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Blog posts, information and advice which mention The cost of dental treatment

Why is orthodontics so expensive?

Dr Nishan Dixit

Dr Nishan Dixit

Dr Nishan Dixit is the founder and principal dentist of Blue Court Dental. Patients enjoy his relaxed, friendly and gentle approach while experiencing his meticulous attention to detail. He has a special interest in providing smile makeovers, natural-looking white fillings and cosmetic braces, but also provides a range of treatments from preventative and general dental care to complex dental rehabilitation.
Dr Nishan Dixit

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The costs of having straight teeth are often considered to be quite expensive, with treatments often coming in at more than £1000. So why is this? In this post we take a detailed look at teeth straightening procedures, discuss what some of the more affordable options might be an find out what makes orthodontics so expensive.

What makes up the cost of orthodontic braces?

The typical cost of orthodontics is made up as follows:

  1. The planning stages prior to beginning treatment.
  2. The orthodontic system/brace itself.
  3. Multiple appointments during the teeth moving process,  typically lasting between six months and two years.
  4. The time of the dentist, their team and possibly specialist involvement.

We will now take a look at each of these in a little more detail.

The planning stages

The planning stages are especially important to get right, we must work out together the final look of your smile and relationship of your teeth to one another before we begin treatment. This is where you are given the opportunity to let your dentist know exactly how you want your new smile to look. For Invisalign there is also what is known as a Clincheck©, This is where your current smile is digitised and sent off to Invisalign  directly, they will then create a digital and animated view of your teeth moving. This gives you the ability to see exactly what you will look like at the end of treatment… A very valuable stage in the orthodontic process.

The planning stages of orthodontics may consist of 2-3 appointments, depending upon the complexity of your case.

Here is an example of a Clincheck© in action.

The orthodontic/braces system

Once the planning stages have been undertaken and the orthodontic system chosen your dentist can then move onto have the system manufactured. As with all the systems offered here, including Invisalign, Inman aligner and Six Month Smiles they are all manufactured by highly dedicated and skilled team of technicians, in some cases using the most up-to-date CADCAM technology to manufacture your braces.

Investment in CADCAM technology which allows you to have invisible braces produced rapidly comes at a high cost and so these systems are quite expensive to have manufactured.

Appointments throughout your treatment

With any of the orthodontic systems you will need to have regular appointments throughout the process, this ensures that your teeth are moving in the correct way and that there are no unforeseen problems. As with any dental appointment there will be costs to the dentist of having the team available and paying for the surgical equipment.

The time of the dentist and the team

Taking into account the planning stages and appointments throughout treatment is just one of the factors in the time involved. In addition to this there is the initial training for each orthodontic system which the dentist and the team must go through. This involves many hours away from the dental surgery and paying for this extended and postgraduate education.

How much do orthodontic braces cost?

The final cost of your orthodontic treatment will depend upon your own individual clinical situation, as a rough guide orthodontics at our practice start at £2200 and go through to £3300 dependent upon the complexity of your case. We may also be able to offer extended payment plans and finance.