Most pricing pages quote a number without telling you what sits behind it. This guide does the opposite. Below you will find real price ranges for every mainstream teeth straightening option in the US, the extras that routinely get added after you have paid, and a short checklist for comparing two quotes honestly.

What each treatment type actually costs

These are typical national price ranges for adult treatment in 2026. Individual quotes move with case complexity, your city, and whether any insurance benefit applies.

The gap between the top and bottom of that table is not a quality gap — it is a delivery gap. A clinic quoting $5,000 is funding a physical practice, reception staff, and eight to twelve appointments of a clinician's time. Remove those inputs while keeping the clinical planning and supervision, and the cost falls sharply. What cannot be removed safely is the dentist. That is the line worth watching when you compare providers, and it is the reason our clinical team reviews every case before anything is manufactured.

Smile Perfect plan prices

Every plan below includes the same core package. The difference is how many arches you are treating and how many hours a day you wear the trays.

Two things surprise people about this table. The first is that treating both arches only costs $50 more than treating one — because the fixed costs of planning, the impression kit and the retainers do not double. The second is that night-time treatment costs more, not less. Fewer wear hours per day means the same tooth movement is spread across a longer plan with more trays, so night-time carries a modest premium in exchange for the convenience.

Premium sits above the standard plans because it adds an advanced digital scan, dental monitoring, free refinements and adjustments, and interproximal reduction where clinically needed. If your case has rotations or needs space created between teeth, that is the plan to look at — the full inclusions are on the Premium clear aligners page.

Why two people get two very different quotes

Five variables move your number more than anything else.

1. How far your teeth need to travel

Cost tracks tray count. A minor case might need six stages per arch. A moderate case with rotations and spacing might need thirty or more. More trays means more manufacturing, more monitoring, and a longer plan. If you want to understand what is happening biologically across those trays, we cover it in how clear aligners move your teeth.

2. One arch or both

If only your lower teeth bother you, treating one arch is cheaper — though not always clinically appropriate, because your bite has to allow it. We cover exactly when it works in our guide to single arch clear aligners.

3. Day-time or night-time wear

Day-time plans ask for roughly 20 hours a day and finish faster. Night-time plans ask for around 10 hours and take longer, which is why they carry a small premium rather than a discount. Night-time works best on genuinely mild corrections.

4. Where you live

In-office pricing swings hard by metro area — the same clinical case can differ by $1,500 between a major coastal city and a smaller market. Remote treatment removes this variable entirely: your zip code does not change your price. If you would prefer a professional scan rather than a home impression, Smile Perfect partners with dental practices across the US and runs a dedicated scan centre in Utah.

5. Existing dental work

Crowns, veneers, bridges and implants all affect what can move and how the plan is built. They rarely rule you out, but they do need reviewing first — see aligners with crowns, veneers, bridges or implants.

The fees that hide behind a headline price

This is where advertised prices and final invoices part company. Before you pay anything, get a written answer on all eight of these.

Losing a tray mid-treatment is more common than people expect, and how a provider handles it tells you a lot about their fee structure. If it happens on a Smile Perfect plan, contact the clinical team — depending on your stage you may be advised to move to the next set rather than pay for a replacement. Related reading: what to do if your aligners do not fit properly.

What is included in a Smile Perfect plan

Everything below is in the price. There is no separate line item for any of it.

• Your teeth impression kit, with guide and pre-paid return label
• A 3D treatment plan reviewed by a licensed dental professional before anything is made
• Your complete set of custom aligners
• Two sets of retainers to hold your result once treatment ends
• A professional whitening kit
• Free video sessions with a dentist and progress tracking through the patient portal
• Free express shipping
• A risk-free guarantee if you are not a suitable candidate

The guarantee is the part worth reading twice. You see a projection of your finished smile before you commit the balance, and if our clinical team decides aligners are not the right answer for your case, you are refunded rather than sold something that will not work. The exact terms — including what is deducted — are set out on our guarantee and returns page. You can see what the finished result looks like across real cases on our before and after page.

Single arch or both arches?

Treating one arch costs $50 less, and for some people it is genuinely all that is needed. The deciding factor is your bite. If moving only your upper teeth would leave them meeting your lower teeth badly, single arch is a false economy — you would be trading a cosmetic gain for a functional problem.

Your 3D plan answers this before you pay. If both arches are clinically necessary we will tell you, and you can decide from there rather than discovering it mid-treatment. Given the small price difference, most people treating for crowding or spacing end up on a dual arch plan. Our guides to closing gaps between teeth and fixing crowded teeth without extractions explain how each case type is planned.

Insurance, HSA/FSA and monthly payments

Dental insurance

Many US dental plans carry an orthodontic benefit, commonly a lifetime maximum somewhere between $1,000 and $3,000. Two things to check on your own policy: whether the benefit applies to adults or only to dependents under a certain age, and whether it covers remote treatment. Ask your insurer for the orthodontic benefit in writing before you assume either way.

HSA and FSA

Orthodontic treatment is a qualifying medical expense, which means you can pay with pre-tax dollars from a Health Savings Account or Flexible Spending Account. In practice that is a discount equal to your marginal tax rate. Smile Perfect accepts both — details are on our HSA, FSA and insurance page.

One timing note: FSA funds are largely use-it-or-lose-it at year end. If you have a balance sitting unspent in Q4, treatment is one of the more sensible ways to use it.

Monthly plans

Plans can be spread across instalments rather than paid upfront — Fast-Track single arch, for example, starts with a $199 deposit followed by two monthly payments of $200. Current options and terms for every plan are on the pricing page.

Student and veteran discounts

If you are studying or have served, there are dedicated rates — see the student discount and veteran discount pages.

Is a cheaper aligner a worse aligner?

Not inherently — but the reason for the low price matters enormously, and there are two very different reasons a provider can be cheap.

The good reason: the business model removes clinic overheads. No waiting room, no monthly chair time, no reception staff. The clinical work — treatment planning, dentist review, progress monitoring — stays fully intact. The saving is structural, and the material is unchanged: Smile Perfect aligners are made from BPA-free, medical-grade polymer film, the same class of material used in premium aligner systems.

The bad reason: the clinical work itself has been cut. No dentist reviews your case. Nobody screens you for contraindications like gum disease or untreated decay. Nobody checks whether your teeth are tracking. That is not a cheaper version of orthodontics — it is a different and riskier product wearing the same name.

The category has learned this the hard way. Regulators and dental associations have both pushed for stronger screening and oversight in remote orthodontics, and several US states have introduced or proposed rules requiring a dental examination alongside at-home treatment. Those rules exist because the model works when supervision is real, and fails when it is not.

So the question to ask a provider is not "why are you cheap?" It is "which parts of the clinical process do you still do?" Our answer is set out in full on why choose Smile Perfect.

How to compare two quotes properly

Put both providers against the same six questions. Any gap in the answers is a gap in your quote.

1. Is a licensed dentist reviewing my case before manufacturing? Not a chatbot, not an algorithm alone — a named clinical professional.
2. Are retainers included, and how many sets?
3. Are refinements included if my teeth do not track as planned?
4. Is the impression kit or scan charged separately?
5. What happens if I am not a suitable candidate — do I get refunded?
6. Who monitors my progress during treatment, and how often?

Total the add-ons before you compare headline numbers. A $1,800 plan with everything included frequently beats a $999 plan that bills separately for the kit, the retainers and the refinements. We go deeper on provider selection in how to find the right clear aligner provider, and if you are still deciding whether aligners suit your case at all, start with what clear aligners are and how they work.

Cost FAQs