CandidPro treatment does not include the cost of the retainer. I was very happy to be done with my CandidPro invisible aligners treatment, until I went for my final appointment and the dentist said it would be $600 for my retainer. I was pretty shocked, since I was told by ASAP Dental that my initial fee of $3500 covered everything. I even wrote about it on the blog, mentioning exactly that, in this post: My Quest for Invisible Aligners Ends with Candid

CandidPro Was No Help

When I did my research, every article I read said the retainers were included or available for purchase for $99. At the time the website for Candid (this was before they rebranded as CandidPro) also said you could order additional retainers for $99.

I contacted CandidPro to ask why I was being charged this, and they replied, “Since we are only the manufacturer we don’t set any prices. With that being said, your dentist’s office controls the price for all of its products. So your dentist has priced this retainer at $600.”

That didn’t really answer my question so I replied back to let them know all the info that I had read before purchasing, that said it was included, or could be purchased for $99.

They replied back:

Hi Candy, 

I’m not entirely sure what you’re referring to when you say $99 retainers since we don’t supply patients with any products. The only thing I can think of is when we treated patients directly, the price for our retainers was $99. Our direct-to-patient treatment was in effect roughly from 2017-2021. 

Do you have any screenshots of what you’re referencing? I’m happy to clarify any references you do have! 

Best, Becca
Provider Relation

No Becca, I didn’t think I needed to screenshot things back in January 2023 when I was first starting my Candid treatment. I thought I was doing the right things and asking all the right questions. I didn’t realize I needed to get everything in writing or screenshotted to avoid being surprised with a big charge at the end.

Got Old Fillings? They May Crack

You know what they don’t tell you when you start the aligner treatment? That if you have old fillings then shifting your teeth around may cause them to crack. I was only a few months into treatment, and there was a lot of pressure on my upper molars which all had old fillings in them.

One night I was flossing, and a big chunk flew out of my mouth. I thought it was a tooth! It ended up being a piece of an old filling. That led to a dentist visit and a crown being needed on that tooth. That delayed my treatment by a couple months, and I had to get a full scan done again and a whole new box of aligners sent.

The one good thing I can say about Candid is that they sent the new box of aligners free of charge. Probably because they know my filling wouldn’t have broken off if I wasn’t doing the Candid treatment.

After that, I was too scared to continue using the aligners on my top teeth and I just kept using the first one in the box the whole time. So, I switched to a new bottom aligner each time, but kept the top one the same through the whole treatment. My top teeth were already straight, so I didn’t see the point of suffering through all that pressure and possible breakage of other old fillings.

Did I Waste Thousands of Dollars on Candid?

After all that, with a year of wearing aligners, the tightness, the broken filling and getting a crown, and now being done with still slightly crooked bottom teeth, was it worth it?

Nope, not really. Am I mad about the whole thing? Yes, very much.

I just wanted to stop my bottom teeth from their current path of twisting and sliding. I suppose I did at least succeed there, as they are straighter now, and I can continue to just wear the aligner to keep them in place.

So that’s my plan. Screw Candid, the dentist and everything else. I’m totally upset and not paying $600 for a retainer. I’m pissed at the dentist office too, since they told me it was included. Of course, I have nothing in writing to prove that (except my own!).

Lesson learned.

Why do my lessons always have to be learned the hard, and usually painful or expensive way?

About the Author

Candy Keane is a digital content creator and long-time cosplayer, most well-known for being on the cover of the Star Wars documentary Jedi Junkies. After making costumes professionally for over a decade, she now writes about geek culture and mom life, and continues to cosplay for fun, while sharing her love of costumes on Instagram @SewGeekMama. Her first children’s book, I’m Going to My First Comic Convention, was published in 2020 and won a Story Monsters Approved award for Excellence in Literature.

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