Does CareCredit Cover Braces? Plans, Fees, and Alternatives

Yes, CareCredit can be used to pay for braces. It covers traditional metal braces, ceramic braces, lingual braces, clear aligners like Invisalign, and retainers, for both adults and children.¹ It is not insurance. It is a healthcare credit card issued by Synchrony Bank, and the interest rates can be steep if a balance is not managed carefully.²

Which Orthodontic Treatments Qualify

CareCredit’s provider locator includes specific search categories for braces, ceramic braces, lingual braces, and clear aligners, confirming that all major types of orthodontic treatment are eligible for financing.¹ The card can also pay for retainers, emergency orthodontic visits, and related dental services.³ There is no age restriction on the patient; parents routinely use CareCredit for a child’s treatment, and adults use it for their own.

The card is accepted at more than 285,000 provider locations nationwide.⁴ Whether a specific orthodontist accepts it can be checked using the provider locator at carecredit.com, which filters by specialty and distance.⁵

What Braces Cost and How CareCredit Fits with Insurance

Orthodontic treatment is expensive, and insurance rarely covers the full bill. Current national cost ranges are:

Traditional metal braces: $3,000 to $7,000
Ceramic braces: $4,000 to $8,500
Clear aligners (Invisalign): $3,000 to $8,000
Lingual braces: $8,000 to $13,000

These figures reflect 2026 estimates and represent a 10 to 20 percent increase over prices from a few years ago.² Adult treatment tends to run $500 to $1,500 more than the equivalent treatment for children or teens.

Dental plans that include orthodontic coverage typically pay 25 to 50 percent of the cost, up to a lifetime maximum of $1,000 to $3,000, and that maximum does not reset annually.¹ Many affordable dental plans exclude orthodontics entirely, and those that do cover it often limit benefits to dependents under 18.⁶ A patient whose braces cost $5,000 with a $2,000 insurance maximum still owes $3,000 out of pocket. That is the gap CareCredit is designed to bridge. The two can be used together: let insurance pay its share first, then put the remaining balance on CareCredit.

The Two Financing Plans and What They Really Cost

CareCredit offers two main types of promotional financing at enrolled providers. The difference between them matters, because picking the wrong one or mismanaging payments can be expensive.

Deferred-Interest Plans

For purchases of $200 or more, CareCredit offers “no interest if paid in full” plans lasting 6, 12, 18, or 24 months. No interest is charged if the entire balance is paid off before the promotional period ends. Minimum monthly payments are required throughout.⁷

The catch is that this is deferred interest, not waived interest. Interest accrues from the date of purchase the entire time. If any balance remains when the promotional window closes, all of that accumulated interest is added to the account retroactively. At the current standard APR of 32.99%, that can amount to hundreds or thousands of dollars on a typical orthodontic balance.⁸

A key risk: the required minimum monthly payment is often lower than what a patient would need to pay each month to clear the balance in time. Making only the minimum will almost certainly leave a balance and trigger the retroactive interest. The safer approach is to divide the full balance by the number of months in the promotional period and pay at least that amount every month.

Reduced APR Plans

For larger balances, CareCredit offers fixed-rate installment plans with set monthly payments. These do not use deferred interest, so there is no retroactive charge if payoff takes the full term. As of mid-2024 the rates are:

24 months: 17.90% APR (purchases of $1,000 or more)
36 months: 18.90% APR (purchases of $1,000 or more)
48 months: 19.90% APR (purchases of $1,000 or more)
60 months: 20.90% APR (purchases of $2,500 or more)

These plans carry real interest from day one but are more predictable for anyone who cannot guarantee full repayment within a short window.⁷ Not every orthodontist offers every plan, so ask the practice which options it supports before signing.

Applying and Qualifying

Applications can be submitted online at carecredit.com, by phone at (800) 677-0718, or in the orthodontist’s office. Many practices will walk patients through the application on a tablet, and approvals typically come back within minutes. Once approved, the card can be used immediately without waiting for a physical card to arrive.⁹

Applicants must be at least 18 to apply online and 21 to apply by phone. A prequalification check uses a soft credit inquiry and does not affect the applicant’s credit score; submitting a full application after prequalifying triggers a hard inquiry.¹⁰ CareCredit does not publicly disclose a minimum credit score; third-party reporting suggests scores in the low-to-mid 600s are often enough.¹¹ Applicants who do not prequalify on their own can reapply with a joint applicant.

