DENTAL PRICING GUIDE
Dental pricing: the fee schedule in 2026
The US cash fee by procedure — hygiene, fillings, crowns, root canals, extractions, implants and cosmetic work — the percentile to set each fee at, what insurance contracts pay, the membership plan maths, and a free calculator that turns them into a fee schedule you can put on your website.
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The short answer
A routine dental visit — exam, cleaning and X-rays — is $203 on average in the US, $50 to $350; a composite filling is $226 and a porcelain crown $1,399 (CareCredit's procedure cost list, from the 2023–2024 Synchrony cost studies, read November 2026), from $153 in New Hampshire to $263 in North Dakota (CareCredit, October 2024). Deep cleaning — scaling and root planing — is $242 a quadrant, $185 to $444 (December 2024); periodontal maintenance $167, a gross debridement $126.
Restorative work by procedure: a composite filling $226, silver amalgam $139, gold $466, a porcelain inlay or onlay $976; a porcelain crown $1,399 ($915 to $3,254), porcelain-and-metal $1,114, metallic $1,211, a temporary $697 (CareCredit, November 2024); a root canal $978 on average — $905 for a front tooth, $1,023 a premolar, $1,220 a molar (CareCredit, September 2026, from the 2026 cost study); a simple extraction $177 ($137 to $335), surgical $363 ($281 to $702), a complicated impaction $835 (September 2024); a single implant $2,143, All-on-4 $15,176.
A membership plan — cleanings, exams and X-rays plus 10% to 25% off treatment — averages $33.04 a month outside rural areas and $29.23 in them, $21.92 for seniors and $80.84 for a family of four (Dental Economics, September 2024); practices on Clerri earn $372 a membership a year (June 2025). Insurance contracts pay 20% to 40% below the private-pay fee (Overjet, September 2025).
Set the schedule against your zip code's UCR percentiles — the 70th and 80th are the ones most often sold (Dentaltown), and Henry Schein's fee analysis reports the 40th to 95th percentile by zip for $150 — above an overhead of 60% to 70% of collections at the most profitable practices (Overjet). Then put the cash fees on your website: the page Google ranks first for “dental pricing” is a practice's own fee list (November 2026), and the phrase is searched about 720 times a month, “how much does a dental cleaning cost” about 4,400 (DataForSEO, October 2026).
AT A GLANCE · NOVEMBER 2026
Dental pricing at a glance
| The job | Typical US price | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Routine exam, cleaning and X-rays | $50–$350 | CareCredit, read November 2026 |
| Deep cleaning, four quadrants | $740–$1,775 for 4 quadrants ($185–$444 per quadrant) | CareCredit, December 2024 |
| Composite resin filling | $226 | CareCredit, read November 2026 |
| Porcelain crown | $915–$3,254 | CareCredit, November 2024 |
| Molar root canal | $833–$2,171 | CareCredit, September 2026 |
| Simple extraction | $137–$335 | CareCredit, September 2024 |
The same published figures as the full rate table below; the calculator works out a price for your own job.
FREE PRICE CALCULATOR
What should I charge for this procedure?
Pick the procedure and its type, the number of quadrants for a deep cleaning, then tick the X-rays and the extras. The range uses the published US cash figures in the table below; switch to the insurance-contracted fee to see what a contract takes off.
Suggested price
$50–$350
hygiene visit, routine exam, cleaning and X-rays
A starting range from published US cash prices — not a fee until you've set it against your zip code's UCR percentiles and your overhead (the formula below). A single figure is CareCredit's national average with no published range.
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Put your dental prices where customers look
Add your town, and Zarla builds your dental website from this one line. Then tell the editor “add a pricing section” with your prices, and change them any time.
