According to the American Dental Association (ADA) the average national cost of a root canal and crown is $2155.34 in the United States. That number is not as accurate as it can be since the price for root canals can vary significantly depending on which tooth needs to be treated. Although there is no difference in fee for which type of tooth needs a crown.
Aside from that, the price for dental procedures can also vary depending on the cost of living and whether you have insurance. Therefore, in order to have a more complete understanding of how much it can cost, you should also take into account the range of fees.
All of our data comes from the most recent ADA national survey of fees (2020), which they publish every 3 years or so.
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The cost of a crown in the United States
The average cost of a crown in the United States is $1213.08 for an all porcelain dental crown. However, there are factors which affect the actual cost such as cost of living in your area, the type of crown material, and if you have dental insurance.
Cost of living
The cost of a dental crown can range from as low as $970 and as high as $1600 depending on the cost of living in your area. You can visit this website to see whether you're on the higher end or the lower end.
Type of crown material
Different types of crown materials can certainly affect the price of a crown because the ingredients may be more expensive or less expensive. You can expect to pay more for a more costly material and consequently expect to pay less for a less expensive one.
Here are some common types of dental crown materials:
All porcelain. This is currently the most favored and preferred material for dental crowns because patients do not want any metal in their mouths. Consequently the average crown fee listed above, $1213.08 is what an all porcelain crown would cost. These tend to look very life-like and most people can't even tell it apart from a normal tooth.
Gold. Having a gold tooth use to be extremely popular back in the day but the people have been trending away from using gold in their mouths. However, it is still a great choice for a crown especially on the back teeth since it is highly bio-compatible.
Porcelain fused to metal. These types of crowns were used a lot prior to the all porcelain crowns being made available. They're very sturdy and work very well except for the fact that they're not as aesthetically pleasing as a crown without metal. These crowns have metal underneath with porcelain over it to cover up the metal. However, the metal still shows through a lot of times and that is why patients don't like them. The picture below shows a metal margin near the gums.
In order of cost, a gold crown costs the most and then followed by the all porcelain crown. The porcelain fused to metal are the least expensive. You may add or subtract about $200 from the fee to get a rough idea of what each material would cost.
Dental insurance
The average cost of a crown without insurance is $1213.08 but if you do have dental insurance, it can be much less than that. Most insurances will cover approximately 50% of the total cost. That means your out of pocket cost for a crown with insurance could be $606.54. Consequently with insurance, a dental crown could be as low as $485 and as high as $800.
The cost of a root canal in the United States
The average cost of a root canal is $942.26 but it can range from as low as $620 and to as high as $1472 depending on where you live. With that being said, the large range has to do with the fact that root canal costs vary depending on which tooth is being treated.
Anterior teeth - The average cost of a root canal on a front tooth is $799.76 but it can be range anywhere from $620 to $1100. The cost difference has to do with cost of living in your area.
Premolars - The average cost of root canals on premolars are $917.71 but it can be as low as $705 and as high as $1250.
Molars - The average cost of a molar root canal is $1109.31 but it can be as low as $870 and as high as $1472.
The price difference among the different types of teeth have to do with the fact that some teeth have more nerves. The purpose of the root canal procedure is to remove the nerve from the teeth so if that tooth has more nerves, it requires more work. Ultimately what that means is that a tooth with more nerves will cost more and that explains why molar root canals cost more than anterior teeth. The molars tend to have at least 3 nerves while the front teeth only have 1 nerve.
Therefore, if you wanted to know the average price of a root canal, you should take into consideration what tooth requires the procedure since it can vary quite a bit. These prices are all root canals without insurance.
Dental insurance
Root canals typically do have insurance coverage and we've seen plans cover anywhere from 50%-80%. What this means is that the average cost of a root canal with insurance would be $188.452-$471.13 total.
The average cost of root canals with insurance based on type of tooth:
Anterior teeth: $159.952-$399.88
Premolar teeth: $183.542-$458.855
Molar teeth: $221.862-$554.655
Summary
The cost of a root canal and crown without insurance is approximately $2155.34 on average. However, on the low end it can be $1590 but it can also go as high as $3072. The fees used here are based on a national survey by the ADA.
As a disclaimer, if you are in a very high cost of living area or you visit a "high end dentist" such as one that caters to celebrities, the fees can very well exceed the ones that you see here. Its not unusual for a root canal and crown to cost well over $5000 in certain prominent cities.
If you wanted some advice on how to lower some of the costs, seeking treatment at a lower cost of living city would certainly decrease your out of pocket expenses. It also helps if the dentist you're seeing is in network with your insurance.
Author: Written by Dr David Chen, a long island city dentist.
