Private dental treatment price list: how to publish yours

Your private dental treatment price list is one of the few pages on your website that the regulator tells you to publish. The General Dental Council says you must give clear information on prices on your website, and that patients should not have to ask for it. Get the page right and it does two jobs at once: it keeps you compliant, and it answers the cost question that sits behind a large share of the searches patients make before they choose a practice.

This guide is for the practice owner or manager deciding how to publish fees. It covers what the rules actually say, what to put on the list, how to show "from" prices without misleading anyone, and how to build a page that is useful to someone comparing private dental charges in your town.

What the GDC requires on prices

The short answer: a simple price list on display in reception, clear prices on your website and in your practice literature, and a written treatment plan with a realistic cost before treatment starts.

These come from Standard 2.4 of the GDC's Standards for the Dental Team, "You must give patients clear information about costs", and the treatment plan points under Standard 2.3:

The GDC's guidance on advertising adds that your publicity must make clear whether the practice is NHS, mixed or wholly private. A fee page is the natural place to say so plainly.

One thing to watch: the GDC consulted in June to August 2026 on replacing the Standards with a new Framework for Professionalism. Until anything new comes into force, the current Standards apply, and the principle behind them, that patients can see what things cost before they commit, is not going away.

Can a private dentist charge what they like?

Yes, within the law. The GDC's own information on dental costs says there are no set limits on what practices can charge for private treatment and that prices vary from practice to practice. NHS charges are different: they are set nationally in each UK nation, not by the practice.

What you cannot do is hide your prices, show them in a way that misleads, or start treatment without a written plan and a realistic cost. Freedom to set the fee comes with a duty to show it clearly.

What to put on your private fee list

Start with the GDC minimum, then add what patients actually ask about at your front desk. A useful private dental treatment price list usually groups items like this:

• Examinations and consultations. New patient examination, routine examination for existing patients, and any specialist or cosmetic consultation. Say what is included, for example whether X-rays are part of the fee or charged separately.
• Hygiene. Hygienist appointment by length, if you price that way. "Hygienist cost" is a common search, so name it plainly.
• X-rays. Bitewing and pan-oral, as the GDC lists them.
• Fillings. White fillings by number of surfaces or tooth position, and any other materials you offer. People search "how much is a filling private" in those words, so a clear filling row earns its place.
• Extractions. Simple and surgical, if they differ.
• Root canal treatment. By tooth type if your fees vary.
• Crowns, bridges, veneers and dentures. By material.
• Implants. See the section on "from" prices below, because this is where most fee lists mislead without meaning to.
• Cosmetic treatment. Whitening, composite bonding, clear aligners, with a range and what the range depends on.
• Emergency appointments. In hours and out of hours, if different.
• Practice policies with a price. Missed appointment or late cancellation fees, deposits, and any membership plan.

Write each row the way a patient would describe it, not the way your software codes it. "Back tooth white filling, one surface" is clearer than a code and a material name.

How to show "from" prices without misleading

Ranges and "from" prices are allowed, and the GDC says a range can be shown for items that vary in cost. The advertising rules set the limits.

The CAP Code section on prices, which the Advertising Standards Authority applies to claims on your own website, says:

• price statements must not mislead by omission, undue emphasis or distortion (rule 3.17)
• quoted prices must include non-optional taxes, fees and charges that apply to all or most buyers (rule 3.18)
• if one price depends on another, you must make clear the commitment needed to get the advertised price (rule 3.21)
• "from" and "up to" claims must not exaggerate how available the price really is (rule 3.22)

Consumer law points the same way. The CMA's guidance on unfair commercial practices under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 says that when a trader gives information about a product and its price, that will normally be an "invitation to purchase", which must include the total price. Showing a headline price and adding mandatory charges later, known as drip pricing, is prohibited.

