Dental Check-Ups and Examinations in Edinburgh
A dental check-up is where everything else starts: a proper look at your teeth, gums and mouth, the X-rays needed to see what an examination can't, and an honest conversation about what — if anything — needs doing and what it would cost. At City Dental Care on Earl Grey Street the NHS list is open, private examinations are priced up front, and you leave with a written plan rather than a sales pitch.
Transparent pricing
New patient exam £85 (incl. X-rays)Existing patients £55 · NHS examinations free · Hygiene £65
Any treatment recommended is quoted in writing before it's booked. Booking an NHS examination online takes a refundable £10 holding fee; booking by phone takes none.
Cosmetic, Invisalign and facial aesthetics consultations are free, and so is the initial implant consultation. The free implant consultation does not include the CBCT scan and implant planning, which is £149 when a new scan is needed. We take a deposit when you book, under our Failure to Attend policy, and it is refunded when you attend; we confirm the amount when you book. A free consultation is an initial consultation, not a full dental examination.
What Happens at a Dental Check-Up
Teeth:
Every tooth checked for decay, cracks, wear and failing fillings, with X-rays when your dentist judges they're needed, to see between the teeth and under existing work.
Gums:
Gum health measured, not guessed - early gum disease rarely hurts, which is why it's checked at every visit.
Soft tissues:
A check of the cheeks, tongue, palate and throat for signs of mouth cancer and anything else unusual, at every examination.
Bite and jaw:
How the teeth meet, signs of grinding or clenching, and the jaw joints.
Your health and habits:
Your medical history and any medicines are updated, and your dentist may talk about diet, smoking and alcohol, which all affect your risk of decay, gum disease and mouth cancer.
What you'd like to change:
If there's something about your smile you'd like to discuss - crowding, staining, a chipped edge - this is the place to raise it. No pressure either way.
What You Leave With
A clear picture of your mouth, a recall interval that fits your risk rather than a calendar, and — if treatment is needed — a written plan with prices, options where there are options, and no obligation. If nothing needs doing, we'll tell you that too.
How Much Is a Dental Check-Up in Edinburgh?
Private: a new patient examination is £85 and a routine examination for existing patients is £55, both including the small X-rays taken at the check-up (a panoramic X-ray, if one is needed, is charged separately). Anything your dentist recommends is quoted in writing before it's booked, and all our private fees are on our dental fees page.
NHS: NHS dental examinations are free for everyone in Scotland, and so are the shorter review appointments some patients need between them. X-rays and treatment are charged at NHS rates: you pay 80% of the NHS fee, capped at £384 for a course of treatment, and nothing if you are under 26, pregnant or have had a baby in the last 12 months, or exempt because of your income or certain benefits. A small X-ray is £6.08 and a large panoramic X-ray of the teeth and jaws is £14.92 (on the NHS Scotland fee scale in force from 1 November 2025). Booking an NHS examination online takes a £10 holding fee, which is credited against any treatment or refunded in full if you need none or are exempt; booking by phone carries no holding fee. Our NHS list is open, so you can register for a free NHS dental check-up online.
Hygiene: a check-up is with a dentist, and a clean is a separate hygiene appointment, from £65.
Spreading the cost of private care: Practice Plans start at £19.50 a month, plus a one-off £9.50 joining fee, not charged again if you change plan or continue into another year. Every plan includes two examinations a year, small X-rays and two or four hygiene visits, standard or GBT depending on the plan.
How Often Should You Have a Dental Check-Up?
Not on a fixed six-month calendar. Your dentist sets the gap from your own risk of decay, gum disease and other problems, and tells you what it is and why. NHS inform says it can range from under six months to two years, and guidance from NICE puts the shortest interval at three months and the longest at two years for adults and one year for under-18s.
Things that raise your risk, and so can shorten the gap, include smoking or other tobacco use, drinking above the recommended limits, frequent sugary or acidic food and drink, and tooth wear from grinding. Brushing with a fluoride toothpaste of at least 1,000ppm helps protect your teeth between visits.
On the NHS in Scotland, a full examination is due every 12, 18 or 24 months, with shorter review appointments in between if your mouth needs closer watching, for example because of decay, gum disease or tooth wear. Clinical guidance is that children should have a check-up at least once every 12 months. Children can be registered at any age, babies included, and parents and children can register together: see our children's dentist page.
Why Have Your Check-Ups at City Dental Care?
NHS and private, list open:
New NHS patients can register and book online - no waiting list - and private patients get published prices.
Evenings until 8pm:
Monday to Thursday (until 5pm on Friday), in the city centre a short walk from Haymarket Station, with a payable car park in the same building.
Most treatment under one roof:
Hygiene and GBT, imaging including CBCT, implants, root canals and cosmetic treatment are all done here, so most treatment plans don't mean a referral elsewhere.
Nervous, or been a while? Say so:
Tell us when you book and the appointment is paced around you. You can ask for numbing gel before an injection, bring someone into the room with you, or call in to see the practice before you book. If it's been years, you're welcomed back, not told off. Read our guide for nervous patients.
