If you have started shopping for braces or Invisalign in Montgomery County, you have probably noticed something confusing: your family dentist offers them, the cosmetic dentist down Rockville Pike offers them, and so does the specialist orthodontist around the corner. In Maryland, all three can legally straighten your teeth. So who should actually do it?

The short answer: for simple cosmetic alignment, a skilled general dentist is often perfectly appropriate and convenient. For anything involving the bite, jaw growth, extractions, or a child’s developing teeth, a specialist orthodontist is the safer choice. This guide explains why, what it costs locally, and who the best-reviewed providers are on each side.

Close-up of fixed metal braces on the upper and lower jaw
Fixed braces on both arches. Moving teeth and roots predictably — not just the visible crown — is the core of orthodontic training. (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

The one difference that matters: training

Every orthodontist is a dentist, but only a small fraction of dentists are orthodontists. Both finish four years of dental school. The orthodontist then completes an additional two to three years of full-time, accredited residency devoted entirely to moving teeth and guiding jaw growth — thousands of supervised cases before they ever practice solo.

Training path: general dentist versus orthodontist A general dentist completes about four years of dental school. An orthodontist completes the same four years plus two to three additional years of full-time orthodontic residency. Years of training 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 General dentist Dental school · 4 yrs Ortho- dontist Dental school · 4 yrs Residency · 2–3 yrs
An orthodontist is a dentist plus a residency spent doing nothing but orthodontics.

That extra training is exactly why the American Association of Orthodontists exists, and why a credential like American Board of Orthodontics certification — held by Dr. Atefeh Boroun at Fallsgrove Orthodontics and by Dr. Richard Shin in Potomac — is a meaningful, voluntary signal of specialty expertise.

What a general dentist does well

A dentist treating a patient in a dental chair
A general dentist knows your whole mouth — decay, gums, and restorations — which makes them a natural fit for straightforward cosmetic alignment. (Image: U.S. Navy / Wikimedia Commons)

A strong general dentist already knows your teeth, your gum health, and your restorations, and many have invested real training in clear-aligner systems. For mild crowding, minor spacing, or a single-arch “I just want my front teeth straighter before the wedding” case, a dentist who does a high volume of Invisalign can be an excellent, convenient option.

Locally, Dr. Sunny Bawa of Potomac Crown Dentistry is a Top 1% Invisalign Diamond+ provider — a tier most orthodontists never reach — and Dr. Samia Nikkhah at Pike District Smiles in North Bethesda offers Invisalign with evening and Saturday hours. These are the honest dentists who will also tell you when a case is beyond aligners and refer you onward, which is exactly what you want.

When you should see a specialist orthodontist

Choose an orthodontist when the problem is structural rather than cosmetic. Red flags that call for a specialist include:

  • A misaligned bite — overbite, underbite, crossbite, or open bite
  • Jaw or growth concerns, especially in a child or teen
  • Cases that will likely need extractions or significant root movement
  • Impacted or severely rotated teeth
  • A previous orthodontic case that relapsed or needs revision

Children are a special case. The AAO recommends a first orthodontic check by age 7, while the jaw is still growing and problems are easier to guide. For Montgomery County families timing treatment around the school calendar, a specialist is the right first call.

Who should treat your case A spectrum from simple cosmetic alignment, well suited to a general dentist, to complex bite and growth problems, which call for a specialist orthodontist. Who should treat your case? General dentist Specialist orthodontist SIMPLE / COSMETIC • Mild crowding • Minor spacing • Single-arch Invisalign • Whitening + alignment combos COMPLEX / STRUCTURAL Bite & jaw problems • Children & growth (age 7+) • Extraction & surgical cases • Relapse & revision •
The further right your case sits, the more a specialist's extra training pays off.

What braces and Invisalign cost in Montgomery County

Local pricing in 2026 generally runs about $3,500–$4,000 for custom-bracket braces and roughly $4,500–$6,000 for a full Invisalign case, depending on complexity and length. A few honest notes specific to Maryland:

  • Most Montgomery County practices offer in-house, interest-free monthly payment plans, so compare the total case fee, not the monthly number.
  • Maryland Medicaid (and the Maryland Healthy Smiles program) covers orthodontics for children only when there is a qualifying medical need, scored on a handicapping-malocclusion index — not for cosmetic cases.
  • Dentist-provided and orthodontist-provided Invisalign can be priced similarly. You are paying for case selection and judgment as much as the aligners themselves.

How to choose, in practice

Build a two-name shortlist and compare on the things that actually predict a good outcome: relevant training, verifiable review quality, and whether the provider is candid about whether you even need treatment. Our curated, ratings-ranked lists are built exactly for this:

Whichever way you lean, the rule of thumb holds: the more your case is about the bite, the jaw, or a growing child, the more that extra residency matters — and the more a board-certified orthodontist earns their fee.