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RATES · NOVEMBER 2026
Dental prices by procedure (2026)
US cash fees before insurance. Where CareCredit prints a range, the row shows it; where it prints only the national average, the row shows that one figure. The averages behind the crown and root-canal rows: porcelain crown $1,399, porcelain-and-metal $1,114, metallic $1,211, temporary $697 (November 2024); root canal $905 front, $1,023 premolar, $1,220 molar, $978 overall (September 2026); extraction $177 simple, $363 surgical, $835 impacted (September 2024).
| The job | Typical US price · source |
|---|---|
| Hygiene visit | Routine exam, cleaning and X-rays: $50–$350 · Periodontal maintenance cleaning: $167 · Gross debridement cleaning: $126 · CareCredit |
| Deep cleaning — scaling and root planing | $185–$444 per quadrant · about $740–$1,775 for 4 quadrants · CareCredit |
| Filling, by material | Composite resin: $226 · Silver amalgam: $139 · Gold: $466 · Porcelain inlay or onlay: $976 · CareCredit |
| Crown, by material | Porcelain: $915–$3,254 · Porcelain fused to metal: $770–$2,454 · Metallic: $821–$2,861 · Resin or temporary: $488–$1,593 · CareCredit |
| Root canal, by tooth | Front tooth: $590–$1,527 · Premolar: $691–$1,827 · Molar: $833–$2,171 · CareCredit |
| Extraction | Simple extraction: $137–$335 · Surgical extraction: $281–$702 · Complicated impaction, a wisdom tooth: $639–$1,620 · CareCredit |
| Implant | Single full-size implant: $2,143 · Standard endosteal implant, per tooth: $4,344 · All-on-4: $15,176 · CareCredit |
| Cosmetic and orthodontic work | Porcelain veneer, single: $1,765 · Laser whitening, in office: $792 · Clear aligners: $5,108 · Metal braces: $6,343 · CareCredit |
Rates read off each publisher's page in November 2026. The calculator above uses exactly these numbers, rounded to whole dollars and to the nearest $5 from $100 up. Full source list below.
ADD-ONS AND ADJUSTMENTS
What to add for X-rays, sealants and sedation, and what a contract takes off
The lines on the fee schedule beside the procedure — and the insurance multiplier, 20% to 40% below the private-pay fee (Overjet).
| What | Typical US price · source |
|---|---|
| Who pays: an insurance contract, typical | 20%–40% off · Overjet |
| Bitewing X-rays | +$65 · CareCredit |
| Panoramic X-ray | +$200 · CareCredit |
| Full-mouth X-ray series | +$226 · CareCredit |
| Sealant, per tooth | +$42 · CareCredit |
| Sedation | +$349 · CareCredit |
| Custom mouthguard | +$611 · CareCredit |
Where a row shows a sum (a rate × a quantity, or a percentage worked out from published dollar ranges), the arithmetic is ours and the inputs are the publisher's.
THE PRICING FORMULA
How to price a dental practice
Six steps from your overhead to the fee schedule on your website.
Know your overhead
The most profitable practices run 60%–70% of collections as overhead, leaving a 30%–40% margin; staff is 25%–30% of revenue, lab and supplies 10%–14%, the facility 8%–12% (Overjet, September 2025). Divide monthly overhead by chair hours for the cost of an hour in the chair.
Pull the UCR percentiles for your zip code
Insurers sort the fees dentists submit by three-digit zip area into percentiles, and the 70th and 80th are the ones most often sold (Dentaltown, March 2002). Henry Schein's fee analysis reports the 40th to 95th percentile for a zip code for $150 (read November 2026).
Set each fee at a percentile, then check it against the averages
A fee at the 80th percentile is above four in five submitted fees in the area. The national averages are the sanity check: cleaning and exam $203, composite filling $226, porcelain crown $1,399, molar root canal $1,220, simple extraction $177 (CareCredit).
Price hygiene to fill the chair, treatment to carry the margin
The recall visit is $50–$350 ($203 average); deep cleaning $185–$444 a quadrant. Crowns at $915–$3,254 and root canals at $833–$2,171 for a molar carry the lab fee — 6%–8% of revenue (Overjet) — and the margin.
Build the membership plan from the hygiene fee
Plans average $33.04 a month outside rural areas and $29.23 in them, with 10%–25% off fillings, crowns and orthodontics (Dental Economics, September 2024) — about $396 a year, close to two cleaning visits at $203; that comparison is our arithmetic. Practices on Clerri earn $372 a membership a year (June 2025).