In practice that means:

1. Price the whole treatment, not the cheapest part. If an implant "from" price leaves out the crown, the abutment or the scan that every patient needs, the headline is not the price. Either quote the full treatment or show the parts together so the total is obvious.
2. Make "from" real. The "from" figure should be a price a reasonable number of patients actually pay, not a rare case.
3. Say what moves the price. One line, such as "depends on the number of teeth and whether bone grafting is needed", sets expectations far better than a bare range.
4. Separate optional extras clearly. Sedation, a night guard after whitening or an extra retainer can be listed as optional, as long as they really are.

Showing NHS and private prices side by side

If you are a mixed practice, patients will want both. NHS charges in England are set nationally by the government, and the NHS website lists the current bands: Band 1 £27.90, Band 2 £76.60, Band 3 £332.10, and urgent treatment £27.90. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland set their own charges.

A clear layout puts the NHS treatment price list and the private list in separate tables, with a sentence explaining that NHS treatment covers what is clinically necessary and that private options are a choice. Link to the NHS page rather than copying exemption rules, so you never show out-of-date charges or eligibility. When NHS charges change, update the page the same week, and change the date the website was last updated, which the GDC also asks practice websites to show.

Is it worth paying for a private dentist? Answer it on the page

Patients ask Google whether it is worth paying for a private dentist, and whether it is better to go private or NHS. Your fee page is where they land with that question in mind, so answer it honestly in your own words, without claims you cannot back up.

Useful, factual points are things like appointment length, the range of materials and treatments available privately, how far ahead you book, and what your membership plan includes. Avoid comparative claims about quality, and avoid anything that suggests NHS care is unsafe or inferior. The GDC requires that you back up claims with facts and avoid creating unjustified expectations.

The same goes for "What do I do if I can't afford private dental treatment?" A short, kind paragraph covering whether you offer NHS care, whether you have payment options or a plan, and who to contact for an estimate does more for trust than a long sales section.

How to make your fee page useful in search

A fee page that complies but cannot be found only does half its job. A few practical points:

• Put prices in the page as text. A scanned PDF or an image of a price board is hard for patients on phones and harder for search engines to read. A plain HTML table works best.
• Use the words patients use. A title along the lines of "Private dental fees and prices" and headings such as "Private dental charges" and "NHS dental charges" match how people search.
• One fee page, linked from every treatment page. Each treatment page should show its own price or range and link to the full list, so the figures never disagree.
• Show the date. "Prices correct from" with a real date tells patients and Google the page is maintained.
• Answer the follow-up questions. What is included in an examination, how estimates work, whether you take deposits, and how to pay.

Fee pages are part of the wider work covered in our guide to SEO for dental practices. If you want to know which cost questions people in your own area are typing, Practice Radar's search demand and content gaps views show them for your market.

Common mistakes on dental fee lists

1. "Prices on request" or "call for a quote". The GDC says patients should not have to ask.
2. A price board that disagrees with the website. Keep one master list and update both together.
3. Headline prices that leave out mandatory parts. The commonest problem with implant, aligner and denture pricing.
4. Not saying NHS or private. Every price should be clearly one or the other.
5. Discounts that are not real. A "was" price must be a price you genuinely charged. The government said in August 2026 that it wants to end misleading discounts where the "sale" price is the same as before.
6. Stale pages. Last year's prices with no date erode trust the moment a patient is quoted something different.

A checklist before you publish

1. GDC minimum items included: consultation, single-surface filling, extraction, radiographs, hygienist treatment.
2. Every price labelled NHS or private, and the practice described as NHS, mixed or private.
3. Ranges explain what moves the price, and "from" prices are genuinely available.
4. Totals include every mandatory part, with optional extras listed separately.
5. The website list matches the reception list and the treatment pages.
6. A "prices correct from" date and a website "last updated" date.
7. Short honest answers to "is private worth it" and "what if I cannot afford it".
8. Guarantee terms stated if you offer them.

A clear fee page will not win patients on its own, but a missing or confusing one quietly loses them to the practice down the road that answered the question. For the rest of the picture, our guide on how to get more dental patients covers where a fee page fits, and the free search audit shows how your site appears for searches in your town today.