Dental costs in Virginia: implants, crowns, braces and more
Virginia's dental fee schedule took effect on July 1, 2024, the very month the ADA's Medicaid fee collection closed, and is still the one posted; a crown comes to $1,673.
You pay for crown in Virginia
$507
$965 billed, $457 paid by the plan.
| Estimated dentist charge (full fee) | $1,673 |
| Estimated in-network price | $965 |
| Plan pays (50 % after deductible) | $457 |
| Deductible | $50 |
| Virginia Medicaid fee, same codes (2024) | $670 |
Estimate: Virginia Medicaid fee ÷ 45.5 % (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.
| CDT code | Service | Count | Medicaid fee, 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| D2740 | Crown, porcelain or ceramic | 1 | $669.50 |
Compiled by Radif Partners · How prices are estimated · Virginia Medicaid / FAMIS - Cardinal Care Smiles (dental benefits administrator DentaQuest) fee schedule, ADA ratios of Virginia · not a quote
A porcelain crown is estimated at $1,673 in Virginia, a molar root canal at $2,272, a three-unit bridge at $5,020, a porcelain veneer at $1,212, comprehensive braces for a teenager at $3,460 and a full set of dentures at $4,517, in September 2026 dollars before any dental plan. The base is the schedule of allowable fees of Cardinal Care Smiles, the dental program of Virginia Medicaid and FAMIS, effective July 1, 2024. No later schedule has been published, so the same document gives both the base of the estimate and today's fees. The American Dental Association's 2024 study found that Virginia's program paid 45.5 % of what the state's dentists charge adults, well above the national 29.9 %, so each estimate is a short step from the program's own fee.
A schedule dated to the month
The fee schedule behind every Virginia figure is Attachment A-1, Cardinal Care Smiles schedule of allowable fees, footed "07.01.24". The date matters for the method of this site: the ADA collected Medicaid fees through July 2024, and Virginia's ratio was therefore measured on this very schedule. Nothing has to be reconstructed from archives, and no code had to be dropped for a later rate change. One column gives one fee per code, without separating adults and children; the program's reference manual, not the schedule, sets who is covered for what.
The schedule lists several kinds of work that many states leave out: the pontic and retainer crowns of a fixed bridge, at $670 each, and a laboratory porcelain veneer at $485. Listing a fee does not mean the program covers the work for every member, but it is enough to estimate what the work costs a private patient.
A Virginia procedure with or without a plan
You pay for bridge, three units in Virginia
$1,472
| Estimated dentist charge (full fee) | $5,020 |
| Estimated in-network price | $2,895 |
| Plan pays (50 % after deductible) | $1,422 |
| Deductible | $50 |
Bridges and veneers with a dental plan
The two procedures fall at opposite ends of a plan's rules. A bridge is major work: at a Virginia network price of $2,895, the example plan pays $1,422 in one plan year, held back by its $1,500 maximum, and up to $0 more if part of the work can wait until the plan year renews. A veneer is cosmetic, and plans usually pay nothing toward it: the patient keeps the whole $699 of the network price. The veneers page and the bridge page compare these with other states.
Virginia's adult dental benefit, which the ADA classed as enhanced in 2024, does not change what a dentist charges a patient outside the program. For that patient, the full fee is the figure to compare with a written estimate, and the network price is the one to use when the office is in the plan's network. The insurance calculator runs a quote through your own deductible, share and maximum.
Virginia price list, procedure by procedure
| Procedure | Unit | Full fee | In network | Medicaid fee, 2024 | Medicaid fee today |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crown | per tooth | $1,673 | $965 | $670 | $670 |
| Root canal, front tooth | per tooth | $1,255 | $724 | $502 | $502 |
| Root canal, premolar | per tooth | $1,439 | $830 | $576 | $576 |
| Root canal, molar | per tooth | $2,272 | $1,310 | $909 | $909 |
| Braces, teen | full treatment | $3,460 | $1,954 | $1,409 | $1,409 |
| Full dentures, both arches | both arches | $4,517 | $2,605 | $1,807 | $1,807 |
| Full denture, one arch | one arch | $2,259 | $1,302 | $904 | $904 |
| Partial denture | one arch | $2,484 | $1,432 | $994 | $994 |
| Simple extraction | per tooth | $231 | $133 | $92 | $92 |
| Surgical extraction | per tooth | $428 | $247 | $171 | $171 |
| Wisdom teeth, four impacted | four teeth | $3,307 | $1,907 | $1,323 | $1,323 |
| Bridge, three units | three units | $5,020 | $2,895 | $2,009 | $2,009 |
| Veneer | per tooth | $1,212 | $699 | $485 | $485 |
| Deep cleaning (scaling and root planing) | full mouth | $1,247 | $719 | $499 | $499 |
| Filling | per tooth | $298 | $172 | $119 | $119 |
| Checkup and cleaning | one visit | $318 | $183 | $127 | $127 |