Braces cost at least $3,000 these days, but a good dental insurance policy can cut those costs significantly. Investopedia staff chose as the best dental insurance company for braces because it has plans with great orthodontic coverage, including at lﷺeast two plans that cover adult braces. However, you may find another dental insurer on this list to be a better fit, depending on your preferred orthodontist, your budget, and how soon you or your child need braces.
To help you 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:choose a dental insurance company, we researched 13 plans from 10 companies that cover braces. We evaluated them based on costs, coverage amounts and limits for or🎃thodontia, and the company’s customer satisfaction record.
Best Dental Insurance for Braces of 2025
- Best Overall, Best Lifetime Coverage, and Best for Adult Braces: 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网: Delta Dental
- Best Waiting Period: 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网: Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield
- Best Overall Costs: 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网: Spirit Dental & Vision
- Best HMO: 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网: Delta Dental HMO
Best Overall, Best Lifetime Coverage, and Best for Adult Braces : Delta Dental
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Delta Dental
Based on the lowest-premium PPO with orthodontics cov🍎erage:
- Lifetime Orthodontia Coverage Limit: $1,500
- Deductible: $50
- States Available (Sample Plan): 15 plus D.C.
Delta Dental offers two plans that cover adult braces in the regions we researched, earning the company our “best for adult braces” designation as well as the title for best overall. One plan is a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:preferred ꦓprovider organization (PP🐓O) plan, the other a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:health maintenancꦓe organization (HMO) plan. The PPO plan we examined, Premium PPO, covers a solid 50% of the cost of orthodontic care after a relatively low $50 orthodontic 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:deductible and a six- or 12-month 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:waiting period, depending on your state. The lifetime maximum braces coverage is $1,500, the highest amount we saw in our research, which is why the company is also our top pick for lifetime coverage. Plus, state regulato𝓰rs received very few complaints about Delta Dental over a three-year period compared to the company’s size, indicating i♌ts customers are relatively satisfied.
We scored 🏅Delta Dental based on a PPO plan that’s available in 15 states plus Washington, D.C. The company operates❀ nationwide but does not offer braces coverage in every state, so be sure to check the details for policies available in your state.
Delta’s PPO orthodontics plans are costly compared to competitors, but they offer good coverage for the price, making them ideal for people who need orthodontics or other types of expensive care. Delta was also our top pick for the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:best dental insurance company.
Tied for the highest lifetime coverage limit
Very few complaints relative to company size
Covers up to 50% of orthodo♎ntic costs—the♐ most any carrier offers
Higher-than-average premiums
Six- to 12-month waiting period
Un♒like some competitors, Delta’s PPO plans don’t offer immediate coverage for orthodontics; you’ll have to wait six or 12 months, depending on your state. Its HMO plan, which is discussed later in this list, doesn’t have any waiting period and has a much lower premium. However, it may cover fewer of your orthodontic costs, and you’ll probably have a smaller group of dentists to choose from than the PPO offers.
Delta Dental is one of the largest providers of individual and family dental insurance in the U.S., with a PPO network of more than 112,000 dentists nationwide. The Delta Dental Plans Associaꦆtion is a not-for-profit organization established in 1966 and made up of , some of which have been in business since 1954. Coverage options vary by state.
Best Waiting Period : Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield
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Based on Anthem’s lowest-p💞remium PPO w🦩ith orthodontics coverage:
- Lifetime Orthodontia Coverage Limit: $1,000
- Deductible: $150 (lifetime)
- States Available (Sample Plan): 14 states
Anthem’s Essential Choice PPO Incentive plan has no waiting period and covers half the cost for children’s orthodontics after a $150 lifetime deductible. Although the plan will only cover $💮1,000 worth of orthodontia in a lifetime ($500 a year), it’s the only plan w𝓀e found that offers 50% coverage with no waiting period, making it a good option if your child needs braces right away.
The plan also rewards you for getting annual preventive care by lowering 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:coinsurance costs the following year. However, the plan’s premium is higher than av🦩erage for the PPOs we reviewed.
The 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires health care plans on the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Health Insurance Marketplace to offer child dental care, including for medically necessary orthodontia, such as corrections to a cleft palate or other structural issues requiring surgery. So, if you plan to get an Obamacare plan, check whether it covers child orthodontia during 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:open enrollment.
But if braces are no꧋t considered medically necessary for your child, you don’t want to get your health i🦋nsurance from the Exchange, or you missed open enrollment, a private dental plan from Anthem is a good option.
Offers child orthodontics plan with no waiting periꦛod
Covers 50% of orthodontia care, up to a limit
Rewards annual preve𝓰ntive care with lower coinsurance the following year
Does not cover adult braces
Only covers up to $1,000 for orthodontics ($500 per y🦩ear)
Although Anthem’s PPO plans don’t cover adult orthodontia, Anthem has a dental HMO plan available in California that covers adult braces. The Dental Net 3000D HMO plan 𒆙has no waiting period and offers coverage with a $1,895 copay for adults and $1,695 for children, plus $10 per office visit.
For PPO plans, Anthem has a large dental network wiꦍ𓄧th more than 136,000 unique providers at a half-million locations. The number of customer complaints about Anthem to state regulators over three years is about proportional to Anthem’s size.
