Deep Cleaning Teeth Cost: Prices With & Without Insurance

A deep cleaning is a different procedure from the routine cleaning you get at a checkup. Dentists call it scaling and root planing, and offices bill it by section of the mouth rather than as one visit. That billing method is the main reason prices look confusing: a fee quoted per quadrant and a fee quoted for the whole mouth describe very different amounts.

The mouth is divided into four quadrants, and a dentist may recommend treating one, two, or all four. Whether you need a deep cleaning, and how many quadrants it covers, is a clinical decision made by a licensed dentist or periodontist. This page covers only what the treatment costs and how the bill is built.

Per-quadrant fees are the standard way offices price this procedure. Authority Dental splits its figures by how much of each quadrant is involved, so the price rises when more teeth are treated in the same section.

The headline figure on this page is the per-quadrant average. It is not a full-mouth total. Multiply a per-quadrant fee by the number of quadrants in your treatment plan to estimate the bill, and keep in mind that the sources count differently.

Some sources quote one price for the entire mouth. These figures are not the same measure as the per-quadrant fees above, and they should not be added to them.

The full-mouth lines come from different sources with different definitions, which may explain why the ranges sit so far apart. One may include an exam, X-rays, or follow-up care while another covers only the scaling. When you get a quote, ask for the fee per quadrant, the number of quadrants planned, and what else is on the estimate.

Without coverage, you pay the office's fee in full. Because the treatment is billed in sections, one option some offices allow is spreading it across two visits, which spreads out the cost as well as the time in the chair. Whether that is appropriate for you is a question for your dentist. Ask about:

• A discount for paying at the time of service.
• An in-house membership plan for patients without insurance.
• A payment plan or third-party financing.
• Dental school clinics, which often charge less than private offices.

Get the treatment plan in writing, with each procedure and its fee, before you agree to start.

Insurers usually treat a deep cleaning differently from a routine cleaning. A checkup cleaning is typically preventive care, often covered at a high level. Scaling and root planing is more often classed as a basic or major procedure, which may mean a deductible and a coinsurance share rather than full coverage. Plans may also require a diagnosis, X-rays, or documentation of gum measurements before they approve it.

Before treatment, ask the office to submit a pre-treatment estimate to your insurer. It shows what the plan expects to pay and what you would owe. Also check the plan's annual maximum, because a deep cleaning on several quadrants can use a meaningful share of it.

Deep cleaning is often followed by a different kind of visit. Periodontal maintenance cleanings happen at intervals after the treatment, and they are priced separately from both a routine cleaning and a deep cleaning. A gross debridement is another distinct procedure that sometimes appears on bills.

These follow-up visits recur, so count them in the total cost of care along with the first appointment.

• Number of quadrants. More quadrants means a higher total.
• Amount of treatment per quadrant. Fees rise when more teeth in a section are involved.
• Anesthesia. Some offices include numbing in the fee; others bill it separately. Ask.
• Exam and X-rays. These may be billed as separate line items.
• Provider. A general dentist and a periodontist may charge differently.
• Location. Fees in large metro areas tend to run higher.

1. Is the fee quoted per quadrant or for the full mouth, and how many quadrants does my plan include?
2. What else is on the estimate: exam, X-rays, anesthesia, follow-up visits?
3. Can you send a pre-treatment estimate to my insurance?
4. Do you offer payment plans or a discount for paying upfront?
5. What will follow-up and maintenance visits cost?