Expect insurance to pay less, and publish the cash fee
Contracted fees run 20%–40% below private pay (Overjet) — the fee schedule is set on the cash price, and each contract is a discount off it. Put the cash fees on paper and on your website: the page that ranked first for “dental pricing” in November 2026 was a practice's own fee list.
The formula, worked through
Say a porcelain crown. The national average is $1,399 — $1,046 in Alabama, $2,331 in California (CareCredit, November 2024). Dentaltown's year-2000 UCR table for one Southern California zip area put a full-cast crown at $679.71 at the 50th percentile and $720.46 at the 80th, 6% apart, with the 95th at $778.73 (March 2002) — the spread between percentiles is narrow, so the choice of percentile moves the fee by tens of dollars, not hundreds.
At $1,399 with overhead at 65% — the middle of Overjet's 60%–70% band — the practice's cost, lab fee included, is about $909, leaving about $490, a 35% margin, inside Overjet's 30%–40%. On an insurance contract paying 20%–40% less, the same crown collects $839–$1,119 against the same $909 of cost: a margin of $210 down to a $70 loss. The inputs are the publishers'; the arithmetic is ours.
So “crowns from $1,000, exam and cleaning from $150” is a fair line for a practice in an average market, with the membership plan underneath it. Your zip code's percentiles, your lab fee and your staff costs are what make the number yours.
What to charge in your part of the country
A routine cleaning averages $153 in New Hampshire and $263 in North Dakota (CareCredit, October 2024); a porcelain crown $1,046 in Alabama and $2,331 in California (November 2024); scaling and root planing $200 a quadrant in Alabama, $310 in California and $392 in Hawaii (December 2024). The Bureau of Economic Analysis puts overall prices in California at 110.7 against a US average of 100 and Arkansas at 86.9 (2024 regional price parities, released February 2026) — so a $226 filling in an average market is about $250 in California and about $196 in Arkansas.
In the US, a dentist's fees are the practice's own, but how you advertise them is not: discounts, “free” offers and membership plans sold as discount plans are regulated by the state dental board and, in some states, by discount-medical-plan rules, and Medicare and Medicaid patients have their own rules on routine discounts. Our guide to starting a dental practice covers the license; check your state dental board's advertising rules before you publish a special or a membership price.
Outside the US, treat the figures as a shape, not a price — a cash fee per procedure, hygiene priced to fill the chair, a membership built from the hygiene fee and a known discount for each insurer hold everywhere — and check what local practices list on their own websites.
Put your prices on your website
A price list — even “from” prices — answers a customer's first question before they pick up the phone, and it's the line an AI assistant can quote when someone asks what dental work costs near them.
If you build your site with Zarla, tell the editor “add a pricing section: exam and cleaning from $150, composite fillings from $200, crowns from $1,000” and your prices go on the site, in a section you can edit any time. Want to see a finished site first? Browse dental website templates or see how Zarla builds dental websites.
Still setting up? Browse dental business name ideas, and when the prices are set, read how to get your business on Google. Raising prices you set a year ago? The price increase letter tells customers a month ahead.
Opening the practice? How to start a dental practice covers the license, the build-out, the equipment and the first patients.
Dental pricing: common questions
$203 on average for a routine exam with cleaning and X-rays, $50–$350, from $153 in New Hampshire to $263 in North Dakota (CareCredit, October 2024). Deep cleaning — scaling and root planing — is $242 a quadrant, $185–$444 (CareCredit, December 2024); periodontal maintenance $167. The calculator above prices any visit with the X-rays.
CareCredit's national averages: $226 for composite resin, $139 for silver amalgam, $466 for gold and $976 for a porcelain inlay or onlay (2023–2024 cost studies, read November 2026). Set the fee at a percentile of your zip code's UCR data, not at the average — the average is the check.
