NHS Dental Charges vs Private vs Turkey in 2026: What a Check-Up, Filling, Crown and Implant Really Cost

In England an NHS check-up costs £27.90 in 2026, a filling or extraction £76.60 and a crown, denture or bridge £332.10, but the NHS does not provide implants or cosmetic veneers and most practices are not taking new adult patients. Privately a crown typically costs £600 to 1,200 and an implant £2,000 to 3,000; in Fethiye the same work is 200 to 350 EUR and from 500 EUR. Flying pays off from roughly £1,500 of private work, or any implant or multi-crown case, and never for a single filling or a check-up.

What the NHS pays for in 2026

NHS England charges three flat bands, reset each April. You pay the band once per course of treatment, however many visits it takes. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland run their own charges, so the figures below apply to England.

NHS band (England, from April 2026)

Charge

What it covers

Band 1

£27.90

Examination, diagnosis, X-rays, preventive advice, scale and polish if clinically needed

Band 2

£76.60

Band 1 plus fillings, root canal treatment, extractions

Band 3

£332.10

Band 1 and 2 plus crowns, bridges, dentures

Urgent

£27.90

Emergency care to stop pain or infection

You pay nothing if you are under 18 (or under 19 in full-time education), pregnant or have had a baby in the last 12 months, hold an HC2 certificate, or receive certain benefits such as Income Support, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, income-related ESA, Pension Credit Guarantee Credit or Universal Credit below the earnings threshold.

Three things the NHS does not do, whatever your band:

• Implants. Only in rare clinical cases, for example after cancer surgery or serious trauma. Missing teeth are treated with a denture or a bridge.

• Cosmetic work. Veneers and whitening are not available on the NHS at all. NHS crowns are usually metal or porcelain fused to metal, and white fillings on back teeth are offered only where clinically justified; otherwise you get amalgam or pay privately.

• Take you on. The bands only matter if a practice near you is accepting NHS adults. In much of England none are, waiting lists run for months, and many people who search for NHS dentist prices end up paying private prices by default.

Treatment by treatment: NHS, private and Fethiye

Private figures are typical ranges outside London. Fethiye prices are per unit, from, in EUR, and are confirmed in a written quote before you travel.

Treatment

NHS England

UK private, typically

Smile & Holiday, Fethiye

Check-up and X-rays

Band 1, £27.90

£40 to 90

Free remote assessment; on-site examination from around 50 EUR

Hygiene (scale and polish)

Band 1 if clinically needed

£60 to 120

From around 50 EUR

White filling

Band 2, £76.60 (amalgam on back teeth)

£100 to 250

From around 50 EUR

Root canal

Band 2, £76.60

£400 to 900, molars at the top end

Typically 100 to 300 EUR

Extraction

Band 2, £76.60

£100 to 300, surgical more

From around 50 EUR

Crown

Band 3, £332.10 (metal or PFM)

£600 to 1,200

Zirconia 200 to 350 EUR

Bridge, 3 units

Band 3, £332.10

£1,500 to 3,000

600 to 1,050 EUR

Full denture, per arch

Band 3, £332.10

£600 to 1,500

Around 500 to 700 EUR, indicative

Implant with crown

Not provided, rare exceptions

£2,000 to 3,000

From 500 EUR plus crown 200 to 350 EUR

Veneer

Not provided

£600 to 1,200

E-max 280 to 400 EUR

General care in Fethiye (fillings, hygiene, extractions) sits between 50 and 300 EUR per item depending on the tooth. Denture prices are indicative and confirmed in the written quote. Our Turkey vs UK comparison covers the material differences behind these numbers.

The break-even: when flying pays and when it does not

A trip has a fixed cost that does not shrink with a smaller treatment. Budget for return flights to Dalaman, typically £120 to 300 depending on season and airport (Stansted, Manchester, Dublin and others fly direct), and a hotel for 5 to 7 nights, typically £250 to 500. Airport transfers are included. Call it £400 to 800 per trip, and implants need two trips.

The rule that follows: if your private quote is under about £1,500, the travel eats the saving. Above it, the gap widens with every unit of work, because Turkish prices are per tooth and the trip is paid once.

Example 1: a molar filling and a hygiene visit. Stay home.

Private in the UK: typically £160 to 370. In Fethiye: 100 to 200 EUR plus £400 to 800 of travel. You would pay more to fly, and if you can get a Band 2 appointment the NHS does it for £76.60.

Example 2: two implants with crowns and four crowns. Fly.

Private in the UK: two implants at £2,000 to 3,000 and four crowns at £600 to 1,200, typically £6,400 to 10,800 in total. In Fethiye: two implants at 500 EUR and six zirconia crowns at 200 to 350 EUR, so 2,200 to 3,100 EUR, roughly £1,900 to 2,700 at current rates. Add two trips at £400 to 800 each and the all-in cost is about £2,700 to 4,300. The saving is typically £3,500 to 7,000, and the implants carry a lifetime guarantee, the crowns three years.

Ireland: PRSI, the medical card and Med 2

If you pay PRSI, the Treatment Benefit scheme gives you a free oral examination once a calendar year and a subsidised scale and polish for which you pay no more than 15 EUR. A medical card covers an examination, two fillings a year, extractions and emergency treatment under the Dental Treatment Services Scheme, but not crowns or implants. Everything else is private: a crown typically 800 to 1,200 EUR, an implant 2,500 to 3,500 EUR, a check-up 50 to 80 EUR.

The lever most people miss is Med 2. Non-routine dental treatment (crowns, bridges, veneers, root canal, periodontal treatment and implant work) qualifies for 20% tax relief, and treatment abroad qualifies too. Routine work (check-ups, cleaning, fillings, extractions, dentures) does not. You need a Med 2 form completed by the treating dentist; we complete it for our Irish patients, so a 3,000 EUR implant case in Fethiye returns 600 EUR through Revenue. Dublin flies direct to Dalaman in season.

Who should fly, who should stay home

• Fly: anyone facing an implant, three or more crowns, a full arch, veneers you would pay for privately anyway, or a private quote above about £1,500 with no NHS practice in reach.

• Stay home: a check-up, a single filling, a hygiene visit or an emergency extraction. Also anyone who cannot make two trips for implants, and anyone with active gum disease, which needs months of local treatment before any crown or implant makes sense.

What to check before you travel

• Your dental plan. Cash plans and private dental insurance such as Denplan, Bupa or Simplyhealth usually pay UK treatment only, or pay abroad up to a UK tariff and annual limit. Ask in writing which it is before you book.

• The NHS. It does not reimburse planned treatment in Turkey. Treat the trip as private care.

• The guarantee. Ours covers a failed implant for life and zirconia crowns for three years, and it never covers flights; the guarantee guide lists the exclusions.

• Aftercare at home. Ask your local dentist whether they will see you for hygiene and check-ups afterwards. Most will, and you leave Fethiye with your X-rays and treatment record so they can.

How it works with us in Fethiye

Send photos or an X-ray through the consultation form. You receive a written treatment plan and a quote in EUR before you book anything. Dalaman airport is about 50 minutes from the clinic and transfers are included; hotel arrangements are made on request. Crowns and veneers take one trip of 5 to 7 days, implants two trips of 2 to 3 days each, 3 to 6 months apart; the trip planning guide sets out the days. Treatment is led by Dr. Mustafa Besli, 15+ years in aesthetic dentistry and implantology, with English-speaking coordinators, and you take home the guarantee document in English.