Approval comes with either a standard CareCredit credit card or a CareCredit Rewards Mastercard. Both offer identical access to promotional financing at network locations, so the card type does not change orthodontic financing.¹¹

Using CareCredit for a Child’s Braces

Minors cannot apply for credit, so a parent or guardian must be the cardholder. CareCredit’s FAQ states the card can be used for “yourself, your family, and even your pets” without reapplying, as long as there is available credit on the account.¹¹ The primary cardholder is liable for all charges, including those made by any authorized user added to the account. Authorized users can be added online or by calling (866) 893-7864.

Fees, Penalty APR, and Minimum Payments

CareCredit charges no annual fee. The current terms for new accounts, as of May 2024, set the standard purchase APR at 32.99% and the penalty APR at 39.99%.⁸ The penalty rate can be triggered if the minimum payment is missed two or more times within any 12 consecutive billing cycles, and it may remain in effect indefinitely.

Late payment fees are up to $41, and returned payment fees follow the same structure. Paper statements cost $1.99 per month, waived by switching to electronic statements. The minimum monthly payment is the greater of $30, 3.25% of the new balance, or 1% of the balance plus any interest and fees charged that cycle.⁸

Known Risks and Regulatory History

CareCredit’s deferred-interest structure has drawn significant regulatory scrutiny. The marketing says “no interest,” but the product is deferred interest, and consumers who miss the payoff deadline get hit with a large, retroactive charge.

A National Consumer Law Center report called deferred-interest products a “debt time bomb,” noting that lenders set minimum payments lower than what is needed to clear the balance in time, so consumers who make only the minimum are, in the report’s words, “inevitably” left with a remaining balance and a sudden interest charge dating back to the original purchase.¹² A CFPB study found that over 40% of subprime consumers were unable to pay off their balances within the promotional period.

Consumer complaints filed with the CFPB describe patients who believed they were signing up for interest-free payment plans at their dentist’s office and later discovered they had opened a high-interest credit card. Some reported never receiving copies of their loan agreements.¹³

In December 2013, the CFPB ordered GE Capital Retail Bank and CareCredit to refund up to $34.1 million to more than one million consumers for what the agency called “deceptive credit card enrollment tactics,” with harmful practices dating back to January 2009.¹⁴ The consent order required follow-up calls to new applicants within three days to explain terms, end-of-promotional-period notifications, and improved training for healthcare office staff.¹⁵ A June 2013 settlement with the New York Attorney General added a three-day cooling-off period for in-office applications and barred kickbacks to providers.¹⁶

A class action, S.G. v. Synchrony Bank, No. 24-CV-5788 (E.D.N.Y.), filed in August 2024, alleges that CareCredit’s 32.99% APR violates New York usury laws, which cap interest at 16% for loans under $250,000.¹⁷ As of January 2026, a magistrate judge recommended granting Synchrony’s motion to compel arbitration based on a clause in CareCredit’s online terms.

Alternatives Worth Comparing

CareCredit is the most widely accepted healthcare credit card, but it is not the only way to finance orthodontic treatment.

In-house payment plans. Many orthodontists offer 12- to 24-month payment plans directly, sometimes at 0% interest. These avoid the deferred-interest risk and are often the simplest option.
Sunbit. A point-of-sale lender with an 85% approval rate and no minimum credit score requirement. APRs range from 0% to 35.99% on fixed installment loans up to $10,000, with no late fees or application fees.
LendingClub Patient Solutions. Fixed-rate personal loans up to $40,000 with APRs from 7.99% to 24.99%. Better suited to larger treatment plans, with stricter approval criteria than CareCredit.
HSA and FSA accounts. Health savings and flexible spending accounts let patients use pre-tax dollars for orthodontic expenses, cutting the effective cost by roughly 20 to 30 percent depending on tax bracket. Some practices accept HSA or FSA payments alongside CareCredit, which lets patients combine both.

Asking the orthodontist what financing options the practice supports, and running the numbers on each before signing anything in the office, is the single best way to avoid the deferred-interest trap that drove most of CareCredit’s regulatory history.

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CareCredit. Dental Braces Cost and Dental Braces Financing
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CareCredit. Why Wait Adult Orthodontics Invisalign
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National Consumer Law Center. Deferred Interest Credit Cards Report
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Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. GE Capital Retail Bank CareCredit Enforcement Action
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Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Prepared Remarks of CFPB Director Richard Cordray on the CareCredit Enforcement Action
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New York State Attorney General. Assurance of Discontinuance: GE Capital Retail Bank and CareCredit
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GovInfo. S.G. v. Synchrony Bank, 24-CV-5788