Dental insurance that covers braces and Invisalign

Page updated October 14, 2026. Medically reviewed by Dr. Abraham Thomas and Dr. Jennifer Loucks-Buren.

Dental insurance that covers braces and Invisalign is a plan with an orthodontic benefit: it pays a share of the fee, up to a lifetime maximum. Children are far more likely to be covered than adults. Before you buy, check four things: the orthodontic maximum, the age limit, the waiting period, and whether aligners are covered the same as braces.

What "insurance that covers braces" means

Most dental plans don't include orthodontics automatically. When one does, the AAO says it typically covers a percentage of the treatment cost or provides a fixed benefit amount, and you should ask about the percentage, any lifetime maximum, any age limit, and whether your orthodontist has to be in network (AAO). Plans usually pay that benefit in installments during treatment: in Delta Dental of Virginia's example, a plan with 50% coverage and a $2,500 maximum paid $500 when the braces went on and $57.14 a month after that (Delta Dental of Virginia).

The benefit is usually well below the price of treatment. In OrthoFi data on 112,243 insured US patients in 2021, orthodontic coverage averaged $1,772 (Align, citing OrthoFi), against a US average price of $5,645 for braces (Pearl).

Plans that cover Invisalign

If a plan covers orthodontics, it may cover clear aligners too. Delta Dental of Virginia says all of its plans that cover orthodontic services cover Invisalign (Delta Dental of Virginia). Other plans pay only what metal braces would cost and leave you the difference for a pricier option (Healthline). Align says insurance may help cover up to $3,000 of orthodontic treatment (Align). Ask any plan directly: "Do you cover clear aligners the same as braces, and up to what maximum?" See does insurance cover Invisalign for insurer by insurer details.

Children vs adults

For a child on Medicaid, see does Medicaid cover braces. For adults, the most common route to coverage is an employer plan with an orthodontic option, chosen at open enrollment (Healthline).

Your options for coverage

• Employer dental plans. Check first whether yours includes orthodontics, and if so, the lifetime maximum and the age limit (AAO).
• Individual or Marketplace dental plans. Separate dental plans can have waiting periods before they cover adult services, and you pay premiums during the wait (HealthCare.gov). Ask specifically about the orthodontic waiting period.
• Medicaid and CHIP for children, when treatment is medically necessary.
• Dental discount plans. These aren't insurance; see below.

Dental discount plans: not insurance

A discount plan charges a membership fee in return for reduced prices at participating dentists. The NAIC is clear that discount health cards are not insurance: they don't pay claims, and you pay for services yourself, at the discounted price, when you receive them (NAIC). The FTC warns that some sellers make a discount plan sound like insurance, or make it seem more widely accepted than it is (FTC).

A discount plan can still save money if your orthodontist participates and the plan includes orthodontic discounts. Before you buy, check that the plan has a provider that meets your needs, and confirm directly with the orthodontist that they accept it (NAIC).

Is buying insurance for braces worth it?

Do the arithmetic before you buy. Add up a year of premiums, any waiting period before orthodontic benefits start, and what the plan would actually pay: its percentage of your quote, capped at its lifetime maximum. Compare that with what you'd save, and remember that benefits paid in installments stop if the policy ends during treatment (Delta Dental of Virginia). As a rough illustration, a plan that pays the average benefit of $1,772 (OrthoFi) saves you that amount minus every premium you paid to get it. See braces cost without insurance for the alternatives.

What a plan would pay: worked examples

Here's how different lifetime maximums play out on the US average price of $5,645 (Pearl), with a plan paying 50%:

Keep in mind that the benefit usually arrives in installments over the course of treatment rather than as one payment (Delta Dental of Virginia), so ask the office how those payments reduce your monthly bill. The pattern is clear: the maximum, not the percentage, usually decides what you get. A 50% plan on a $5,645 treatment would pay $2,822 if there were no cap, but most plans stop well short of that.

If treatment has already started

A new plan may still help with treatment in progress. In Delta Dental of Virginia's example, a $5,000 treatment had started under a previous insurer that had already considered $1,000; the new plan then paid $51.73 a month for the 29 remaining months (Delta Dental of Virginia). Ask the orthodontist to send the original claim to the new insurer.

Write down the answers to the questions below for each plan you consider, so you can compare them side by side.

Questions to ask before you buy

• Does the plan include orthodontics, for whom, and up to what age?
• What percentage does it pay, and what is the lifetime orthodontic maximum?
• Is there a waiting period before orthodontic benefits start?
• Does it cover Invisalign and other aligners, or only the cost of metal braces?
• Must the orthodontist be in network, and who files the claims?
• What happens if treatment has already started, or if I leave the plan mid-treatment? In Delta Dental of Virginia's plans, payments stop when coverage ends (Delta Dental of Virginia).

Using open enrollment

If your employer offers dental plans, open enrollment is when you can pick one with orthodontic coverage or add an orthodontic option (Healthline). Check whether the plan has a waiting period for orthodontics, and plan the start of treatment around it. It's also when you choose how much to put into a health FSA for the coming year; for 2025 the limit is $3,300 (IRS Publication 969).

Getting the most from the coverage you have

Ask your orthodontist to request a pre-determination of benefits, an estimate from the insurer showing your share and what the plan will pay (Delta Dental of Virginia). Pay the part insurance doesn't cover with HSA or FSA money: braces count as a dental expense when they treat a dental problem (IRS Publication 502), and the 2025 health FSA limit is $3,300 (IRS Publication 969). More detail on how orthodontic insurance pays.