Invisalign in Geneva: prices for children, teenagers and adults

Orthodontic quotes in Geneva range from CHF 3,900 to more than CHF 12,000. That spread does not measure the quality of the practitioner. It mostly measures what the quote contains, and what it leaves out.

I have practised orthodontics exclusively since 1998 and have seen patients in Geneva, on rue Micheli-du-Crest, since 2003. Questions about price come up every week in consultation, whether the patient is a nine-year-old, a teenager or an adult of forty-five. I answer them the same way each time, by giving the complete cost at the first appointment. This article contains the same figures I would give you in person.

Two different treatments, often confused

Before comparing prices, it helps to know what is being compared.

Dental alignment corrects the visible position of the teeth: mild crowding, spacing, a few rotated teeth. The treatment is short and addresses the appearance of the visible teeth. This is what most low-price offers provide.

Complete orthodontic treatment also corrects the occlusion, meaning the way the upper and lower teeth meet. It treats malocclusions: overjet, crossbite, open bite. The planning takes longer and the result holds, because the forces acting on the teeth are balanced.

I recommend complete treatment in the large majority of cases, including in adults where growth has finished. Straightening teeth without correcting the bite produces a result that looks satisfactory for a few months and then deteriorates. This is the first reason for the price differences you find online.

At what age, and in how many phases

Children: one phase, sometimes two

With children, the question is not only how much, but when.

Some situations call for early intervention, while jaw growth can still be guided. I propose a first-phase treatment, generally from the age of eight, in specific cases: prolonged thumb sucking, asymmetric crossbite, severe deep bite, anterior Class III. This first phase is short, often six to twelve months, and has a limited objective: to correct the skeletal or functional problem while it can still be corrected simply.

A second phase follows in adolescence, once all the permanent teeth are in place. That phase aligns both arches and finalises the occlusion.

Two phases mean two treatments and two quotes. Each is priced separately, at the time it begins.

The two amounts do not simply add up. The workup carried out before the first phase, radiographs and treatment plan, remains valid and is not repeated for the second. The second-phase quote is drawn up when that phase starts and takes account of the diagnostic work already done.

If your child needs a two-phase treatment, I will tell you at the first consultation what the whole course involves. You do not have to wait four years to find out what comes next.

In most cases a single phase is enough. I only propose a first phase where it is indicated. An unnecessary early treatment costs money, occupies the child for months and does not improve the final result. If your child does not need one, I will say so and we will simply arrange a review appointment in a year.

Teenagers

By adolescence the permanent dentition is in place and residual growth can still be used. This is the period when a single complete phase gives the best result for the least effort.

Invisalign suits most teenagers. The aligners carry compliance indicators that change colour, which makes it possible to check objectively, at each appointment, whether they have been worn. Parents generally appreciate this, and it turns the conversation about cooperation into a factual one rather than an argument.

Fixed braces remain indicated in some cases, and I propose them when they are the better tool for the situation.

Adults

In adults, growth has finished but teeth still move. Treatment often requires finer planning and sometimes auxiliary devices. I frequently use the Carriere Motion distaliser as a first stage to correct Class II and Class III cases, which makes situations treatable with aligners that are widely assumed to require fixed appliances.

Adult treatment also sometimes forms part of a multidisciplinary plan, with a periodontist or a restorative dentist.

Prices at MC20 in 2026

Most of the complete orthodontic treatments I carry out fall between CHF 8,500 and CHF 10,200, all inclusive. That is the figure to keep in mind if the case requires correction of the bite, which applies to most patients whatever their age.

The same formulas and the same prices apply to teenagers and to adults. The complexity of the case determines the amount, not the age of the patient.

More limited treatments cost less. The detail by formula:

The amounts in the table are entry prices: they correspond to the simplest cases in each formula. The quote you receive after the workup is a firm price, with no supplements added during treatment.

A first phase in a child is a separate, shorter and less expensive treatment: between CHF 2,800 and CHF 5,400, depending on the appliance required and the duration. Second-phase treatment, if it takes place, follows the table above.

What each quote includes

• The 3D iTero scan, with no physical impression
• ClinCheck planning, including a simulation of the result before treatment begins
• All the aligners required
• Refinements, unlimited in the Premium and Intégral formulas
• Fixed retention
• All review appointments during treatment
• Twelve months of follow-up after treatment ends, in the Premium and Intégral formulas

Retention decides what is left in ten years

This is the point quotes mention least, and the one that determines whether treatment holds.

Many practitioners hand over a night-time retainer at the end of treatment. The patient then has to wear it indefinitely. A few forgotten nights change nothing. A few months of interruption do: the teeth gradually return towards their original position, and the result of two years of treatment is lost.

This applies particularly to teenagers, who often finish treatment at the moment they leave home to study.

I bond fixed retention for all my patients, on both the upper and the lower arch. It is a discreet wire behind the teeth, invisible from the outside, completed by a Vivera retainer for the upper arch. Stability then no longer depends on daily discipline.

Check this point in any quote you receive. Removable retention and fixed retention do not cost the same and do not protect the result in the same way.

