How Much Is a Root Canal in 2026?

Estimate your root canal cost

The two biggest factors are which tooth is being treated and whether you add the crown most teeth need afterward. Use the calculator below for a personalised range, then compare it against the independent benchmarks underneath.

Root canal cost by tooth type (2026 benchmarks)

The single biggest driver of price is which tooth needs treatment. Front teeth have one canal and are easy to reach; molars have three or four canals and sit at the back of the mouth, so they cost the most. The ranges below reconcile published 2024-2026 fee data from Delta Dental, Gentle Dental and Aspen Dental against published payer and provider benchmarks, and separate the root-canal-only fee from the all-in cost once the crown is added.

Is your root canal quote fair? ($2,000, $3,000…)

Most "why is my root canal so expensive?" surprises come from what the quote bundles. Compare the total you were given against the benchmarks above:

Ask for the quote line by line: the root canal itself (D3310 front, D3320 premolar, D3330 molar), the buildup (D2950) or post and core (D2954), and the crown's own code. A single lump sum is the hardest to compare.

What Medicaid actually pays for a root canal (2023-2024)

Medicaid pays dentists $516 per claim line (national weighted average, 2023-2024) for a molar root canal (CDT D3330) — about half the $1,100 cash average for a root canal above.

Medicaid pays $516 for this root-canal code; most offices charge cash patients $1,100: that gap is the reason only 20% of active dentists actually billed Medicaid in 2023-2024.

What state Medicaid programs officially pay for a root canal (50 states, 2026)

The T-MSIS figure above is what Medicaid actually paid per claim line, blended across every state. Each state also publishes an official fee schedule: the fee-for-service rate its program promises a dentist for each CDT code. We extracted the three root canal codes from 50 published state schedules (2023-2026 editions, linked in the table). For a molar root canal (D3330) the official rate runs from $248 in New Jersey to $1,173 in Delaware, with a median of $607 across the 38 states that price it; a front-tooth root canal (D3310) runs $149 to $866 (median $403). Set those against the independent-dentist cash band, $1,195 for a molar, and against what New Hampshire's all-payer claims database shows Aspen Dental actually billing for the same codes — $947 front tooth, $1,514 premolar, $1,706 molar — and the spread between "what the state promises", "what a cash patient is quoted" and "what a chain bills an insurer" is a factor of two to four on the same procedure.

Three things the table changes. First, a "Medicaid covers root canals" statement is worth very different amounts: a dentist in Delaware is promised $1,173 for a molar, one in New Jersey $248 — which is why Medicaid acceptance for endodontics is concentrated in the higher-rate states. Second, most schedules price the crown that follows (D2740) below the molar root canal itself, the opposite of the cash market, where the crown is usually the larger line. Third, several states list the codes at $0.00 or omit them: there the adult program simply does not buy root canals, and the realistic Medicaid route is extraction. A fourth point the competing guides skip entirely: retreatment. 23 of these schedules price a molar retreatment (D3348, redoing a failed root canal), typically $248 to $1,318 (median $646) — usually a little above the first-time molar fee, because the old filling material has to come out first. If your state is missing from the table, its schedule was not retrievable in a machine-readable form; the Medicaid dental coverage by state guide carries the coverage rules, and the root canal cost breakdown explains every line item a Medicaid or cash quote can carry. The crown codes themselves (porcelain, PFM, buildup, post) have their own state-by-state table on the dental crown cost page.

Aspen Dental vs an independent dentist vs Medicaid: a root canal price check

Aspen Dental publishes a single national average for a root canal — $949, with a range of $625-$1,607, described on its own site as "an approximation based on 2026 internal data" (read 2026-08-25). Unlike the tooth-by-tooth benchmarks above, Aspen does not break that figure out by front tooth, premolar or molar — one number covers every case. The crown most teeth need afterward is billed separately from that price, and Aspen states plainly that it does not accept Medicaid, chain-wide. Its own Aspen Dental Savings Plan (a $49-a-year membership, the same plan used on our dentures page) gives members 10%-30% off most services, including root canals. Our independent Aspen Dental price list checks every published Aspen figure — exam, crown, root canal, dentures — against the U.S. average.

Set against that single published number, the Real Dental Costs independent-dentist benchmark still varies by tooth — $860 for a front tooth, $1,010 for a premolar, $1,195 for a molar — and by state. Medicaid sits below both: the program paid dentists a national average of $516 per claim line for a molar root canal (CDT D3330, 2023-2024), a figure that is what the program paid the dentist, not a price a Medicaid patient owes out of pocket. Pick a state and tooth below to compare Aspen's published price against the independent-dentist band in that state and what its Medicaid program actually paid.

What's actually included in the price

The root canal fee and the restoration that follows are two separate bills, and confusing them is the most common reason a quote rises:

• The root canal fee covers the endodontic treatment itself — every appointment, X-rays, local anesthesia, removing the infected pulp, cleaning and shaping the canals, and sealing them with gutta-percha. Whether it takes one visit or several, that fee is the same.
• The final restoration — a filling for some front teeth, but a crown ($800-$3,000) for most back teeth — is billed on top. A core build-up or post may be added when too little tooth structure remains.

When a root canal quote looks low, it almost always prices the endodontic treatment only. Always confirm whether the crown is included before comparing two estimates. If a filling alone is enough for your tooth, compare it against our filling cost breakdown.

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Component cost breakdown

These line items make up a typical root canal treatment plan. Ranges are sourced from published 2024-2026 dental fee data:

What drives the price up or down

1. Tooth type — front (1 canal) < premolar (1-2 canals) < molar (3-4 canals). More canals means more chair time and a higher fee.
2. Provider — endodontists (specialists) typically charge 15-30% more than general dentists, which often pays off on complex or curved canals and retreatments.
3. Crown vs filling — most back teeth need a crown ($800-$3,000); some front teeth need only a filling, which can cut the all-in cost by over a thousand dollars.
4. Retreatment — redoing a failed prior root canal is more involved than a first-time treatment and costs more.
5. Location — practices in high-cost-of-living metros generally charge more than suburban or rural offices for the identical tooth.

Insurance, HSA/FSA and financing

Unlike implants, root canals are usually a covered benefit — they restore function rather than appearance:

• Coverage — most plans pay 50%-80% of the root canal (and often the crown) as basic or major restorative care, after your deductible and up to your annual maximum.
• CDT codes — root canals are billed as D3310 (anterior/front), D3320 (premolar) and D3330 (molar); knowing the code helps you confirm coverage before treatment. The restoration that usually follows is billed separately — a core buildup (D2950) or post-and-core (D2954) plus the crown's own code; those lines are decoded in our dental crown cost guide.
• In-network — your share is a percentage of the discounted in-network fee, so staying in-network meaningfully lowers out-of-pocket cost.
• HSA/FSA — a medically necessary root canal is an IRS-eligible expense, so pre-tax dollars lower the real cost by your tax rate.
• Financing & dental schools — CareCredit and in-house plans spread payments; dental school clinics offer discounted supervised care; Medicaid covers root canals in most, not all, states, with coverage rules for adults varying more than for children.

Root canal vs extraction + implant

Pulling the tooth is cheaper today, but replacing it later usually costs far more:

Saving a restorable tooth with a root canal is typically the lower lifetime cost and avoids the bone loss that follows an empty socket — which is why dentists recommend it when the tooth can be saved. If several teeth are beyond saving, it's worth comparing full and partial denture prices against the implant route above.

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See how root canal and other procedure prices vary across the country in our 2026 report on US dental prices.

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Frequently asked questions