Dental costs by state: what the work costs, and what your plan leaves you to pay

Pick the procedure, your state and your coverage: the estimate, the plan payment and your share appear at once, with the fee schedule behind them.

Procedure

State

Dental insurance

Plan pays, for this work

The coinsurance of its class in your benefit summary

Deductible still to meet

Benefit maximum left

Yearly maximum minus what the plan already paid

More options

Waiting period for this class

Example plan: 6 months for major services

Months on the plan at treatment

Split over two plan years

You pay for crown in New York

$565

$1,081 billed, $515 paid by the plan.

Estimated dentist charge (full fee)	$2,195
Estimated in-network price	$1,081
Plan pays (50 % after deductible)	$515
Deductible	$50
New York Medicaid fee, same codes (2024)	$505

Estimate: New York Medicaid fee ÷ 26.1 % (Medicaid pay as a share of dentists' charges, ADA HPI 2024). Brought to September 2026 with the dental services price index (BLS). Not a quote.

How this is computed

New York State Medicaid (fee-for-service dental), fee schedule in force on July 1, 2024 (edition of January 31, 2024)
CDT code	Service	Count	Medicaid fee, 2024
D2740	Crown, porcelain or ceramic	1	$505

27 state Medicaid fee schedules read code by code · How prices are estimated · Who publishes this · updated October 20, 2026

Price pages at the top of search results quote one national range with no source and then ask for an appointment or a credit application; this site prices each procedure for your state from that state's own published fee schedule, code by code, names and dates the document, and runs your plan's deductible, coinsurance, annual maximum and waiting period on the result.

A single dental implant with its abutment and crown is estimated at a median $9,405 across the 4 states whose fee schedules list all three codes, a porcelain crown at $1,713, a molar root canal at $1,646 and braces for a teenager at $3,319, in September 2026 dollars and before insurance. Those are typical full fees, the price a dentist bills a patient with no plan. A dental plan lowers the bill twice: its network price is lower than the full fee, and it then pays a share by class of service, often all of a checkup, most of a filling and half of a crown or root canal, until its yearly maximum runs out. With the example plan used on this site, sold on the California exchange in 2026, the deductible is $50 and the yearly maximum $1,500, so an implant leaves most of the bill to the patient. Each figure comes from one state's Medicaid dental fee schedule, divided by that state's published ratio between Medicaid pay and dentists' charges.

Read the full answer

Price list: the median of the states we price

Estimated typical charges in September 2026 dollars. Full fee: what a dentist bills a patient without insurance. In network: the amount a private dental plan allows, before its own share. A procedure appears for a state only when that state's Medicaid schedule lists every code of it.
Procedure	Unit	Full fee, median	In network, median	Lowest to highest state	States
Single implant	per tooth	$9,405	$5,303	$8,287 to $10,442	4
Crown	per tooth	$1,713	$981	$982 to $2,443	18
Root canal, front tooth	per tooth	$1,084	$635	$657 to $2,124	25
Root canal, premolar	per tooth	$1,317	$765	$737 to $2,437	25
Root canal, molar	per tooth	$1,646	$948	$949 to $3,262	25
Braces, teen	full treatment	$3,319	$1,631	$2,411 to $6,506	13
Braces or aligners, adult	full treatment	$6,792	$3,600	$2,898 to $8,749	5
Full dentures, both arches	both arches	$4,166	$2,275	$2,569 to $6,483	24
Full denture, one arch	one arch	$2,086	$1,138	$1,281 to $3,224	24
Partial denture	one arch	$2,318	$1,272	$1,315 to $3,744	19
Simple extraction	per tooth	$230	$132	$139 to $444	26
Surgical extraction	per tooth	$370	$226	$205 to $506	27
Wisdom teeth, four impacted	four teeth	$3,023	$1,699	$1,621 to $5,267	27
Bridge, three units	three units	$5,020	$3,026	$3,706 to $8,345	9
Veneer	per tooth	$1,312	$924	$715 to $2,035	5
Deep cleaning (scaling and root planing)	full mouth	$1,492	$861	$790 to $2,831	22
Filling	per tooth	$277	$158	$151 to $411	26
Checkup and cleaning	one visit	$328	$185	$209 to $444	24

Why a price by state, and where it comes from

Dentists set their own fees, and no public register lists them. What is public is what each state's Medicaid program pays for every dental code, in a fee schedule anyone can download, and how far those payments sit below what dentists charge in the same state. The American Dental Association Health Policy Institute measured that gap for every state in 2024, using Medicaid fees collected through July 2024 and dentists' charges from April 2023 to March 2024. Divide a state's Medicaid fee for a code by that state's ratio and you get an estimate of the typical charge for the same code there.

This site does that division for 27 states, procedure by procedure, with the schedule in force on July 1, 2024, so that fees and ratios describe the same months. It then brings the result to September 2026 with the consumer price index for dental services published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which rose 6.0 % over the last twelve months. A procedure is priced only when the schedule lists every code it needs: no fee is guessed. The method page gives each step and its limits.

One procedure across the states we price

Crown: median of 18 states, full fee

$1,713

Highest: Massachusetts	$2,443
Median	$1,713
Lowest: Maryland	$982

Open the full calculator →

Full fee, network price and your share

Three numbers matter on a dental bill. The full fee is what an office charges a patient who has no plan. The network price is the lower amount a dental plan has agreed with the dentists of its network; a patient who goes out of network can be billed the difference. Your share is what remains after the plan has applied its deductible, paid its percentage for the class of the work and stopped at its yearly maximum. The dental insurance calculator runs those steps on any price, and the annual maximum page shows why a large treatment often ends up mostly paid by the patient.

