A private dental treatment price list tells you what one practice charges, but not whether its figures are typical.
That leaves you guessing at the one thing you need to know: whether the quote in front of you is fair.
This guide sets out what private treatment costs across the UK, why two quotes for the same work can differ, and what a practice has to tell you before it starts.
Private Dental Treatment Price List: 2026 UK Ranges
The figures below are the ranges private practices across the UK charge in 2026. Each practice sets its own figure, so a range shows where quotes typically fall rather than a fixed price.
| Treatment | Typical UK private range |
|---|---|
| Routine check-up or examination | £50 to £120 |
| Hygienist appointment, 30 minutes | £75 to £120 |
| Composite (white) filling | £140 to £300 |
| Tooth extraction, simple | £95 to £200 |
| Root canal treatment | £400 to £900 |
| Crown | £500 to £1,200 |
| Single dental implant | £1,800 to £3,900 |
| Clear aligners or braces | £2,500 to £5,500 |
| Teeth whitening | £350 to £700 |
Private dentist prices vary far more than that table suggests, so treat a private dental treatment price list as a starting point rather than a quote. Where a practice publishes its own current charges, as we do on our fees page, you can check a specific figure against the range above before you go any further.
Take a look at our: Dental Treatment Price List
How Much Is a Private Dental Check Up?
A private dental check up costs between £50 and £120 in most of the UK. The lower end usually buys the examination alone, while the higher end normally includes X-rays, a soft tissue and oral cancer check, and advice on anything that needs doing.
Two things move that figure:
- Whether X-rays are bundled. Some practices quote the examination and charge separately for images; others quote one fee covering both.
- New patient versus returning patient. A first appointment takes longer, so practices commonly charge more for it than for a routine recall.
Practices price hygiene appointments separately again, and our teeth cleaning cost guide covers what those sessions include.
Helpful Tip: How often you need a check-up is a clinical judgement rather than a fixed six months. Recall intervals are set by individual risk, so ask what interval applies to you. Your interval is what turns a single fee into an annual cost.
Private Dentist Costs: What Makes One Quote Higher
Two practices can quote £400 apart for the same treatment and both be reasonable. What goes into the appointment drives private dentist costs, not the label on it:
- Chair time. For example, a crown prepared over an hour and a half is not the same product as one done in forty minutes, and the fee reflects the difference.
- The laboratory. A handmade ceramic crown from a UK lab costs the practice several times what a mass-produced one does, and the practice passes that difference on.
- Who carries out the work. A specialist with additional registered training charges more than a general dentist for the same procedure.
- The materials named. A quote that does not name the material is not comparable to one that does.
What Must a Treatment Plan Show You?
You are entitled to know the cost before treatment begins. The General Dental Council requires a dentist to obtain valid consent before starting treatment, “explaining all the relevant options and the possible costs”. A treatment plan worth relying on shows five things:
- Every item priced separately, so you can see what the total is built from.
- The material or system named, because that is what decides which price tier applies.
- What is included after the treatment, meaning the review appointments and any adjustments.
- What is not included, such as scans, preparatory treatment or a replacement if something needs redoing.
- What happens if the plan changes, since your consent is needed again before the agreed cost moves.
Expert Tip: If a plan arrives as one number with no breakdown, ask for it itemised. A practice that cannot itemise a quote cannot explain it either.
Private Dental Treatment: Additional Cost Factors
The headline figure rarely lands alone. These are the additions that often turn an expected private dental care cost into a larger one:
Imaging. A small X-ray is a modest cost, but a large radiograph or a CT scan carries its own fee and is often needed before implant or root canal work begins.
Preparatory treatment. Gum treatment before cosmetic work, or a build-up before a crown, carries its own quote. It is common, so a quote that leaves it out is not a quote for the same course of treatment.
Reviews and adjustments. Some fees cover the follow-up appointments; where they do not, each visit is chargeable.
Replacement over time. Every restoration has a working life, so the real cost is the fee divided across the years it lasts. Our root canal cost guide shows how that changes the comparison.
Spreading the Cost with Finance & Dental Plans
Private dental fees do not have to be paid all at once. Two arrangements are widely available and they solve different problems.
Interest free finance spreads a single course of treatment over a fixed number of monthly payments, commonly three to twelve months without interest. That makes it the better choice for one large planned item, such as an implant or a course of aligners. You can see how interest free treatment finance is arranged before you commit to anything.
A practice membership plan works the other way round, covering routine examinations and hygiene visits across the year for a monthly subscription, usually with a discount on other treatment. For comparison, our private dental plan costs £17.50 a month, and a plan like this is best for ongoing maintenance.
Helpful Tip: Ask what a membership plan excludes. Implants, orthodontics and facial aesthetics commonly fall outside the discount.
Frequently Asked Questions
Most questions about private dental fees are about who sets them, what to do if you cannot afford treatment, extraction costs, “from” prices, insurance and second opinions.
Can a private dentist charge what they like?
There is no national price control on private dental fees, so practices set their own. What is regulated is the process: the options and the possible costs must be explained and consented to before treatment starts, and again if the agreed cost changes.
What do I do if I cannot afford private dental treatment?
Ask for the plan to be staged, so the clinically urgent work happens first and the rest is scheduled later. Ask about interest free finance too, which spreads one large item over monthly payments.
How much does it cost to have a tooth removed privately?
A simple extraction is usually £95 to £200 privately. A surgical extraction, such as removing a lower wisdom tooth, costs more than that, priced by difficulty rather than by tooth.
Does “from £140” mean I will pay £140?
It means £140 is the lowest case that fee applies to, normally the smallest and most straightforward version of the treatment. For instance, a filling priced from £140 can reach £300 once the cavity is large. Treat a “from” price as the floor of a range and ask which figure applies to you before you agree to anything.
Can I claim back private dental costs?
Dental insurance and cash plans reimburse part of a private fee, usually up to an annual limit and often after a waiting period. Check what the policy calls routine and what it calls major, because policies pay out at very different rates for the two.
Do children pay for private dental treatment?
They do if they are seen privately. A practice charges for a child’s private treatment at its own rates, so ask for the child’s fees before booking, as you would for your own.
What is the most expensive part of a private treatment plan?
The most expensive parts are those involving a laboratory or a surgical stage. Implants, crowns and bridges carry both, which is why a single implant is often priced as several component fees.
Should I get a second opinion on a large quote?
For anything above about £1,000 it is reasonable, and no responsible practice will object. Ask the second dentist to price the same work, not a different version of it.
What to Remember About Private Dental Prices
Private dental prices are wide-ranging by nature, and the figure you are quoted says less about the treatment than about what the practice has put into it.
The five things worth remembering:
- The span is wide. A private dental treatment price list runs from around £50 for a routine examination to £5,500 for a course of aligners.
- Each practice sets its own fees. Compare itemised quotes rather than headline figures.
- Quotes differ for real reasons. Chair time, the laboratory, who does the work, the material named and what the fee already includes.
- You are entitled to know the cost first. It has to be explained before treatment starts, and your consent asked again if it changes.
- Two ways to spread it. Interest free finance is for one large treatment; a monthly membership plan is for routine care.
Book Your Examination at Smiledent
An itemised plan starts with an examination. At Smiledent in North London, a standard examination is £55 and includes two X-rays, and you will know your options and what each one costs before anything is agreed. You can spread the cost of a single treatment with 0% finance over 3 to 12 months through Tabeo, and finance is also available for larger treatment plans.
Information Sources
Dental costs (General Dental Council)
Standards for the Dental Team, Principle 3 (General Dental Council)
Dental checks: intervals between oral health reviews (CG19) (NICE)
