How much do orthodontists make off of braces?

I am talking about traditional, metal ones. They usually charge around 6,000 per mouth, so how much are they profiting from it? How much does the braces cost them to buy? Very curious. Thanks.

How much do orthodontists make off of braces?
As someone who owned and operated a commercial Dental Laboratory for 20 years followed by operating a private Denturist practice for another 22 years I'm well aware of dental fees both wholesale and retail...You can take just about any type of dental appliance you want, denture, crown, partial denture, veneer facing, veneer crown or orthodontics and the retail in the average dentists office will be from 5 times the Lab fee to as much as 10 times the Lab fee. In my Lab I created hundreds of sets of dentures that dentist paid me $200 for and charged their patient $2500 .Crowns that cost the dentist $60 each was billed to the patient at $500 each. I created orthodontic retainers for $65 and the patient was charged $300.
Reply:It depends on how much work needs to be done on the teeth. For example, my younger daughter has naturally straight teeth but also has a gap between her two front teeth that she hates. She wants to get braces to close it up. Braces in her case would not cost a great deal. In the case of her older sister, she had an open bite due to thumbsucking and tongue thrusting. Her treatment was quite complicated. She had to get two teeth pulled and wear braces for more than two years. Her braces cost around $5000 but insurance helped defray the costs. She got her braces taken off about a year and a half ago but still needs to wear a retainer. If she goes for an extended period of time without that retainer, she says she can tell that her teeth have moved.