Anthem is part of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association of health insurance co꧑mpanies, which began offering medical coverage to members in 1929. Anthem offers dental insurance in 14 states.
In 2022, the parent company’s name was changed from Anthem, Inc. to Elevance෴ Health, with no impact to plan names or coverage.
Best Overall Costs : Spirit Dental & Vision
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Spirit Dental
- Lifetime Orthodontia Coverage Limit: $1,200
- Deductible: $0
- States Available (Sample Plan): Nationwide (except Washington)
Spirit’s Core PPO Plan has the lowest PPO premiums of the orthodontics insurers Investopedia reviewed. Its combination of low premiums, low deductibles, and relatively high annual maximum coverage offers good value for the money. Like all of Spirit’s plans, it has a $100 lifetime deductible, which could save you hundreds of dollars over the years compared to plans with annual deductibles. The lifetime maximum for orthodont🍌ia is $1,200, which is higher than what most competitors offer.ও
The Core PPO Plan has no waiting period for orthodontics coverage, but the coverage percentage is paltry the first year. For children under 19, the plan covers 10% of orthodontic costs in the first year, 25% in year two, and 50% in year three. If you buy a Spirit plan a🎃 few years before your child may need braces, you can get great value from the Core PPO Plan. The company does not offer orthodontics coverage for adults, though.
Very low premiums, on average
No waiting period
Up to 50🌳% of childre༺n’s braces covered by year three
Spirit’s underwriter has a poor customer satis♛faction record
No coverage for adult braces
Spirit Dental & Vision only offers PPO dental plans. The company uses the same provider network as its underwriter, Ameritas, which includes more than 130,000 dentists nat🐻ionwid🧜e.
However, Ameritas has a poor customer satisfaction record. It ranked last in the J.D. Power 2023 U.S. Dental Plan Satisfaction Study, and the company had more complaints to state regulators than expected, given its market share.
Best HMO : Delta Dental HMO
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Delta Dental
- Lifetime Orthodontia Coverage Limit: None
- Deductible:$0
- States Available (Sample Plan): 8 states and D.C.
Delta Dental’s HMO orthodontics plan, DeltaCare USA, is a good option if you want much lower premiums than PPO plans offer. For e𓆉xample, in Calif🧸ornia, the monthly premium is only about $9, while for Delta’s PPO Premium plan, it’s $68. Delta’s HMO covers adult braces and has no deductibles, annual coverage limits, or waiting periods for care.
The tradeoff is that you’ll have a smaller network of dentists to choose from than with a PPO. Because DeltaCare USA is an HMO, no out-of-network providers are covered. And you’ll probably pay more when you get care than you would with a PPO. 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Copays (or copayments) for braces can be as high as $2,800 for adults and $2,600 for childr🔯en in California. In Texas, you’ll pay 75% of the usual and customary rate for orthodontic services.
The DeltaCare U♛SA plan is only available in eight states (California, Florida, Maryland, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Utah) and the District of Columbia. But that’s more than other orthodontic HMO plans we examined.
Low premiums
No waiting period, an🧔nual coverage limit, ♚or deductible
Covers adult braces
Very low complaint rate compared to company size
High copays for braces
No coverage out of network
Delta Denta🌳l is one of the largest dental insurance providers in the U.S. It is made up of 39 independent companies that offer HMO and PPO plans. PPOs are available in every state but orthodontic coverage is not, so you’ll need to check the plans offered in your 🌠area.
State regulatorsꦐ received very few complaints about Delta Dental over a three-year period relative to the company’s market share. That’s an indication of customer satisfaction.
Why Trust Us
Every Investopedia product review begins with a rigorous research and analysis process. For this list of the best dental insurance for braces, Investopedia staff consiಌdered 25 criteria that are critical when choosing a good orthodontics insurance provider. After collecting 325 data points related to premiums, waiting periods, adult braces coverage, deductibles, coverage percentages, and much more, we score💛d and weighted the data to objectively determine which providers were the best.
Investopedia has been a trusted source of financial information since 1999 and has been he𝓡lping readers find the best dental insurance since 2020.
How 🍸We Chose♉ the Best Dental Insurance Companies for Braces
Our process for finding the best orthodontics insurers began by narrowing the field of companies to consider. We used business and industry data about market share, trends, and consumer interest in various companies to come up with a set of 10 key companies and 13 plans covering braces for children, adults, or both. Ten of the plans were PPOs, and three were HMOs. We intentionally targeted providers and plans available to individuals who do not buy their health and dental insurance through state or feꦿderal insurance marketplaces.
We collected data from the National 💙Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), a standard-setting and regulatory support organization that maintains a ꦉdatabase of customer com♋plaints to state regulators. We also gathered data directly from companies via websites, media contacts, and existing partnerships. The data collection process took about six weeks.
We then developed a quantitative model that scored each denta🐎l insurance provider based on 25 criteria that fall into four major categories and are crucial in evaluating the company’s offerings and benefits. We weighted the four categories as follows for this article:
- Coverage: 55%
- Cost-to-Value: 30%
- Customer Satisfaction: 10%
- State Availability: 5%
To learn more about our process for finding the best dental insurance companies, 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:read our full methodology.
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Investopedia / Alice Morgan
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