How Much Do Dental Implants Cost in the UK? A 2026 Price Breakdown

The short answer

Most UK practices quote a single dental implant as a “from” price covering three separate parts: the fixture placed into the jawbone, the abutment that connects to it, and the crown on top. At Horsforth Smile Clinic a single implant starts at £2,200, a denture retained on two implants from £3,800, and a full fixed arch from £9,750 on four implants or from £12,500 on six. All are “from” prices, correct as of July 2026 and subject to clinical assessment. Private fees are set practice by practice and are not published centrally, so compare itemised written quotes rather than headline figures.

Suitability for treatment depends on a clinical assessment. This treatment may not be appropriate for every patient.

What a single tooth implant costs

The most useful thing to understand about implant pricing is that an implant is not one object. It is three, fitted in stages over several months, and a quote can legitimately price them together or separately.

The fixture is a titanium screw placed into the jawbone. Over the following months the bone grows against its surface and holds it, a process called osseointegration. The abutment is the connector that sits on top of the fixture and passes through the gum. The crown is the visible tooth, made in a laboratory to match the teeth either side.

Our fee for all three, together with the surgery to place the fixture and the appointments to fit the restoration, starts at £2,200 (price correct as of July 2026, subject to clinical assessment).

Where quotes diverge is in what sits around those three parts.

What the price includes

Ask any practice to confirm in writing which of the following its “from” price covers:

  • the implant fixture and the surgical appointment to place it
  • the abutment
  • the laboratory-made crown and the appointment to fit it
  • planning, including any scans taken specifically for implant planning
  • review appointments during the healing period

A quote covering all five is not directly comparable with one covering only the first, even though both may be presented as “the price of an implant”.

What it does not include

These are commonly separate items, and commonly the reason a final bill exceeds the first figure a patient was given:

  • removing the failing tooth, if it is still in place
  • bone grafting or a sinus lift, where there is not enough bone to hold a fixture
  • treating existing gum disease
  • a temporary tooth to wear during the healing months
  • IV sedation, if you would prefer it
  • ongoing hygiene appointments once treatment finishes

None of these are hidden costs when a practice itemises them up front. They become hidden costs when it does not.

An implant is also not the only way to replace a missing tooth, and it is not always the right one. If you are still weighing the options, we have compared implants, bridges and dentures side by side.

What multiple teeth cost

Implant pricing is not linear, and this is the point patients most often get wrong when budgeting. Four missing teeth in a row does not necessarily mean four implants. Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust notes that several missing teeth can be replaced with fixed bridgework, so the number of fixtures needed is not always the same as the number of teeth being replaced, and replacing four teeth may cost closer to a smaller number of implants plus a larger restoration than four times the single-tooth fee.

The reverse is also true. Two gaps at opposite ends of the mouth need two separate surgical appointments and two separate restorations, and will cost close to double.

An accurate multi-tooth figure is not possible without seeing a scan, so treat any full-mouth figure given before assessment as an estimate.

Implant-retained dentures

If you already wear a lower denture and the problem is that it moves, you may not need a full arch of implants. Two implants placed towards the front of the lower jaw can carry attachments that clip a denture firmly into place. The denture still comes out for cleaning; it stops lifting when you eat and speak.

Denture retention on two implants starts at £3,800 (price correct as of July 2026, subject to clinical assessment). It is a lower-cost route than a fixed full arch, and for many patients it is the proportionate answer to the problem they actually have.

All-on-4 and full-arch

A fixed full arch replaces all the teeth in one jaw with a single bridge carried on four or six implants. It does not come out.

Our fees start at £9,750 for All-on-4 full-arch implants on four fixtures, and from £12,500 for a fixed bridge on six (prices correct as of July 2026, subject to clinical assessment).

Whether four fixtures or six is appropriate is a clinical judgement about bone volume, bone quality and bite forces. It is not a question of paying more for a better result, and it should be settled by a scan rather than by a price list.

The costs people forget

Bone grafts and sinus lifts

An implant needs bone to hold it. As Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust puts it, some people do not have enough bone in the jaw for implants to be placed, and where that is the case a bone graft is used to increase the amount of bone available.

A bone graft with us starts at £400 (price correct as of July 2026, subject to clinical assessment). The range across the profession is wide because these procedures are not equivalent to one another: adding a small volume of graft material at the time of placement is a different undertaking from a sinus lift, where the floor of the sinus above the upper back teeth is raised to create height.

