Invisalign for Kids, Backed by the Kid & Teen Guarantee
In short: Invisalign for kids comes with a written safety net at Tribeca Dental Studio 4 Kids: Align Technology's Kid & Teen Guarantee. For patients 19 and under, if you are not satisfied with your child's Invisalign treatment or Invisalign Palatal Expander and ask to switch to a different treatment, Align credits back 100% of the lab fee once the request is approved.
The window is the first 12 months of treatment — or the first 60 days for the expander — counted from the original shipment date.
Invisalign for kids is a real commitment — months of trays, a child who has to actually wear them, and a family budget behind it — so parents reasonably ask what happens if it does not work out. Until recently the honest answer was: the money spent on aligners was spent. Align Technology, the company that makes Invisalign, has changed that answer for its youngest patients.
The Invisalign Kid & Teen Guarantee exists because kids are not small adults. A teenager who starts out motivated can stop wearing trays. A seven-year-old's growth can redirect a careful plan. Align's program lets a family change course — from an Invisalign treatment or the Invisalign Palatal Expander to a different kind of treatment — without losing the lab fee that went into making the appliances.
This page explains the guarantee in plain language, from Align's own program terms: who it covers, which treatments qualify, the two time windows with their exact dates, what the credit is and how long it takes, and the one deadline every parent should know — the program expires on December 31, 2026.
Our part in it is simple. We evaluate your child honestly and recommend Invisalign only when it fits. If it stops fitting, you tell us, we talk through the alternatives together, and we submit the guarantee request to Align for you. You never deal with Align directly, and you never fill in their forms.
A guarantee written for patients 19 and under
The Invisalign Kid & Teen Guarantee is one unified program from Align Technology covering children and teenagers aged 19 and under. It covers two kinds of treatment: the Invisalign Palatal Expander System, the removable expander used in early treatment, and a list of eligible Invisalign treatments for kids and teens, set out in the section below.
The promise works like this. If a parent or guardian is not satisfied within the guarantee window and requests an alternative treatment modality — a switch to a different kind of treatment, such as traditional braces or a standard expander — Align reimburses 100% of the lab fee as an account credit, once Align approves the request.
It is Align's guarantee, not ours, and we think that matters: the company that made your child's aligners stands behind the decision to change course. Our role is to guide the clinical side — when a switch makes sense, what it should be — and to handle the request itself.
- For patients 19 years old and under
- Covers the Invisalign Palatal Expander System and eligible Invisalign treatments
- Triggered by a parent or guardian requesting a different treatment
- Align reimburses 100% of the lab fee as an account credit, on approval
The two windows — and the dates that matter
Each half of the program has its own clock, and both clocks start on the same day: the original shipment date of your child's appliances from Align. Not the day of the first appointment, not the day your child starts wearing trays — the shipment date. That is the date the windows below are counted from, so it is worth knowing early.
If there is any chance your family will use the guarantee, tell us as soon as doubts appear rather than near the end of a window. A conversation at month three costs nothing; the same conversation after month twelve is a different one. We would always rather hear 'this isn't working' early, while every option is still open.
- Invisalign Palatal Expander System: the first 60 days from the original shipment date
- Eligible Invisalign treatment: the first 12 months from the original shipment date
- The program itself expires on December 31, 2026
- Valid in the United States and Canada
What the 100% lab fee credit actually means
Invisalign treatment has two broad cost parts: the professional care — evaluation, planning, visits, monitoring — and the lab fee, which is what Align's laboratory charges to manufacture your child's custom aligners or expander. The guarantee concerns the second part. When Align approves a guarantee request, it returns 100% of that lab fee to our practice as a credit on our Align account.
In practical terms, that means switching treatments does not charge your family for the same lab work twice: the money that went into making the Invisalign appliances comes back as a credit when your child moves to the alternative treatment. After approval, the credit is issued within 5 to 10 days; for the Palatal Expander, the credit may take up to 30 days depending on the account cycle.
