Last Updated on September 8, 2026
Private dental pricing is unusual in one way: there is a completely public, nationally fixed comparator sitting alongside it, and every patient knows the numbers.
The NHS baseline
| Band | Charge | Covers |
|---|---|---|
| Band 1 | £27.90 | Examination, assessment and advice, X-rays, fluoride application, basic gum scaling |
| Band 2 | £76.60 | Band 1 plus fillings and root canal treatment |
| Band 3 | £332.10 | Previous bands plus crown, and orthodontic treatment |
| Urgent treatment | £27.90 flat | Emergency appointments |
Implants and whitening are not listed in any band. Which? confirms the same three figures, last updated 30 April 2026.
That baseline is why private dental price conversations are harder than in most sectors. A patient looking at a £2,400 implant has £332.10 in their head as what a crown costs on the NHS. Explaining what the difference buys is the actual marketing job.
What a national provider publishes
| Treatment | Published price | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Dental implant | From £2,400 | Includes a single implant, abutment and screw retained porcelain crown |
| Teeth whitening, at home | Typically £350 to £600 | |
| Teeth whitening, in practice | £600 to £900 | |
| Implant consultation | Free by phone with an enquiry coordinator | Clinical consultation fee not published |
| Implant finance | 0 per cent APR over 3 to 36 months on treatments £250 to £50,000, or 48 to 60 months at 7.9 per cent APR representative |
And at practice level, a published price list from the same provider’s London Chancery Lane practice:
| Treatment | Price |
|---|---|
| New patient examination | £165.00 |
| Routine check-up, adult 18 plus | £108.00 |
| Adult braces, Invisalign | From £4,264.00 |
| Hygienist appointment | From £170.00 |
| Ceramic tooth crown | From £1,225.00 |
| Metal crown, back teeth | From £1,000.00 |
| White fillings | From £225.00 |
| Root canal, front teeth | From £766.00 |
| Root canal, back teeth | From £1,283.00 |
| Dental bridge, porcelain bonded | From £1,132.00 |
That is central London and it is a national group, so it is a benchmark rather than a comparison. What matters is that it exists, publicly, at practice level with per-treatment figures. Patients can and do read it.
What is not published
Which? does not publish private dental prices to non-members. Its methodology note states that private prices were gathered from the websites of 41 individual practices in May 2026, and the figures sit behind the membership paywall. So the consumer body most likely to produce an independent comparison has one and does not show it.
That leaves the national chain’s own list as the most visible public benchmark, which is an unusual position for a market to be in.
What a private practice should publish
- A from price for your three highest-value treatments, with exactly what is included.
- The consultation fee, and whether it is redeemable against treatment.
- For implants: whether the price covers implant, abutment and crown, or only the fixture. This is the single biggest source of confusion in the category.
- For orthodontics: total course price, number of aligners or adjustments included, and what retainers cost afterwards.
- Finance terms, in the same detail a lender would state them.
- What happens if treatment fails or needs revision, and over what period.
- A dated prices-checked line.
Point three is worth its own sentence. Implant pricing is genuinely hard for a patient to compare, because some published prices are for the fixture alone and some are for the finished tooth. A practice that states clearly which it is quoting, and explains that others may not be, is doing the patient a service and protecting itself from a comparison it would otherwise lose on a technicality.
The registration cost sitting behind your prices
Worth knowing when you benchmark against a practice in another nation, because the cost base genuinely differs. All read on 8 September 2026:
| Nation | Regulator | Published fees |
|---|---|---|
| England | CQC | Single location £598 for 0 to 1 chairs, £1,294 for more than 6 chairs, £1,593 for 2 locations, on a page labelled 2024/25 and last updated 10 June 2024 |
| Wales | HIW | No registration fee for private dental practice application. Annual £500 for multiple dentists, £300 where no more than one dentist provides both private and NHS |
| Scotland | Healthcare Improvement Scotland | Registration application £3,745, annual continuation £3,681 for independent clinics providing dental services, 2025/26 |
| Northern Ireland | RQIA | New establishment registration £952, manager registration £261, annual at £46 per approved registered dental chair, from a document dated November 2019 |
Two caveats we will not hide. The CQC page shows 2024/25 fees and may have been superseded, and the RQIA figures come from a 2019 document and are seven years old. Both should be re-checked before being relied on.
The Scottish figure is the standout: roughly £3,681 a year against £598 to £1,294 for a single English location. That is a real difference in the cost of being registered, and it is a legitimate part of why prices differ between nations.
Common questions
How much do dental implants cost in the UK?
A national provider publishes implant treatment from £2,400, stated as including a single implant, abutment and screw retained porcelain crown. Comparing implant prices is difficult because some published figures cover the fixture only and some the finished tooth, so ask which is being quoted.
How much is teeth whitening?
A national provider publishes at-home whitening at typically £350 to £600 and in-practice whitening at £600 to £900. Whitening is the practice of dentistry and may only lawfully be provided by registered dental professionals.
Why are private dental prices so hard to compare?
Because published figures cover different things, particularly for implants, and because the most likely independent comparison, from Which?, is behind a membership paywall. The most visible public benchmark is a national chain’s own price list.
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