DATA-BACKED GUIDE · UPDATED JULY 2026
Real dental bills: crowns, root canals and implants
Real dental bills, the amounts people actually paid rather than a clinic's price list, show what private dental work in the UK truly costs. iPaidThis collects these bills directly from patients for treatments such as crowns, root canals and implants, and sets out the median, the full range and individual quotes below rather than a single number a website wants you to believe. This guide looks at what the real bills show and why the same treatment can cost so differently from one practice to the next.
The quick version
- The bills below are what patients actually paid, not a clinic's advertised starting price, so they include extras that often get added on afterwards.
- A Crown, a Root canal and an Implant sit at very different points on the price scale, with implants consistently the most expensive of the three.
- The gap between the lowest and highest bill for the same treatment is often wide, showing how much practice, region and material change the final figure.
- Where the NHS covers a treatment, it does so at a fixed band charge, and the real private bills below sit well above that fixed amount.
What people actually paid
The gap: advertised vs actually paid (medians)
People reported paying 22% less than the advertised NHS or list price for crown.
NHS / list prices are advertised prices; paid figures are what people reported, often for different cases. Treat the gap as a signal, not a quote.
Real prices, in people's own words
- £230“My TOTAL bill was £230”
- £525“gone up from £450 to £525 each”
- £525“two new replacement crowns...have gone up from £450 to £525 each”
- £650“I paid £650, and was really pleased”
- £650“I paid £650, and was really pleased”
- £1,850“for a crown approximately £1850 depending on the material used”
Genuine amounts posted publicly. We publish the price and the quote, never the person.
Why the price varies so much
The spread in these real bills comes from several things stacking on top of each other. A Crown can be metal, all-ceramic or zirconia, and the lab bill behind it varies with the material long before the dentist adds a fee for fitting it. A Root canal on a front tooth with one canal is a different job from a molar with three or four, so the same word on an invoice can mean very different amounts of chair time. An Implant adds even more variables, since a straightforward single tooth is one job and a case needing bone grafting first is another, often billed separately and only confirmed after a scan. Location and the practice itself matter just as much as the treatment, since two clinics a few miles apart can quote very differently for what looks like the same crown, and none of this is visible from a headline price on a website, which is why bills from real patients give a far more honest picture of what you are likely to actually pay.
How to pay less
- Use the range below as a starting point, since a quote sitting well above the top of it is worth questioning or taking elsewhere.
- Ask whether an NHS band would cover any part of the work, particularly for a Root canal or an Extraction, which often fall under a fixed NHS charge rather than a private fee.
- Get the bill broken down by item, the crown material, the lab fee, the fitting and any scans, so you can see which part is pushing the total towards the higher end of the range.
- Get more than one written quote before booking anything as big as an Implant, since the real bills below show just how much the same treatment can vary.
- Ask your dentist whether a simpler alternative would meet your needs for less, such as a well-made denture instead of a full implant.
Common questions
Are these real dental bills what people actually paid, or a clinic's price list?
They are what patients told iPaidThis they actually paid, submitted directly rather than pulled from a clinic's website. That means they include the extras and add-ons that a headline quote often leaves out. Where a figure is a clinic's advertised price rather than a real payment, it is labelled as such so you can tell the difference.
Why is there such a big range between the cheapest and priciest crown or implant?
Material, region and the individual practice all play a part. A Crown made in ceramic costs more to produce than a metal one, and an Implant needing bone grafting costs more than a straightforward single tooth. Two practices a few miles apart can also simply charge different fees for the same work, which is why the range below is often wide.
Should I expect my bill to be close to the median shown here?
The median is a useful midpoint, but your own bill depends on your tooth, your dentist and where you live. Complex cases such as a molar Root canal or an implant needing grafting typically sit above the median, while straightforward cases often land below it. Treat the range as the more useful figure and the median as a rough anchor.
Does the NHS cover any of the treatments in these real bills?
Some of them, yes. A Root canal and an Extraction are usually available on the NHS under a fixed band charge if a dentist has NHS capacity, and a Crown can also be provided on the NHS in many cases. An Implant is almost never covered unless there is a clear medical need, which is why nearly all implant bills below are private.
How should I use these real bills when getting my own quote?
Take the range and the median as a benchmark before you agree to anything. If a private quote for a Crown or Root canal sits well above the top of the range shown here, it is reasonable to ask why or to get a second opinion from another practice. It will not tell you your exact price, but it stops you agreeing to a figure with no reference point at all.