Guide · NHS charges

NHS dental charges in Scotland: what’s free and what you pay

In Scotland an NHS dental examination is free for everyone, and NHS treatment is charged item by item at 80% of the NHS fee, with a cap on what you pay for a course of treatment. Many people pay nothing at all. This guide sets out what’s free, who pays nothing, and the charge for each treatment on the current NHS Scotland fee scale. We’re an NHS dentist in Edinburgh taking new patients, at 9 Earl Grey Street in Edinburgh city centre: our NHS list is open and there’s no waiting list.

What’s free on the NHS in Scotland

• Examinations are free for everyone in Scotland, not just for people who are exempt from charges. There is no charge for an NHS check-up.
• Treatment is free if you’re exempt. Under-26s, pregnant women and new mothers, and people on certain benefits pay nothing for NHS treatment.
• Repairs within 12 months. If a filling, root filling, inlay or crown we provided under the NHS has to be repaired or replaced within 12 months, you aren’t charged for it while you remain registered with us, whatever your age. There are exceptions, such as temporary work, work done against our advice, damage from an accident, or private treatment or non-temporary treatment at another practice on that tooth in those 12 months: NHS & You lists them all.

Booking an NHS examination with us online takes a refundable £10 appointment-holding fee (credited against any treatment, or refunded in full if you need none or are exempt); booking by phone carries no holding fee. So the examination itself stays free.

What you pay for NHS treatment

If you aren’t exempt, you pay 80% of the NHS fee for each item of treatment you have, and you never pay more than £384 for a single course of treatment: anything beyond that is covered by the NHS. NHS Scotland sets the fee for every item, so these are NHS Scotland’s charges, not our fees, and we’ll always tell you what your treatment costs before it starts.

For example, if your examination finds a tooth that needs a filling on one surface, and your dentist needs two small X-rays, you pay £12.16 for the X-rays and £14.00 for the filling: £26.16 in all, on the fee scale in force from 1 November 2025. The examination itself is free, and if you’re under 26 or exempt, you pay nothing.

Some larger NHS treatment plans need approval from NHS Scotland before treatment starts. We'll tell you if yours does, and what it costs, before anything begins.

NHS dental charges for each treatment

These are the charges for patients who pay for NHS treatment: 80% of the fee. Under-26s and exempt patients pay nothing, and you never pay more than £384 for one course of treatment. Some items have NHS conditions: crowns, inlays and bridges, for example, are normally for patients aged 17 or over. Each treatment’s page, linked in the table, explains them, and your dentist tells you which apply to you.

Root canal treatment and dentures are also provided on the NHS for patients registered with the practice, and are charged the same way: 80% of the NHS fee, within the same £384 cap. The fee depends on the tooth or the denture, so your dentist tells you yours before treatment starts.

The charges change when NHS Scotland updates its fee scale, and we update them here when it does.

NHS emergency appointments

NHS emergency appointments are for patients registered with us, and are booked by phone rather than online: call us on 0131 228 2442 and reception will do their best to see you the same day. Phone bookings carry no holding fee. An NHS emergency visit ("unscheduled care") costs £17.32 on the NHS Scotland fee scale from 1 November 2025. That covers the assessment and the emergency treatment itself, such as a dressing, draining an abscess or re-cementing a crown; X-rays are charged on top at NHS rates. An extraction isn't done in the NHS emergency appointment: if you need one, it's booked separately and charged at its own NHS rate, as is any other further treatment. If you're under 26 or exempt from NHS charges, there's no charge: the NHS covers the fees for you. When we’re closed, phone NHS 24 on 111. Our emergency dental care page has the details.

What the NHS doesn’t cover

The NHS provides all treatment necessary to secure and maintain your oral health. Treatment that is mainly cosmetic is usually private: teeth whitening, composite bonding and veneers, for example. On the NHS we provide metal crowns and porcelain bonded to metal (metal-ceramic) crowns; all-ceramic crowns, such as zirconia and Emax, are private. In Scotland you’re entitled to mix NHS and private care, and we’ll always tell you before any treatment whether it’s NHS or private, and what it costs. Our guide to NHS versus private dentistry in Scotland explains how mixing the two works.

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