Teeth cleaning cost: the checkup visit, with and without a dental plan
Choose your state: the estimator prices the usual checkup visit, three codes on one bill, and what a plan leaves to you.
You pay for checkup and cleaning in New York
$0
$203 billed, $203 paid by the plan.
| Estimated dentist charge (full fee) | $413 |
| Estimated in-network price | $203 |
| Plan pays (100 % after deductible) | $203 |
| New York Medicaid fee, same codes (2024) | $95 |
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.
| CDT code | Service | Count | Medicaid fee, 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| D0120 | Periodic oral evaluation | 1 | $25.25 |
| D1110 | Cleaning (prophylaxis), adult | 1 | $45.45 |
| D0274 | Bitewing X-rays | 1 | $24.24 |
Compiled by Radif Partners · How prices are estimated · state Medicaid fee schedules, ADA ratios of 2024, BLS dental price index · not a quote
A routine dental visit for an adult is usually billed as three lines: a periodic exam (code D0120), a cleaning, called prophylaxis (D1110), and bitewing X-rays (D0274 for four films, or D0272 for two). Together they are estimated at a median $328 in September 2026 dollars for a patient paying the full fee, from $209 in Alabama to $444 in Colorado, across the 24 states whose Medicaid schedules list all three codes. A plan's network price for the same visit is about $185, and most plans pay preventive care in full in network: in the Covered California 2026 example plan the member's share of diagnostic and preventive services is 0 %. Out of network the same plan leaves 10 % to the member, plus any amount the office bills above the plan's allowance. Two visits a year at the median full fee come to about $655.
What a checkup visit bills
The exam is the dentist's look at teeth, gums and soft tissue; for a patient of record it is the periodic evaluation, D0120, and a first visit or a long absence may be billed as a comprehensive one, D0150, which usually costs more. The cleaning is D1110 for adults and D1120 for children. X-rays vary by visit: bitewings, which show the back teeth from above the gum, are often taken once a year, and a full set or a panoramic film every few years. The estimator prices a visit with bitewings; a visit without X-rays costs less, one with a full set more.
| Part of the visit | Code used |
|---|---|
| Periodic oral evaluation | D0120 |
| Cleaning (prophylaxis), adult | D1110 |
| Bitewing X-rays | D0274 |
Fluoride, sealants, a periodontal charting or an oral cancer screening device can add lines. Plans pay some of them for children and not for adults, so asking which lines a visit will include is worthwhile for anyone paying alone.
The checkup is the base of the ADA ratios
All three codes of this visit are in the basket that the ADA Health Policy Institute used to compare Medicaid fees with dentists' charges in each state in 2024. The site divides each state's Medicaid fees for the visit, as they stood on July 1, 2024, by that state's ratio, then carries the result to September 2026 with the price index for dental services. Because the ratio was measured on these very codes, the checkup estimate needs fewer assumptions than the price of a crown or an implant. The method page gives the details.
A checkup visit, state by state
Checkup and cleaning: median of 24 states, full fee
$328
| Highest: Colorado | $444 |
| Median | $328 |
| Lowest: Alabama | $209 |
With a dental plan
Preventive care is the class plans pay most fully, because it is cheap and prevents larger claims. In the example plan, sold on California's exchange in 2026, diagnostic and preventive services in network carry no member share, and the deductible applies to basic and major work. Most plans limit the number of cleanings and exams to two a year and bitewings to one set a year; a third cleaning, or X-rays taken sooner than the plan allows, is billed to the patient. The plan's benefit summary gives those frequency limits.
Out of network the example plan pays 90 % of its allowance, and the office can bill the rest of its own fee. At the median estimate the patient would then owe $161 for a visit that costs nothing in network. Checking that a dentist is in the plan's network is the simplest saving on this page. The coverage page explains classes and networks.
Your checkup, in network, out of network or with no plan
You pay for checkup and cleaning in New York
$0
| Estimated dentist charge (full fee) | $413 |
| Estimated in-network price | $203 |
| Plan pays (100 % after deductible) | $203 |
| New York Medicaid fee, same codes (2024) | $95 |
Children's checkups
A child's visit uses the child cleaning code, D1120, and often adds fluoride varnish and sealants on the back teeth, which plans and Medicaid programs pay more readily for children than for adults. The estimator prices the adult visit; children's fees differ in many schedules. In the example plan, children's dental care sits under a separate set of rules, with a deductible of $75 and a yearly cap of $350 on what the family pays for a child's covered care in network. Every state Medicaid program covers dental care for enrolled children, as the Medicaid dental page explains.
A routine cleaning is not a deep cleaning
When an exam finds gum disease, the dentist may propose scaling and root planing, a treatment billed per quadrant and paid at a lower share by most plans. Four quadrants have a median estimate of $1,492, many times the price of a checkup. The deep cleaning page prices it and shows how plans class it. Whether a mouth needs it is for the dentist to judge.
Without a plan
A patient without coverage pays the office's own fee for each line. Some offices offer a cash price for a checkup, and dental schools and community health centers often charge less; a public price list from the office or a written estimate before the visit gives a number to compare with the estimate for your state. Medicaid covers checkups for every enrolled child, while adult coverage depends on the state. The page on paying without insurance goes through the options.