Where to Get Free Braces?

Here^* you will find the orthodontic practices in Vienna that are certified for free braces: Zahnregulierung Eltz in the 1st district and Zahnregulierung Votiv in the 9th district. Both are contract partners of the public health insurance funds – free braces there are guaranteed to come without additional charges. The path to free braces always begins with a free, no-obligation consultation including an examination to check whether your child meets the requirements.

Choose your provider:

Locations at a glance

How to book your appointment in two minutes

1. Choose an institute Both institutes are certified contract partners – simply choose the location that is easier for you to reach, or the earlier available appointment.
2. Book online or call Click on “Book an appointment online” and choose a free slot for the free initial consultation in the calendar. Or call: Eltz 01 3583 100, Votiv 01 407 7029.
3. Bring the e-card All you need for the appointment is your child's e-card (Austrian health insurance card). No referral, no approval, no costs.

What to look for when choosing your orthodontic practice

Training and experience in orthodontics

At the orthodontic practices listed on this page, only specialist orthodontists or dentists with comparable qualifications work side by side. This is important in the field of orthodontic treatment because, in addition to their dental degree, orthodontists have completed several years of additional training to learn how to correct misalignments of the teeth and jaw. They usually focus exclusively on orthodontic treatment and do not offer classic dental services such as fillings or crowns. Complex cases are analysed and successfully treated every week. Particularly with free braces, comprehensive training and decades of experience are important – after all, these are very complex cases, and treatment errors can have a negative impact on your child's life.

Several methods of orthodontic treatment

For some years now, a trend has been creeping into orthodontics towards cheap plastic aligners that are not made by any reputable manufacturer, or treatments that are in fact not even supervised by trained specialists. When making your choice, therefore, check whether your institute offers only one method of orthodontic treatment or selects the best method for you from the full spectrum of modern orthodontics.

This orthodontic experience is particularly important for children and teenagers. Without the know-how, the right age for treatment is often missed or treatment is carried out with ineffective or even harmful methods.

Certified contract partner for free braces

When choosing your orthodontic practice, check whether it is one of the few contract institutes for free braces in Vienna. If so, it means that free braces are genuinely free of charge for you. That is not a matter of course: even if a non-contract dentist (Wahlzahnarzt) meets the criteria (for example regarding proof of training in orthodontics), the health insurance fund still only reimburses 80 per cent of the contractually agreed rate. How much you then pay ultimately depends on how much the non-contract dentist charges for their services. As this amount is often well above the agreed rate, it can come to several thousand euros. This is not the case at the institutes listed on this page. If your child meets the requirements for free braces, “free” really does mean free of charge for you.

3D scan instead of impressions

The most modern institutes no longer take conventional impressions. Many children cannot tolerate the cold metal trays in their mouth or the sticky alginate material normally used to take a dental impression. They experience acute gagging or even panic attacks because they cannot breathe and swallow normally. With the digital scan, however, everything is easy: the assistant moves the scanner over the rows of teeth and the built-in laser transfers the data to the computer. The procedure not only takes half as long as taking impressions by hand – the error rate is also considerably lower than with the conventional method. This is a real innovation and makes life easier for children, parents and the team alike.

No pain

Anyone who had braces years ago or knew people with braces will have experienced that orthodontic treatment can be painful. The good news, however, is that those days are over. Done properly, free braces are a pain-free treatment. This is achieved through the use of gentle forces and thinner steel wires. The result is surprising: in patient surveys, over 90 % said they find the orthodontic treatment comfortable most or all of the time!

Short treatment duration

Most parents and teenagers rightly want the best possible result with the shortest possible time wearing braces. With most orthodontic methods, however, treatment takes two to three years. Using the New York technique, treatment with free braces takes an average of 18.7 months.

Few visits and few appointments

Children, just like parents, only want to go to the doctor as rarely as possible and stay only as long as necessary. Special techniques using gentle wires and special bonding techniques make exactly that possible: short appointments and considerably longer intervals.

Long opening hours

When making your choice, check whether your institute really does have long opening hours until 6 pm or later – because once treatment is under way, you should easily be able to find check-up appointments that do not clash with school and working hours. Both Viennese contract institutes are open until 6:00 pm and 6:30 pm respectively.

Easy to reach

Over the course of treatment, a number of check-up appointments add up – a central location with good underground and tram connections saves time. Zahnregulierung Eltz is in the heart of the city centre near Stephansplatz (U1/U3), Zahnregulierung Votiv right by Schottentor (U2). Both locations are easy to reach from all over Vienna as well as from Lower Austria and Burgenland.

^* The list of providers on this page does not claim to be exhaustive.