It is worth knowing that grafting is not automatically the right answer. A Cochrane systematic review of maxillary sinus augmentation (Esposito, Felice and Worthington, 2014) found the evidence insufficient to determine whether sinus lift procedures produce better outcomes than simply placing shorter implants where residual bone height is between 4 mm and 9 mm, and recorded more complications at grafted sites in the first year after loading. If you are quoted for a sinus lift, it is entirely reasonable to ask whether a shorter implant is an option in your case.

Consultation, CT scan and diagnostics

An implant assessment is a clinical appointment, not a sales meeting. Our new patient consultation is from £55 (price correct as of July 2026, subject to clinical assessment).

Planning normally includes a CBCT scan, which shows bone volume in three dimensions and the position of the nerve in the lower jaw. Some practices include the scan within the consultation fee and some charge for it separately. Ask which, because it is a real cost either way.

Aftercare and maintenance

Implant treatment does not end when the crown is fitted. Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust describes mucositis, inflammation around the gums, and peri-implantitis, loss of bone around the implant, as problems that can occur if implants are not cleaned properly, and notes that this often warrants further treatment. Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust adds that parts of an implant can loosen or wear out with time. So budget for:

  • monitoring and professional cleaning: Cambridge University Hospitals advises seeing your dentist or hygienist every three to six months in the long term to monitor implants and provide professional cleaning
  • occasional replacement of the crown, or of the screw that retains it
  • management of tooth grinding, if that applies to you — Cambridge University Hospitals notes that patients who grind their teeth are at risk of overloading their implants, and that this can reduce success rates

Maintenance is one of the strongest influences on how long a result lasts, which we cover in more detail in our guide to how long dental implants last.

Why quotes vary so much between practices

Six things account for most of the spread.

1. What the “from” price actually covers. The single most common reason two quotes appear hundreds of pounds apart is that one includes the abutment and crown and the other prices the fixture alone. Ask this before anything else.

2. Per-fixture or per-tooth. A three-tooth bridge on two implants can be quoted as two fixtures or as three teeth. Both are legitimate. They are not comparable.

3. The implant system. Different manufacturers’ systems are used across the profession and their costs are not the same. Since Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust notes that parts of an implant can loosen or wear out with time, it is worth asking which system is being used and whether replacement components will still be obtainable in this country years from now.

4. The clinician’s training and experience. Implant dentistry is not one of the GDC’s recognised specialist lists (General Dental Council, Specialist lists), so no UK dentist can hold that status in implant work — a point worth remembering when you read claims on clinic websites. What you can check is registration, qualifications and how much implant work the clinician actually does. The GDC register is public, free and searchable by name — search it at https://olr.gdc-uk.org/searchregister.

5. Laboratory costs. The crown or bridge is made by a dental laboratory rather than at the chairside. Ask where your restoration will be made and whether the laboratory work sits inside or outside the quoted fee.

6. What happens afterwards. Some fees include a year of review appointments and some do not. If a warranty is offered, ask for its written terms and what would void it.

A higher fee does not by itself indicate a better outcome. It means the number alone tells you very little.

Is it available on the NHS?

Almost never. NHS guidance states that implants are “usually only available privately and are expensive”, and that NHS provision is rare and confined to particular circumstances — for example, patients who cannot manage dentures following mouth cancer or an accident.

The NHS funds clinically necessary treatment to keep the mouth, teeth and gums healthy. Replacing a missing tooth is normally achieved on the NHS with a denture or a bridge, both of which sit in Band 3, charged at £332.10 in England at the time of writing. Implants sit outside that banding altogether.

We have set out the full position, including what the NHS does provide instead, in where NHS treatment ends and private treatment begins.

Is it cheaper abroad?

Advertised prices abroad are frequently lower than UK ones. The question worth concentrating on is what happens if something goes wrong after you fly home.

A 2025 review in the British Dental Journal (Doughty et al., 2025;238(4):230–237) reported the British Dental Association’s 2022 survey of around 1,000 UK dentists, in which 86% said they had treated people suffering consequences after treatment abroad. Respondents considered crowns and implant treatments the most at risk of failure, and around one in five of the dentists surveyed estimated the cost of putting such complications right at more than £5,000.

The NHS’s own treatment-abroad checklist asks people to establish, before travelling, how aftercare will be coordinated and who will provide follow-up on return. That is the practical question, and it applies to a clinic 200 miles away as much as one 2,000 miles away.

We have covered this properly, including the questions worth asking any clinic anywhere, in our guide to dental implants abroad.

Paying for treatment

Implant treatment is staged over months, and fees are normally staged with it rather than paid in a single sum at the outset.