We keep this honest: the guarantee is not a promise that every part of treatment is free to undo, and it is not a refund of professional fees. Before any switch, we sit down with you and walk through the exact numbers for your child's case, so the decision is made with the full picture in front of you.
Which treatments the guarantee covers
Align lists the eligible treatments by name. On the treatment side, the guarantee covers Invisalign First Comprehensive Phase 1 — the phase designed for younger children whose adult teeth are still coming in — along with the Comprehensive, Comprehensive Phase 2, Moderate, and Lite packages, and the Invisalign Assist package. The Invisalign Palatal Expander System is covered under its own 60-day window.
If we recommend an Invisalign package for your child, ask us directly whether it is one of the covered types before treatment starts — we will tell you plainly, and it is a fair question to ask any practice offering your child Invisalign in 2026.
- Invisalign Palatal Expander System (60-day window)
- Invisalign First Comprehensive Phase 1
- Invisalign System Comprehensive and Comprehensive Phase 2
- Invisalign System Moderate
- Invisalign System Lite
- Invisalign Assist Package
The honest reasons families use it
Align's own request form names the reasons, and the first one will sound familiar to any parent of a teenager: the child is not complying with wear. Aligners only work in the mouth, and a teen who leaves them in a locker has a treatment that exists mostly on paper. The guarantee exists so that a compliance problem becomes a change of plan — to braces, which do not depend on willpower — instead of money lost.
The second named reason is a parent or guardian who is not satisfied with how treatment is progressing. Growth is the third, unspoken one: children's jaws change, teeth erupt on their own schedule, and a plan that fit at the start can stop fitting. None of these are failures, and none of them are your fault or your child's. They are the normal risks of treating growing patients, and this program is Align pricing those risks in.
How a guarantee request works at our practice
You do not contact Align, and there is no form for parents to complete. The practice submits the request — Align asks us for the treatment details: the original shipment date, the invoice, your child's Invisalign patient ID and date of birth, and our confirmation that you, as parent or guardian, have requested an alternative treatment. We have all of that in your child's file, and we handle it.
So the process from your side is short. Tell us you are not satisfied, or that your child is not wearing the aligners. We talk through the alternatives and what each would involve. If a switch is right, we submit the request, Align reviews and approves it, the lab fee credit is issued — 5 to 10 days after approval, up to 30 days for the expander — and we start the new treatment.
One more term, stated plainly because it is in Align's program: submission limits may apply depending on the provider's tier. If anything about a request for your child were ever affected by that, we would tell you before you relied on the guarantee, not after.
- You tell us — that is the only step a parent takes
- We discuss the alternative treatment with you first
- We complete and submit Align's request for you
- On approval, the lab fee credit follows in 5 to 10 days (expander up to 30)
Starting Invisalign at Tribeca Dental Studio 4 Kids
The guarantee makes starting easier to say yes to, but it does not change our first step: an orthodontic evaluation at 54 Warren Street in Tribeca. We look at your child's bite, spacing, crowding, jaw growth, and airway, and we recommend Invisalign only when it is genuinely the right tool — for some children that is an expander first, for some it is braces, and for some it is waiting.
When Invisalign does fit, you now start it knowing the lab fee is guaranteed if your family needs to change course.
Call us at (212) 561-5303 to book an evaluation, and mention Invisalign when you call so we allow proper time. We are open Monday to Friday, 8 AM to 6 PM, and Saturday, 9 AM to 4 PM, and closed Sundays. And because the program expires on December 31, 2026, families who want the guarantee behind their child's treatment should have that evaluation in 2026, not after it.
Questions parents ask us
01Who does the Invisalign Kid & Teen Guarantee cover?
Patients 19 years old and under, in the United States and Canada, whose treatment is one of Align's eligible types: the Invisalign Palatal Expander System, Invisalign First Comprehensive Phase 1, Comprehensive, Comprehensive Phase 2, Moderate, Lite, or the Invisalign Assist package.