What to compare in a quote

The headline price tells you little. Five questions give a truer picture:

1. Are refinements included, and how many? A complete treatment commonly requires one to three. If they are charged separately, the final amount can exceed the quoted price considerably.
2. What retention is planned? Fixed or removable, and for how long.
3. Is post-treatment follow-up included? And for how long.
4. For a child: are one or two phases planned? If a second phase is likely, ask for its order of magnitude now, not in four years.
5. Who carries out the treatment, and how long have they practised orthodontics? Digital planning is learned through practice. A practitioner starting out with Invisalign obtains correct results on simple cases and meets more difficulty on complex ones.

Then add up the answers. That is the only figure comparable from one practice to another.

The patient’s part in the result

Duration and cost also depend on how the aligners are worn, which should reach twenty-two hours a day. Review appointments allow the plan to be adjusted at the right moment.

If wear is insufficient, treatment lengthens and the initial quote has to be reassessed. I say this before starting rather than halfway through.

With teenagers, the compliance indicators built into the aligners make that conversation straightforward: we look together, and we adjust if necessary.

What insurance covers

For adults, Swiss basic insurance (LAMal) does not reimburse orthodontics. Some supplementary dental policies cover part of it, provided the policy was taken out before the need arose.

What to check in your policy:

• The reimbursement rate, generally between 50 and 75 percent of the fees
• The annual ceiling, often between CHF 2,500 and CHF 15,000 depending on the contract
• The waiting period, six to thirty-six months in most cases. Taking out supplementary cover in order to start treatment the following month does not work.
• The conditions specific to orthodontics, under the dental care heading

For children and teenagers, the situation differs. LAMal covers orthodontics only in severe cases that are precisely defined. Swiss disability insurance intervenes for certain recognised congenital conditions. Supplementary policies for children, on the other hand, cover a share of the costs more often than adult policies do, and many families hold cover they have never checked.

As every contract differs, contact your insurer before starting. We will draw up the quote in the format your insurer requires if you tell us.

For international patients: international dental policies cover orthodontics more often than Swiss supplementary cover, and sometimes on better terms. Send us your conditions and we will tell you what is likely to be reimbursed.

If you are moving to Geneva mid-treatment

Patients arrive in Geneva partway through a treatment started elsewhere. This is common and it is manageable.

Bring what your previous orthodontist can provide: the treatment plan, the most recent radiographs, and if you are in aligner treatment, the remaining sets and the ClinCheck reference. I will assess where the treatment stands and tell you whether it can be continued as planned or needs to be replanned.

Continuing an existing plan is usually cheaper than restarting. Whether it is possible depends on what has been done and on how the case was planned, which is why the assessment comes before the quote.

How long treatment takes

These durations assume the aligners are worn consistently.

A refinement is an adjustment stage. At the end of the first series of aligners, I take a new scan to compare the result obtained with the result planned. Incomplete movements are addressed with a new series. This is not a failure: teeth do not all move at the same speed, and rotations and vertical corrections often require two stages. An experienced practitioner anticipates them during initial planning and includes them in the quoted price.

OrthoPulse is a photobiomodulation device that I offer in the Intégral formula. In my own cases I observe stages completed more quickly and fewer refinements required. I do not quote a percentage, because the variation between patients is too great for a single figure to mean anything.

Why experience shows up in the price

Invisalign is a system of aligners. The result depends on the planning that precedes them: which movements to request, in which order, with which auxiliary devices.

What this means for you: fewer refinements, fewer extensions, and an initial quote that still holds at the end.

What sets the practice apart:

• Orthodontics exclusively since 1998, in Geneva since 2003
• Invisalign Diamond Apex Provider, the highest distinction in the Invisalign network, awarded by Align Technology to the top 1 percent of practitioners in the EMEA region
• More than 3,000 Invisalign cases treated
• Member of the European Aligner Society
• iTero scanner, OnyxCeph planning, OrthoPulse
• Consultations in English, French and German
• Main practice in Geneva, consultations in Satigny and Nyon

Payment

A deposit of CHF 800 to CHF 1,800 is required at the start of treatment to cover laboratory fabrication of the aligners. The balance is then settled in monthly instalments, with no fees or interest. This can be combined with reimbursement from your supplementary insurance.

The first appointment: what it includes and what it costs

The first appointment is a conversation. I examine the situation, you tell me what bothers you, and we take a first digital iTero scan of the arches. You leave with my opinion: what is possible in this particular case, what is less so, and the order of magnitude of the treatment. If it concerns a child, I will also tell you whether to act now or wait. This first visit and this first scan are not charged.

If we decide together to go further, the next stage is the full workup: radiographs and a detailed treatment plan. This is where the diagnostic work genuinely begins, and this stage is charged between CHF 600 and CHF 1,400, depending on the images required and the complexity of the case. You know the amount before commissioning it, and if you go ahead with treatment, it is deducted from the price.

The definitive quote is given to you at the end of the workup. You are committed to nothing before you have read it.

Orthodontie MC20 Rue Micheli-du-Crest 20, 1205 Geneva Telephone: +41 22 781 47 60 Appointments: mc20.ch

Consultations also at the Cabinet Dentaire de Satigny and the Cabinet Portenier-Karatsaidis in Nyon.

About the author

Wolfgang Johannes has practised orthodontics exclusively since 1998 and has run Orthodontie MC20, on rue Micheli-du-Crest in Geneva, since 2003. An Invisalign Diamond Apex Provider, he has treated more than 3,000 aligner cases and also sees patients in Satigny and Nyon. He treats children, teenagers and adults.