What Dentists Charge Without Insurance: Prices Practices Publish in 2026
Exams, emergency visits, crowns, implants, Invisalign and in-house membership plans: the prices dental practices in the 50 largest US cities publish on their own sites, read in November 2026, with a checker for your quote.
Updated
Without insurance, half of the practices that publish a first-visit price ask between $49 and $99 for an exam with X-rays, and the middle price is $79. Emergency exams sit at $75 and an exam, X-rays and cleaning package at $99. Bigger treatments cost far more and far fewer practices put a number on them.
These are prices that dental practices in large American cities show on their own websites, read in November 2026. Use the checker to see where a quote lands, then read the table for what each figure stands for.
Test the number on your estimate
Pick the treatment, then enter the figure on your estimate. The answer sets it beside the practices in the table below.
Compare like with like. A quote that includes the crown or the X-rays belongs next to a published price that does too, so read the "what the figure is" column first.
Type a price
The answer appears here.
What practices publish
One price per practice website, the lowest standard price it shows. Where fewer than 15 practices published a price, the table gives the lowest and the highest instead of a middle half, and says so.
| Treatment | Middle half of practices | Median | Practices |
|---|---|---|---|
| New-patient exam with X-rays Cash price offered to people without insurance, mostly as a new-patient offer | $49 to $99 | $79 | 41 |
| Emergency exam Limited exam for a problem tooth, often with the X-rays that go with it | $49 to $99 | $75 | 42 |
| Exam, X-rays and cleaning One package price for a first visit that includes a cleaning | $90 to $144 | $99 | 30 |
| Adult cleaning on its own small sample Routine cleaning without the exam | $59 to $165 lowest to highest | $75 | 7 |
| Tooth-colored filling small sample A "from" price for one filling | $100 to $300 lowest to highest | $208 | 12 |
| Simple extraction small sample Per tooth, not impacted | $100 to $380 lowest to highest | $200 | 8 |
| Root canal small sample A "from" price for one tooth, the crown not included | $385 to $1,200 lowest to highest | $700 | 7 |
| Porcelain or ceramic crown small sample Per tooth, as the practice words it | $575 to $1,413 lowest to highest | $899 | 11 |
| Single-tooth implant small sample The price the practice gives for one implant, with or without the crown as it words it | $1,250 to $4,499 lowest to highest | $2,950 | 10 |
| Invisalign or clear aligners A "from" or flat price for full treatment | $3,499 to $4,075 | $3,999 | 18 |
| Braces small sample A "from" or flat price for full treatment | $1,900 to $4,780 lowest to highest | $3,400 | 8 |
| Professional whitening small sample In-office or custom take-home trays | $345 to $599 lowest to highest | $499 | 14 |
| Porcelain veneer small sample Per tooth | $1,000 to $2,400 lowest to highest | $1,593 | 11 |
| Adult in-house membership plan Per year, for people without insurance | $349 to $499 | $430 | 50 |
Source: the websites of dental practices on our lists in the 50 largest US cities, read in November 2026. The amounts are what the practices show, not what patients end up paying.
Why two quotes for the same treatment differ
What is bundled
An implant price may cover only the post in the bone, or the post, the connector and the crown. A first-visit price may include full X-rays or only a few. Whenever the table calls a figure a package, the practice bundled it.
Offer or standard fee
Many first-visit prices are new-patient offers for people without insurance. They are real, but they apply once, and the next exam may cost the full fee.
Who does the work
A general dentist and a specialist may both do a root canal or an extraction. Specialists such as oral surgeons and periodontists often charge more for the same tooth. Our license guide shows how to check who holds which title.
What else the visit needs
Sedation, a 3D scan, a temporary crown and a follow-up check are often priced apart. Ask for the total for the whole plan, not for the first line.
In-house membership plans
A growing number of practices sell a yearly plan to patients without insurance.
median yearly fee for an adult plan, from 50 practices
what the middle half of those practices charge per year
cheapest and dearest adult plan we found
Most of the plans we read bundle two exams, two cleanings and X-rays, and some take a share off other treatment. Some list what they leave out, implants for instance. Fees that were billed monthly are shown here multiplied by twelve. A plan is not insurance: it pays off if you would use the visits it includes. Read the exclusions and ask whether a lifetime activation fee applies.
Questions before you say yes
- Is this the price with X-rays, with the crown, with sedation, with the follow-up visit?
- Is it a cash price for patients without insurance, or the fee your plan would discount?
- Does the new-patient offer cover only the first visit?
- Can I have the treatment plan with each line priced, and time to think?
- If I move to a payment plan, what does it add to the total?
If a plan hinges on public coverage, see what Medicaid covers for adults in your state. Original Medicare does not cover routine dental care.
How we read the prices
Our crawl found at least one parseable price on the websites of 701 practices on the list. We kept a price only when its amount appears on the practice's own page next to the name of the treatment, and one figure per website, the lowest standard one, so a group with a single fee page counts once.
We dropped monthly payments, financing, memberships, children's fees, discounts, refunds, scans, retainers and teaser prices, and general sentences such as "an implant costs about". About a third of what the crawl read did not survive. We then read every kept price in its context on the page. Prices that did not pass were removed, which is why some treatments have few practices.
The practices are those in our lists for the largest US cities, so small towns may be cheaper or dearer. Nothing here is a quote or medical advice.
Sources
- The public websites of the practices counted in the table, read November 13, 2026
- Medicare.gov: dental services
- How we choose the practices on our lists