If a parent or guardian is not satisfied within the guarantee window and requests a switch to a different treatment, Align reimburses 100% of the lab fee as an account credit once the request is approved.
02How long do we have to change our minds?
For the Invisalign Palatal Expander, the window is the first 60 days. For Invisalign treatment, it is the first 12 months. Both are counted from the original shipment date of your child's appliances from Align — not from the first day of wear — which is why we tell families to raise concerns early, while the full window is still ahead of them.
03What do we actually get back under the guarantee?
Align returns 100% of the lab fee — the laboratory cost of making your child's aligners or expander — to our practice as an account credit, once the request is approved. The credit is issued within 5 to 10 days after approval, or up to 30 days for the Palatal Expander. It means switching to a different treatment does not charge your family for that lab work twice. Before any switch we walk through the exact numbers for your child's case with you.
04What if my child simply will not wear the aligners?
That is one of the situations the guarantee was written for — Align's own request form lists a child or teen not complying with wear as a standard reason. Tell us early, inside the 12-month window, and we will talk honestly about whether a different treatment, such as braces that stay on the teeth, fits your child better. If we switch, we submit the guarantee request for you. A compliance problem becomes a change of plan, not money lost.
05When does this guarantee program end?
Align's program expires on December 31, 2026. Families who want the guarantee behind their child's Invisalign treatment or Palatal Expander should have the evaluation and start treatment while the program is running. If you are considering Invisalign for your child, 2026 is the year to have the conversation — call us at (212) 561-5303 and we will evaluate your child and tell you plainly whether Invisalign fits.
06Do we have to contact Align or fill in forms ourselves?
No. The practice submits the guarantee request — Align asks us for the treatment details, including the original shipment date and invoice, plus our confirmation that you have requested a different treatment. All of that is in your child's file with us. Your only job is to tell us you are not satisfied or that the aligners are not being worn, and to decide the alternative treatment with us.
Related care at TDS 4 Kids
Visit us in Tribeca
Tribeca Dental Studio 4 Kids is at 54 Warren St, New York, NY 10007 — (212) 561-5303. We are open Monday–Friday 8 AM–6 PM and Saturday 9 AM–4 PM, with select Sundays. Families visit us from Tribeca, Battery Park City, the Financial District, SoHo, Greenwich Village, the West Village, the East Village, Lower Manhattan, the Meatpacking District, and Hudson Yards.
Areas we serve
Families visit us from all of these neighborhoods. Find yours below — each ZIP code links to local details for your area.
- Chelsea: 10001, 10011
- the Lower East Side: 10002
- the East Village: 10003, 10009
- the Financial District: 10004, 10005, 10006, 10038
- Tribeca: 10007, 10013
- the Flatiron District: 10010
- SoHo: 10012
- the West Village: 10014
- Murray Hill: 10016
- Midtown East: 10017
- Midtown: 10018, 10020
- Midtown West: 10019
- the Upper East Side: 10021, 10028, 10065, 10075
- the Upper West Side: 10023, 10024, 10025
- Hell's Kitchen: 10036
- Lincoln Square: 10069
- Carnegie Hill: 10128
- Battery Park City: 10280
- Brooklyn Heights: 11201
- Clinton Hill: 11205
- Bushwick: 11206, 11207, 11221, 11237
- Williamsburg: 11211, 11249
- Park Slope: 11215
- Bedford-Stuyvesant: 11216, 11233
- Boerum Hill: 11217
- Sunset Park: 11220
- Carroll Gardens: 11231
- Greenwood Heights: 11232
- Fort Greene: 11238
- Long Island City: 11101
- Astoria: 11102, 11103, 11105, 11106
- Hunters Point: 11109
- Edgewater: 07020
- Hoboken: 07030
- Weehawken: 07086
- Union City: 07087
- Jersey City: 07302, 07304, 07305
- Journal Square: 07306
- Jersey City Heights: 07307
- Newport: 07310, 07311