Yes, you can get braces in the military after basic training, but the process involves several requirements that don’t apply to civilians. You’ll need authorization from your dental clinic, enough time remaining at your current duty station (typically 24 months or more), and your treatment can’t interfere with deployment readiness. Braces are considered elective, so the military won’t always pay for them, and the rules vary by branch.
Why Braces Require Authorization
Every branch treats orthodontic work as elective unless the condition impairs your ability to do your job. That means you can’t simply walk into an off-base orthodontist and start treatment. You need written authorization from your military dental clinic before any orthodontic or orthognathic surgical treatment begins, whether the work is done on base or by a civilian provider. The Coast Guard’s dental instruction spells this out explicitly, and other branches follow similar protocols.
Your command also gets involved. Because braces are elective, your unit needs to document that you were briefed on the rules and potential consequences. If complications arise from elective dental work, they could trigger a review through the Physical Disability Evaluation System, which is the process that determines whether a medical issue affects your fitness for duty. The military wants both you and your command to understand that risk before treatment starts.
How Braces Affect Your Deployment Status
The Department of Defense uses a four-tier dental readiness classification to determine whether you’re deployable. Class 1 and Class 2 personnel are considered worldwide deployable. Class 3 means you need urgent or emergent dental treatment and are normally not considered deployable. Class 4 means your dental status is unknown.
Braces by themselves don’t automatically drop you to Class 3, but certain orthodontic appliances could affect your dental readiness classification. If your treatment involves interim devices that can’t be maintained on your own for 12 months, that’s a Class 3 condition. This is one of the main reasons your dental clinic and command have to sign off before you begin: they need to confirm that your treatment plan won’t make you non-deployable during a window when your unit might need you. If a deployment order comes down, your orthodontist may need to remove your braces early, and there’s no guarantee you’ll pick up where you left off.
Time at Your Duty Station Matters
The biggest practical hurdle is time. Military orthodontic programs generally require at least 24 months remaining at your current duty station before they’ll approve treatment. The goal is for you to finish your entire course of braces before you PCS (receive a Permanent Change of Station order) to a new location. Having crooked teeth doesn’t qualify you for a station extension, and orthodontic treatment can’t be used to justify staying past your scheduled rotation date.
There are limited exceptions for shorter treatments, particularly interceptive orthodontics or cases tied to specific windows of tooth eruption or jaw growth. But for standard full braces, plan on needing that two-year window. If you’re nearing the end of your enlistment or expecting orders, the timing may not work.
Who Pays for Orthodontic Treatment
This is where many service members are surprised. The Active Duty Dental Program, which covers civilian dental care for active duty members, explicitly does not cover orthodontic services. That exclusion includes braces of any kind. If your base dental clinic has an orthodontist on staff and capacity to take you, you may receive treatment at no cost through the military treatment facility. But availability varies widely, and not every installation offers orthodontic services.
If you pay out of pocket for a civilian orthodontist, expect to cover the full cost yourself. Braces typically run $3,000 to $7,000 depending on the type and location. Some service members use the TRICARE Dental Program, but that plan’s orthodontic benefit is designed for dependents (spouses up to age 23 and children up to age 21), not for the active duty member. Even for eligible dependents, the lifetime maximum orthodontic benefit is $1,750, which covers only a fraction of typical treatment costs.
What Happens If You PCS During Treatment
Transferring orthodontic care mid-treatment is one of the trickiest parts of getting braces in the military. If you receive PCS orders before your braces come off, you’ll need to request copies of your dental records at least one month before your move date so you can hand-carry them to your new duty station. Once you arrive, you turn those records in to records management at your new installation.
Finding a new orthodontist willing to pick up mid-treatment is harder than it sounds. Military orthodontic clinics may have long wait lists, and a civilian provider taking over someone else’s case often charges a separate fee. Some orthodontic practices that work near military bases specialize in these transfers, but continuity of care is never guaranteed. This is exactly why the 24-month time-at-station requirement exists: the military would rather you finish treatment in one place than deal with the complications of a mid-treatment move.
Branch-by-Branch Differences
While the Department of Defense sets the overarching dental readiness classification system, each branch interprets and applies the rules based on its own operational needs. The Navy, for example, has unique classification guidelines that account for the absence of dental assets on submarines and small ships. A sailor assigned to a submarine may face stricter restrictions on elective dental work than an airman stationed at a large Air Force base with a full dental clinic.
The Coast Guard requires that all orthodontic authorization requests go through a Coast Guard dental clinic or a Defense Health Agency treatment facility, and treatment that doesn’t maintain fitness for duty is not authorized for Coast Guard payment. Army and Air Force installations with orthodontic residency programs sometimes offer braces to active duty members as training cases, which can reduce or eliminate cost, but slots are competitive and wait times can stretch to a year or more.
Your best starting point is a conversation with your base dental clinic. They can tell you what’s available at your installation, whether you meet the time-on-station requirement, and what the authorization process looks like for your specific branch and command.