Editorial Standards

Three questions get answered on this page: where a price range on this site actually comes from, what it means when we say something is not dental advice, and what happens after a reader tells us a number looks off.

How a case-cost range gets built

Every result the calculator returns starts from the same four-input model: case complexity (Lite through complex), whether an orthodontist or general dentist is treating you, whether an orthodontic insurance benefit applies, and your ZIP code. Those multipliers are tuned against published US dental and orthodontic fee data, not against a single practice's rate sheet, and not against Align Technology's own marketing figures. Align charges providers a lab fee per case and each office sets its own markup on top of that; we do not have access to either number directly, so our range is built to bracket the outcome rather than quote an exact fee schedule that does not publicly exist.

Naming a source when one applies

Anything more precise than a range, a typical orthodontic insurance maximum, a CareCredit financing term, an average aligner-tray count for a given case type, gets its source stated in the sentence where it appears, not buried in a footnote at the bottom of a guide. We do not take payment from an orthodontist, dental service organization, or Align Technology to shape a number in their favor, and no practice can buy a mention in a guide.

What "not dental advice" actually rules out

Naomi Foster researches and writes every guide on this site, and she is not an orthodontist, general dentist, or any other licensed clinician. She cannot tell a reader whether their crowding needs Invisalign Lite or a full comprehensive case, whether a bite issue is better solved with braces, or whether a specific mouth is even a good candidate for clear aligners at all, those calls belong to a dentist or orthodontist who has actually looked at your teeth. When a guide summarizes treatment timelines, compliance data for Invisalign Teen, or outcomes research, it says where that information came from, and it says so plainly when the underlying evidence is thin or mixed rather than presenting it as settled fact.

Handling a correction

Spotted a stale number, a broken source, or a claim that does not check out? Tell us through the contact page. Naomi traces the figure back to where it originated before changing anything. A typo or an outdated year gets fixed quietly. Anything that moves a published cost range or a clinical claim gets a visible note on that page describing the change, along with a refreshed "last updated" date at the top.

Rules we hold to

• No claims that Invisalign will finish faster or look better than what a specific reader's case allows, and no copy written to read like an ad for one practice or provider network.
• No paying for placement: an orthodontist or dentist cannot buy a better ranking or a featured mention.
• No invented "clinical review board" standing in for a real byline. See who actually writes this site.

Who owns this site

Invisalign Cost is owned and published by Chris Terry as part of the Encore Editorial network. Chris does not write or research the guides, that work is Naomi's; his job is oversight, reviewing new figures before they go live, checking the calculator's assumptions when the underlying data changes, and signing off on corrections that go beyond a routine fix.