Braces Math

Your quote · your insurance · your tax bracket

What will braces actually cost you?

An orthodontist's quote is the start, not the answer. Dental insurance pays a share only up to a lifetime maximum, payment plans can add interest, and paying through an FSA or HSA takes your income tax off the top. Enter your own numbers below. This site never guesses a price for you — the quote you were given is the only one that counts.

Run my quote Orthodontist pay by state

Teeth with metal braces and coloured elastic ties on the upper and lower arches
Metal braces: brackets on each tooth, joined by an archwire. Photo: MAKY.OREL, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (resized)
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  1. 1Orthodontists in the US (BLS) 6,210
  2. 22026 health FSA limit $3,400
  3. 32026 HSA limit, family $8,750
  4. 4Orthodontist mean wage $259,400

Braces cost calculator

Insurance pays
Your share of the quote
Monthly payment
Your real cost after tax savings

Defaults are examples to show how the pieces fit, not typical prices or plan terms. Enter your quote and the figures from your plan's benefit summary. Insurers often pay orthodontic benefits in instalments over the treatment rather than all at once; the total is what matters here.

The four numbers that decide your cost

The quote. Orthodontists price a whole course of treatment, usually including the retainers. Ask what is included — records, X-rays, retainers, emergency visits — before comparing two quotes.

Your insurance's orthodontic benefit. Plans that cover braces typically pay a percentage of the cost up to a lifetime maximum per person, and many limit orthodontic cover to children. The lifetime maximum, not the percentage, is usually what binds.

The payment plan. Many practices spread the balance over the treatment with no interest; third-party financing usually charges it. Put the APR into the calculator to see the difference.

Pre-tax money. Orthodontia counts as a medical expense for FSAs and HSAs (IRS Publication 502), so every dollar paid that way saves your income-tax rate on it. For 2026 the health FSA limit is $3,400 per employee and the HSA limit $4,400 self-only or $8,750 family.

Connecticut$412,100Colorado$404,120Illinois$335,910Pennsylvania$327,330Michigan$327,310Maryland$315,180Tennessee$302,050Missouri$295,460South Carolina$292,350North Carolina$277,320Washington$276,250Maine$263,020
Orthodontists' mean annual wage, states where BLS publishes one (May 2025), highest 12, bars to scale. Source: BLS OEWS.

Dental pay by state

What orthodontists, dentists, hygienists and assistants earn is a large part of what a practice has to charge. Every state page sets the four side by side against the national figures.

OrthodontistsUS mean $259,400 · 6,210 employedGeneral dentistsUS mean $191,350 · 124,390 employedDental hygienistsUS mean $98,990 · 222,740 employedDental assistantsUS mean $50,200 · 387,790 employed
Alabama $60,850Alaska $122,560Arizona $101,450Arkansas $85,660California $128,110Colorado $110,030Connecticut $98,720Delaware $100,660District of Columbia $127,910Florida $88,320Georgia $91,220Hawaii $93,660Idaho $95,500Illinois $91,820Indiana $89,660Iowa $86,640Kentucky $78,950Louisiana $83,160Maine $96,440Maryland $109,090Massachusetts $102,160Michigan $85,940Minnesota $103,830Mississippi $68,630Missouri $88,430Montana $96,730Nebraska $88,990Nevada $114,360New Hampshire $102,640New Jersey $104,410New Mexico $94,890New York $103,640North Carolina $93,640North Dakota $89,750Ohio $89,900Oklahoma $98,000Oregon $120,470Pennsylvania $84,260Rhode Island $88,660South Carolina $84,980South Dakota $89,180Tennessee $87,420Texas $96,240Utah $87,770Vermont $97,540Virginia $105,120Washington $131,530West Virginia $71,290Wisconsin $94,180Wyoming $82,320

Dental hygienists' mean annual wage by state. Kansas is not in the May 2025 BLS state file.

Sources: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (state and national files); IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (2026 FSA limit) and Rev. Proc. 2025-19 (2026 HSA limits); IRS Publication 502. Checked 2026-10-24. Methodology.