Dental price index: how fast dental prices are rising
By the SmileCosts Editorial TeamData through August 2026
Official federal data on what has happened to the price of going to the dentist, month by month
since 2000. It updates itself when the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes a new
month.
Dental services+5.0%12 months to August 2026
All items (overall inflation)+3.4%same 12 months
Medical care overall+1.6%same 12 months
Over the past year, dental prices rose faster than prices overall and
faster than medical care as a whole. Since 2000, dental care
has gone up +159%, against +98% for everything else.
Why dental care keeps getting more expensive →
Cumulative price change since January 2000, not seasonally adjusted. Hover or use the
arrow keys to read any month. A break in a line is a month BLS did not publish.
What would an old dental bill cost today?
Got an old quote, or remember what a treatment cost years ago? See what the same care costs at
today's prices.
At August 2026 prices
$1,412
Dental prices since then+41.2%
Prices overall, same period +39.6%
Uses the average dental services index for the year you pick. It shows how dental prices in
general moved, not what your own dentist charges today. For that, get a new written quote.
Year by year
Each row is the change from December of the year before to December of that year, the way BLS
reports annual inflation. The first row is the latest 12 months.
Annual change in consumer prices, dental services vs. medical care vs. all items
Period
Dental services
Medical care
All items
12 months to Aug 2026
+5.0%
+1.6%
+3.4%
2025
+3.8%
+3.2%
+2.7%
2024
+3.0%
+2.8%
+2.9%
2023
+5.0%
+0.5%
+3.4%
2022
+6.4%
+4.0%
+6.5%
2021
+2.2%
+2.2%
+7.0%
2020
+2.9%
+1.8%
+1.4%
2019
+3.0%
+4.6%
+2.3%
2018
+2.3%
+2.0%
+1.9%
2017
+1.5%
+1.8%
+2.1%
2016
+2.7%
+4.1%
+2.1%
2015
+2.8%
+2.6%
+0.7%
2014
+1.8%
+3.0%
+0.8%
2013
+2.8%
+2.0%
+1.5%
2012
+2.8%
+3.2%
+1.7%
2011
+2.2%
+3.5%
+3.0%
2010
+2.7%
+3.3%
+1.5%
2009
+3.2%
+3.4%
+2.7%
2008
+3.7%
+2.6%
+0.1%
2007
+5.8%
+5.2%
+4.1%
2006
+5.0%
+3.6%
+2.5%
2005
+5.7%
+4.3%
+3.4%
2004
+4.9%
+4.2%
+3.3%
2003
+4.4%
+3.7%
+1.9%
2002
+4.5%
+5.0%
+2.4%
2001
+3.9%
+4.7%
+1.6%
What this means when you get a quote
A quote from last year is probably out of date. With dental prices up
+5.0% in a year, a $4,000 treatment plan quoted 12 months ago would cost about $4,199 at today's average prices. Ask for a fresh written quote before you commit.
Over ten years, the gap adds up. Since August 2016, dental prices rose
+41%, against +39% for prices overall. If your dental budget, savings goal
or insurance maximum has not moved in that time, it buys less care every year.
The index is an average, and your options are not. The spread between two
practices in the same town is usually far bigger than one year of inflation. Comparing
itemized quotes with our quote comparison worksheet
saves more than any index can show. Our cost guides give current price
ranges by treatment.
What this index measures, and what it doesn't
The figures come from the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), published by the
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. We use three series, all U.S. city average and not seasonally
adjusted: dental services (CUUR0000SEMC02), medical care
(CUUR0000SAM) and all items (CUUR0000SA0).
It measures the full price of care. For medical services, BLS counts the
total payment the provider receives, meaning the patient's share plus the insurer's share. So
this is the price of dental care itself, not your out-of-pocket cost.
It tracks change, not price levels. The index can tell you dental care got
+5.0% more expensive in a year. It cannot tell you what a crown costs. For that, see our
crown cost guide and the rest of our
methodology.
Some months are missing. BLS did not publish October 2025 ("Data unavailable due to the 2025 lapse in appropriations"). The chart shows
a break there instead of guessing a value, and any 12-month change that would need the
missing month is shown as n/a.
Use this data
Journalists, researchers and bloggers are welcome to use these figures and the chart. Please
link to this page as the source so readers can find the monthly update.
SmileCosts Dental Price Index, based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI data (series CUUR0000SEMC02), August 2026. https://smilecosts.com/dental-price-index/
Frequently asked questions
How much have dental prices gone up in the last year?
Prices for dental services rose +5.0% in the 12 months to August 2026, according to the Consumer Price Index from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That is faster than overall inflation (+3.4%) over the same months.
How much have dental prices risen since 2000?
Dental services prices are up +159% since January 2000, compared with +98% for prices overall. Put simply, dental care that cost $100 then costs about $259 now.
Why doesn't this match what my own dentist charges?
The index is a national average across thousands of price quotes. It measures how prices changed, not what any one practice charges. Your dentist may raise fees more or less than the average, or not at all in a given year. Use the index to judge whether an increase is unusual, not to predict a specific bill.
Does the index measure what I pay or what my insurance pays?
Both. BLS measures the total payment a dentist receives for a service, counting the patient's share and the insurer's share together. So the index tracks the price of dental care itself. It does not show how much of an increase your insurance absorbs.
How often is this page updated?
BLS publishes the Consumer Price Index once a month, usually around the middle of the month, for the month before. This page checks for new data every week and updates when a new month is out.
About these numbers: Figures are official BLS Consumer Price Index data, not
estimates, and are recalculated automatically each time BLS publishes a new month. Last updated
with August 2026 data. They describe national price trends and are not a quote, dental advice, or
a prediction of what any provider will charge.