How it works

How we calculate what dental work should cost

Every price range you see on Pearl is built from three independent sources of clinical and economic data, updated regularly.

01

ADA fee survey data

The American Dental Association's annual survey of 175,000+ practices gives us a national baseline for every CDT-coded procedure.

02

Regional fee schedules

We layer in published PPO fee schedules and state-level insurance reimbursement data so a crown in Houston isn't priced like a crown in Manhattan.

03

Pearl's clinical lineage

The same dental AI deployed in thousands of practices informs our procedure definitions — so the "crown" we're pricing matches what your dentist is quoting.

Why the range

The same procedure can cost wildly different amounts

Here's what's driving the spread, and why two dentists in the same city can quote you two different prices for the same procedure.

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Your insurance coverage tier

The single biggest factor in out-of-pocket cost. Most PPO dental plans cover major procedures at 50–80% after a deductible; preventive at 80–100%. Without insurance, you pay the full fee — which for something like a root canal + crown can be $2,500+.

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Network status and government programs

In-network practices agree to reduced fees; out-of-network cost more out-of-pocket. Some practices are cash-only and don't take any insurance. Medicare generally excludes routine dental; Medicaid dental benefits vary dramatically by state and adult age group.

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Complexity of the procedure itself

A front-tooth root canal and a molar root canal are the same CDT category but can differ by $400–$700 because molars have more canals and are harder to reach.

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Local market and real estate

Practices in dense metro medical districts carry higher overhead. Suburban and community offices often charge 15–30% less for the same procedure.

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Generalist vs. specialist

Endodontists, periodontists, and oral surgeons typically charge 10–30% more than a general dentist for the equivalent procedure — sometimes warranted for complex cases.

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What's actually in the quote

Some offices bundle build-ups, X-rays, and follow-ups into one line. Others bill each separately. The bottom-line number can vary by more than a thousand dollars without anyone being wrong.

Why Pearl

Why we built this

Pearl makes the AI that helps dentists diagnose more consistently — so fewer patients end up with wildly different treatment plans for the same problem. This guide is an extension of that mission: giving patients the same clarity about pricing that our technology gives dentists about clinical findings.

Regulatory

FDA-cleared

The only AI cleared for both 2D and 3D dental radiography.

Practice footprint

Thousands of practices

Pearl's clinical AI is deployed in dental offices across the U.S. and internationally.

Data freshness

Quarterly updates

Price ranges are re-benchmarked every quarter against the latest fee survey data.