Plans differ, so the estimator lets you type your own deductible, maximum and percentage. Its defaults come from the Covered California 2026 dental plan designs: the coinsurance plan for adults pays nothing toward the first $50 of covered basic and major work, then 80 % of basic services and 50 % of major ones, up to $1,500 a year, with a waiting period of 6 months for major services.

What these prices are not

They are estimates of typical fees in a state, not the price of your treatment. A city office and a rural one in the same state can charge very differently, and a dentist may find that a tooth needs more work, or less, than the codes used here. The site does not tell anyone which treatment to choose: that belongs to the patient and the dentist. Medicaid fees appear on every page because they are the public base of the estimate; they are also what the program pays when it covers the work, which for adults varies from state to state, as the Medicaid dental page explains.

Dental costs state by state

Prices by procedure

Dental implant costOne implant with abutment and crown, by state, before and after a dental plan.
Braces costA full orthodontic treatment for a teenager or an adult, by state, and what a plan pays.
Clear aligners costWhat clear aligner treatment is billed as, its state estimate, and why no brand price is published.
Dental crown costA porcelain or ceramic crown by state, in and out of network, and how much a plan pays.
Root canal costFront tooth, premolar or molar: the root canal estimate by state and the crown that often follows.
Dentures costComplete dentures for one or both arches, or a partial, by state, and what Medicare and plans pay.
Tooth extraction costSimple or surgical removal of one tooth, by state, and what a plan pays toward it.
Wisdom teeth removal costFour impacted wisdom teeth removed, by state, with the anesthesia bill and the plan share.
Dental bridge costA three-unit bridge for one missing tooth, unit by unit, by state and with a plan.
Veneers costA porcelain veneer per tooth, by state, and why plans rarely pay for it.
Deep cleaning costScaling and root planing in four quadrants, by state, and how plans class it.
Cavity filling costA two-surface tooth-colored filling on a back tooth, by state and with a plan.
Teeth cleaning costA checkup visit, exam, cleaning and bitewing X-rays, by state and with a plan.
Implant or bridge: the billsOne implant and a three-unit bridge priced side by side, with the same plan.

Dental insurance

Dental insurance calculatorType the price on a treatment plan: the deductible, the plan share and your part.
What dental insurance coversPreventive, basic and major classes, what each pays, in and out of network.
Annual maximumWhy a big treatment ends up mostly yours, and what splitting it over two years changes.
Waiting periodsMonths before a new plan pays for major work, and what treating early costs.
Dental work without insuranceFull fees by procedure and state, and the ways an uninsured bill gets smaller.

States and paying

Dental costs by stateEvery state we price, side by side, with the procedures its fee schedule covers.
Paying over timeMonthly payment, interest and the deferred interest trap, at the average rates.
Medicaid dental by stateAdult dental benefit level and how Medicaid pay compares with dentists' fees, all states.

Questions patients ask

How much does dental work cost without insurance in 2026?

It depends on the procedure and the state. Across the states priced here, the median full fee is about $9,405 for a single implant with its crown, $1,713 for a porcelain crown and $1,646 for a molar root canal. A checkup with cleaning and X-rays costs far less. Each state page lists every procedure its fee schedule allows us to price.

Why do dental prices differ so much between states?

Dentists' fees follow local wages, rents and lab costs, and the gap between Medicaid pay and private fees also varies. In the ADA's 2024 figures, Medicaid paid adults from 12 % of what dentists charged in New Hampshire to 78 % in Delaware. Our estimates divide each state's own fees by its own ratio, so both differences show up.

Are these prices quotes from dentists?

No. They are estimates of the typical charge in a state, built from public fee schedules and published ratios, and they describe an average office, not yours. A dentist gives a written estimate after an exam, and a dental plan can confirm its own payment in advance with a predetermination. Use these figures to judge whether a quote is in the usual range.

What does a dental plan usually pay for a crown or implant?

Plans sort work into classes. In the Covered California 2026 example, major services such as crowns, root canals and dentures are paid at 50 % after the deductible, up to a $1,500 yearly maximum. A large treatment can reach that maximum in one visit, so the patient pays the rest. The estimator shows both amounts for your state.

Can I compare a dentist quote with these prices?

Yes, line by line. Ask the office for the CDT codes on its written estimate, then compare each code with the state price list on the state page. A total far above the estimate usually means extra work is included, such as a bone graft, a scan or sedation. The estimate describes a typical office in the state, not a ceiling or a floor.

How often are these dental prices updated?

The fee schedules, ratios and price index behind the site were last read on October 20, 2026. Prices move each month with the dental services price index, which the site reloads when the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes a new month. A new state schedule or a new ADA study is loaded when it appears, and the method page records each edition used.

What is the difference between the full fee and the in-network price?

The full fee is what a dental office bills a patient who has no plan. The in-network price is the lower amount a dental plan has agreed with the dentists in its network, and it is the base on which the plan pays its share. Across the states priced here, a crown's network price is about 57 % of its full fee.

Schedules and documents this page relies on

Compiled by Radif Partners

Independent publisher of dental price estimates built from state Medicaid fee schedules and the ADA Health Policy Institute fee ratios

Fees and rules checked on October 20, 2026 · Editorial policy · Contact

These are estimates of typical fees in a state, built from public fee schedules, not a quote from a dentist: your own price depends on the office, the city, the materials and what your mouth needs, which only a dentist can assess. The site gives prices, never treatment advice, and earns nothing from any dentist, insurer or lender.

Prices of 2026, fee schedules last read on October 20, 2026