okay
if that's what you want if you're just looking for improvement and not perfect you know tipping not
ideal correction some straight teeth front teeth only there is nothing wrong with that as long as
you realize what the risks are stability the way it looks the bite might be off there is nothing
wrong with that don't get me wrong i'm okay with that people have a choice of what they want to do
with their body and that includes your teeth and if you are just wanting to straighten these front
four teeth as long as your doctor's okay with that and as long as you understand the risk
benefits and alternatives nothing wrong with that but if you're looking for perfect and there
their doctor's telling you and i don't do that that's a red flag so i would move on then um what
else what percentage of your aligner cases need revisions refinements or mid-course corrections
there's another one if your doctor is utilizing virtual services tracking really understands how
to create a really great treatment plan a stable treatment plan a predictable treatment plan
they shouldn't have a lot of revisions refinements or mid-course corrections
no matter the rate should be under 30 40 something like that the lower rate the better
so if they're telling you it's normal everyone has it that's not normal to me you know yeah
some people will have it and part of it is based on your compliance if you are not a very
compliant patient and you're not doing what you're supposed to do of course you're going to have one
but if you're doing everything you're supposed to do wearing it 22 hours a day following all the
instructions you're doing your job the doctor is doing their job yes of course occasionally there's
a one-off things are going to happen but it should be the exception and not the rule so that's
another great question if your doctor is looking flustered when you're asking these questions
you should walk away um what else this is the main one that i really want to get out there
can i see my clin check or my clear pilot clinchex invisalign online technology clear plyo is clear
correct before committing to treatment signing on the dotted line or putting down any money i
will tell you the truth your doctor can get these setups without paying one cent all they got to do
is do the scan and if they're not using a scanner that's a sign they're not doing a lot of volume
and they probably don't know that much what they're doing they're a newbie so
if they don't have a scanner you should run that's my opinion too they're just learning basically
because anyone that's doing volume and knows what they're doing gets a scanner it just it's a it's
a no-brainer you get better quality so can i see my treatment plan like actually see it not see a
static picture i want to see the animation before i commit that is huge if they say no goodbye and
wait don't pay until you see your treatment plan because you can get multiple treatment plans from
multiple doctors you can go to one guy you can go to another girl down the street you shouldn't
have to pay anything i mean yes they might want to charge you for the x-rays or something so as
long as you bring the x-rays because your x-rays that you take at one dentist is your property
if you take it and you paid for it it's yours you can get a copy you might have to pay a nominal
copying charge or printing charge of a couple dollars take it or they will send it to the
other doctor or whatever go shop around but i'm not talking about just financial shop around shop
around for the best possible treatment plan and ask all the rest of these questions so now you
have some idea of what the price point is i personally believe that all doctors should be
transparent and just have a flat rate pricing they should have a flat rate pricing for invisalign
i should have a flat rate pricing for off-label aligners you know flat and and if people want to
elect to just do improvement only well that's their choice you know um you can have a price
for that too for improvement or anterior movements only i'm okay with that i would charge the same as
the white label or off brand for that so for me you know granted i'm a coastal person i probably
would charge 5 000 um i would charge the same price for my braces as i would for my invisalign
no changes in price because you know what i can do invisalign and wait less appointments it's
going to save me a lot of time yes i have to pay a little bit more but ultimately it comes out as
a wash and i actually think it's healthier for patients so i want the patients to choose not
by price but by what is best for them what they think is best for them because i know i can do
a great job with both and that's the type of doctor you want if a doctor tells you you can
have braces or aligners there's no difference in price both will work out great then that's
a good doctor for you that's another great sign if they're not doing any braces in their practice
they probably don't know orthodontics that well so that's another sign are you doing braces
so i want to ask that question too so yeah i would probably charge 4 500 to 5 000 for
invisalign braces is what i generally charge and that includes and ask oh another good
question do you include retainers and if so how many retainers and how what type do i get
most doctors will include one set but you have to ask not all do so that's another good question
and is are my retainers my last aligner are they a different retainer again another question are they
gonna assess additional fees for retainers yes or no that's a bad sign if they are but as long
as they tell you up front at least you know okay so at least you can factor that into the overall
price a clear retainer should be a different thickness than another liner it's a very different
product anyone is telling you you can wear your elasto liners as a retainer it's not true
it's not the same thing so that's a good question you're going to need way more than one clear
retainer for a lifetime you're going to need many so you need to factor that into the budget can i
get can i get a set of retainers you know that's a good thing to know and how much will that cost me
all things i would want to ask will i even get clear retainers or will i get hollies
with the metal bar will i get a bond you need to ask all these things will this cost extra
if you have you're coming in with a preconceived opinion of what type of retainer i want you need
to bring it up on the front and find out if it's included or what else it's going to cost
all fantastic questions so so many things to think about it's not just about price
you need to shop around and i love the idea that a lot of doctors now are doing virtual consults
that's a great sign if your doctor's doing a virtual consult so you should do as many
virtual consults as you can and find the right doctor and team for you and yeah super excited
definitely connect with us and um keep us posted on your on your treatment all right thanks so much