Is Getting Your Teeth Cleaned Expensive?

It is very important to get your teeth professionally cleaned by a dentist at least once a year, but the real question is, how much is it going to cost? It is no surprise that getting any health or dental work done can cost a heavy sum out of pocket if a person isn’t insured. The price is what holds back a significant portion of the population here in America from getting anything done, yet, regardless of the price tag, it is still important to do so. The price of teeth cleanings can start pretty low, depending on the overall health of the teeth and gums; however, the price does increase based on the severity of the teeth.

Typical price ranges of cleanings

When looking at standard to deep cleaning, there are a few common costs of each treatment that one can find at most dental networks. While having dental insurance can help you save money by hem covering 100% of the cost once a year, it’s also wise to know that they don’t fully cover much after. Below are a few of the average costs with and without insurance.

  1. Routine Adult Cleaning (for a health mouth, also called Prophylaxis)
  2. 80-100% UCR coverage of the insurance carrier once/twice per benefit year, for in network insurance carriers
  3. Up to 20% out-of-pocket expenses, depending on dental insurance carrier’s coverage
  4. Comprehensive Adult Cleaning (for healthy mouth, including diagnostic x-rays)
  5. 80-100% UCR coverage of the insurance carrier once/twice per benefit year, for in network insurance carriers
  6. Up to 20% out-of-pocket expenses, depending on dental insurance carrier’s coverage
  7. Periodontal Deep Cleaning (for gum disease, periodontal patients)
  8. Most dental carriers cover these services @ 50%-80% once every 3-5 years.
  9. This is a two-step process (half mouth upper & lower performed per visit)
  10. After deep cleaning, you are seen every 3-4 months for the first two years to maintain periodontal health
  11. Up to 50% out-of-pocket expenses, depending on dental insurance carrier’s coverage & frequency allowed
  12. Periodontal Maintenance Cleaning (for periodontal patients following deep cleaning)
  13. 50%-80% UCR coverage of the insurance carrier dental coverage, two/four times per year.
  14. Most insurance carriers cover this procedure twice per benefits year, then the patient pays full out of pocket for the additional maintenance cleanings
  15. Once the two year mark is met, we will re-evaluate your periodontal health of your teeth to determine frequency of maintenance appts.
  16. You will almost ALWAYS be treated/billed as a Periodontal cleaning for your appts. There is that rare occasion that you might become a Routine Adult Cleaning, but that will depend on your/our diligence to your periodontal health.

What’s included in the cleanings

For those newer to getting their teeth cleaned, or haven’t had one in a while, understanding what happens in each step helps benefit the person for further care of their teeth long after the dental visit. The appointments often have diagnostic x-rays completed once a year to look for any signs of gum disease, tooth health and alignment, and possible wisdom teeth. For the standard cleaning, plaque is removed from the teeth and just below the gum line. This is usually explained by an assistant right before the procedure starts. For scaling and root planing, the teeth and deep pockets of the gum line about 3 millimeters down are scraped of any plaque and bacterial buildup in the rougher spots. After the roots have gone through the planning process of having those spots smoothed out to help the gums have a clean surface to reattach to the tooth again. This process is usually done with a local anesthetic and has multiple visits since each part of the mouth is cleaned in sections to help manage pain afterwards.

The expense of teeth cleanings can vary depending on the person, the insurance coverage, and the status of the patient’s oral health/home care. Most often times than not, if a person hasn’t maintained their dental health, or hasn’t had proper dental care in a while, there could be more out-of-pocket expense for any dental procedures.

Related Article: What is Teeth Scaling?