Dental costs in Washington: implants, crowns, braces and more
Washington's Medicaid program cut several adult dental fees after 2024, but the estimate rests on the July 2024 schedule the ADA's ratios describe; full dentures come to $4,504.
You pay for crown in Washington
$650
$1,249 billed, $600 paid by the plan.
| Estimated dentist charge (full fee) | $2,076 |
| Estimated in-network price | $1,249 |
| Plan pays (50 % after deductible) | $600 |
| Deductible | $50 |
| Washington Medicaid fee, same codes (2024) | $561 |
Estimate: Washington Medicaid fee ÷ 30.7 % (Medicaid pay as a share of dentists' charges, ADA HPI 2024; Washington lists these codes for patients under 21 only, so its children's fees and children's ratio are used). 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 | $560.97 |
Compiled by Radif Partners · How prices are estimated · Washington Apple Health (Medicaid) Dental Program, fee-for-service fee schedule, ADA ratios of Washington · not a quote
A full set of upper and lower dentures is estimated at $4,504 in Washington, a front tooth root canal at $1,354, the removal of four impacted wisdom teeth at $2,973, braces for a teenager at $5,300 and a checkup with cleaning and X-rays at $363, in September 2026 dollars before any dental plan. The fees come from the dental fee schedule of Washington Apple Health, the state's Medicaid program, effective July 1, 2024, which prints one maximum fee for ages 0 to 20 and another for 21 and over. The American Dental Association's 2024 study found that the program paid 39.4 % of what Washington dentists charge adults and 30.7 % for children. Each procedure is divided by the ratio of its own age group. Crowns and molar root canals are listed for patients under 21 only, so their estimates use the children's fees and ratio.
Adult fees that went down
The Health Care Authority publishes a new dental schedule each July. This page divides the edition of July 1, 2024, in force when the ADA collected the Medicaid fees behind its ratios, and shows the edition of July 1, 2026 beside it. Many adult fees fell between the two. The periodic exam, D0120, went from $40 to $30 for an adult, the adult cleaning, D1110, from $69 to $52, and a complete upper denture from $780 to $585, a cut of 25 %. Children's fees moved less.
Lower Medicaid fees change what the program pays a dentist, not what an uninsured patient is billed, so the estimates here do not fall with them. A separate, higher column of the schedule for the state's program for babies and young children is not used, since the ADA ratio describes the standard fees.
A Washington procedure, with or without a plan
You pay for full dentures, both arches in Washington
$1,411
| Estimated dentist charge (full fee) | $4,504 |
| Estimated in-network price | $2,773 |
| Plan pays (50 % after deductible) | $1,361 |
| Deductible | $50 |
Two ratios, one per age group
Washington is one of the states where Medicaid paid adults a larger share of dentists' charges than children: 39.4 % against 30.7 %, while nationally the order is reversed, 29.9 % for adults and 39.2 % for children. Each estimate uses the ratio of the column its fee comes from, so a teenager's braces, $5,300 here, are divided by the children's ratio and an adult's dentures by the adult one. Across the 13 states that price teenage braces, the median is $3,319; the braces page compares them.
Smaller work: a simple extraction comes to $176 and a checkup to $363 before insurance. Plans built like the Covered California example pay diagnostic and preventive care in full in network, so the checkup costs a plan member nothing; the cleaning page gives the details. For larger work, a dentist's written estimate read code by code against the table below shows how an office compares with these state figures.
Washington price list, procedure by procedure
| Procedure | Unit | Full fee | In network | Medicaid fee, 2024 | Medicaid fee today |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crown | per tooth | $2,076 | $1,249 | $561 | $561 |
| Root canal, front tooth | per tooth | $1,354 | $834 | $469 | $352 |
| Root canal, premolar | per tooth | $1,651 | $993 | $446 | $446 |
| Root canal, molar | per tooth | $2,010 | $1,209 | $543 | $543 |
| Braces, teen | full treatment | $5,300 | $3,189 | $1,432 | $1,432 |
| Full dentures, both arches | both arches | $4,504 | $2,773 | $1,561 | $1,171 |
| Full denture, one arch | one arch | $2,252 | $1,386 | $780 | $585 |
| Simple extraction | per tooth | $176 | $108 | $61 | $46 |
| Surgical extraction | per tooth | $345 | $212 | $120 | $90 |
| Wisdom teeth, four impacted | four teeth | $2,973 | $1,830 | $1,030 | $773 |
| Filling | per tooth | $257 | $158 | $89 | $67 |
| Checkup and cleaning | one visit | $363 | $223 | $126 | $94 |