$697–$1,399 on average by material: porcelain $1,399 ($915–$3,254), porcelain fused to metal $1,114 ($770–$2,454), metallic $1,211 ($821–$2,861), resin or temporary $697 ($488–$1,593) (CareCredit, November 2024) — before the exam, any extraction and the follow-up visits.
$978 on average, $679–$1,733: a front tooth $905 ($590–$1,527), a premolar $1,023 ($691–$1,827), a molar $1,220 ($833–$2,171) (CareCredit, September 2026, from the 2026 cost study). The crown that usually follows is priced on its own.
UCR is the “usual, customary and reasonable” fee an insurer allows: the fees dentists submit, sorted by three-digit zip area into percentiles; a fee at the 80th percentile is above four in five submitted fees, and the 70th and 80th are the percentiles most often sold (Dentaltown, March 2002). Henry Schein's fee analysis reports the 40th to 95th percentile for a zip code for $150 (read November 2026). Pick the percentile that fits the practice you're running; the choice moves a crown by tens of dollars.
$33.04 a month on average outside rural areas and $29.23 in them, $21.92 for seniors and $80.84 for a family of four, for cleanings, exams and X-rays plus 10%–25% off treatment — 17.8% off endodontics, 18.6% off dentures, 27.1% off sealants on average (Dental Economics, September 2024, from more than 1,000 plans). Practices on Clerri earn $372 a membership a year (June 2025).
60%–70% of collections at the most profitable practices, leaving a 30%–40% margin — general dentistry 30%–38%, a solo private practice 35%–42% (Overjet, September 2025). Staff compensation is 25%–30% of revenue, lab and supplies 10%–14%, the facility 8%–12%, professional services 3%–5%.
The median wage for a general dentist is $82.19 an hour, $170,950 a year (O*NET, 2025 wages) — the wage, not the fee: the fee carries the hygienist, the assistant, the lab and the facility on top.
Yes — the exam and cleaning fee, the common fillings and crowns as “from” prices, and the membership plan. It answers the first question before the call, and a practice's own fee page is what ranked first for “dental pricing” in November 2026. On a Zarla site, tell the editor “add a pricing section” with your fees, and change them when you review the schedule.
Where these numbers come from
Every range on this page is read off a published source, dated below. They're US cash prices for general dental practices, before insurance — typical, not a rule; your costs and your market come first.
- CareCredit — Dentist Prices: Dental Procedure Cost List (2023–2024 Synchrony cost studies) — no date on the page, read November 2026
- CareCredit — How Much Does a Dental Cleaning Cost? Price and Procedure Guide — dated October 2024, read November 2026
- CareCredit — Scaling and Root Planing Cost, Insurance & Procedure Guide — dated December 2024, read November 2026
- CareCredit — How Much Do Dental Crowns Cost? Pricing and Insurance Guide — dated November 2024, read November 2026
- CareCredit — Root Canal Cost and Procedure Guide (2026 Synchrony cost study) — dated September 2026, read November 2026
- CareCredit — How Much Does a Tooth Extraction or Removal Cost? — dated September 2024, read November 2026
- Dental Economics — Smile by subscription: an evaluation of dental membership plans in the US — dated September 2024, read November 2026
- Clerri (formerly Kleer) — The Membership Effect — dated June 2025, read November 2026
- Overjet — What Is the Average Dental Practice Profit Margin in 2025? — dated September 2025, read November 2026
- Henry Schein — Fee Analysis (UCR percentiles by zip code) — no date on the page, read November 2026
- Dentaltown — How do insurance companies create the UCR? (Udell Webb, DDS) — dated March 2002, read November 2026
- O*NET OnLine — 29-1021.00 Dentists, General (median wages, 2025) — dated October 2026, read November 2026
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — regional price parities by state, 2024 — dated February 2026, read September 2026
Put your dental fees on your website
Add your town and your practice name, and Zarla builds the site from that one line. Your fee schedule goes in a pricing section you edit by chat.
Already have a website? Bring it across →Zarla keeps your old page addresses where it can and redirects the ones that change, helping you keep the Google standing you've built.