The GDC’s guidance for patients is explicit on two points: you can ask for a written treatment plan if you would find that helpful, and if a price list is not on display in the practice, you can ask to see one. Ask for both before you agree to anything, and ask to be told if the plan or the cost changes during treatment.

If you would like to spread the cost, ask the practice directly what payment arrangements it offers and on what terms, and get those terms in writing before you commit.

What we charge at Horsforth Smile Clinic

Our implant fees are published in full below.

All figures are “from” prices, correct as of July 2026, and subject to clinical assessment. What you actually pay depends on the number of implants, whether grafting is needed and which restoration is appropriate — which is what the consultation and scan are for.

Implant treatment at the practice is led by Dr Zafar Khan, implant dentist, who qualified BDS at the University of Manchester in 1995 and holds FDS RCS (Royal College of Surgeons of England, 1999), GDC No. 70874. The practice has five treatment rooms, is CQC regulated — independently inspected and registered — and is a training practice for foundation dentists.

If you are local to us, the treatment itself is described on our page covering dental implants in Leeds, and everything else we charge is on the full price list.

Risks and suitability

Implants are a well-established treatment with a substantial published record, and they are not appropriate for everyone.

On longevity, the most useful evidence is a systematic review by Howe, Keys and Richards published in the Journal of Dentistry in 2019, pooling 18 prospective studies. Ten-year survival at implant level was 96.4% (95% CI 95.2–97.5%). The same review ran a sensitivity analysis accounting for participants lost to follow-up, and that more conservative estimate was 93.2% (95% CI 90.1–95.8%).

Both numbers are worth having. The second is the one usually left off clinic websites, and it is the more realistic basis for a decision.

Survival is also not the same as success. Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust describes peri-implantitis — loss of bone around the implant — as something that can occur where implants are not cleaned properly and that often warrants further treatment. We explain that distinction, and what causes implants to fail, in how long dental implants last.

Suitability is assessed on bone volume and quality, gum health, medical history, medication, and habits such as smoking and tooth grinding. Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust lists a history of gum disease among the factors that increase the chance of implant failure. Surgery is carried out under local anaesthetic; IV sedation is available for anxious patients, subject to clinical assessment. If you want to know what the procedure actually feels like, we have described it step by step in do dental implants hurt.

Suitability for treatment depends on a clinical assessment. This treatment may not be appropriate for every patient.

Frequently asked questions

How much does one dental implant cost in the UK? At this practice a single implant starts at £2,200, covering the fixture, abutment and crown (price correct as of July 2026, subject to clinical assessment). Private fees vary between practices and are not published centrally, so the meaningful comparison is between itemised written quotes rather than advertised “from” figures.

Does the quoted price include the crown? Not always, and this is the most frequent reason a final bill exceeds what a patient expected. Some practices quote the fixture alone. Ask specifically whether the abutment and the laboratory-made crown are included, and get the answer in writing.

Why do two quotes for the same treatment differ by thousands of pounds? Usually because they cover different things — fixture only versus the complete restoration, or per-fixture versus per-tooth pricing. Beyond that, the implant system, laboratory costs, diagnostic imaging, sedation and post-treatment reviews may sit inside or outside a fee depending on the practice.

Are dental implants available on the NHS? Rarely. NHS guidance describes implants as usually only available privately, with NHS provision limited to particular circumstances such as patients who cannot manage dentures after mouth cancer or an accident. Dentures and bridges are the usual NHS routes to replacing a missing tooth — see where NHS treatment ends and private treatment begins.

Will I need a bone graft, and what does that add? Only a scan will tell you. Where there is not enough bone in the jaw, a graft is used to increase the amount available, and grafting starts at £400 here (price correct as of July 2026, subject to clinical assessment). It is reasonable to ask whether a shorter implant is an alternative, since the Cochrane evidence on sinus lifts does not establish that grafting produces better outcomes than shorter fixtures where 4–9 mm of bone remains.

How long will an implant last? Pooled ten-year survival at implant level was 96.4% (95% CI 95.2–97.5%) in the 2019 Journal of Dentistry review by Howe, Keys and Richards, and 93.2% (95% CI 90.1–95.8%) in the same review’s more conservative sensitivity analysis. Outcomes depend heavily on gum health, smoking and ongoing maintenance — covered in how long dental implants last.

Sources

  1. Howe MS, Keys W, Richards D. Long-term (10-year) dental implant survival: a systematic review and sensitivity meta-analysis. Journal of Dentistry 2019;84:9–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdent.2019.03.008
  2. Esposito M, Felice P, Worthington HV. Interventions for replacing missing teeth: augmentation procedures of the maxillary sinus. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2014;(5):CD008397. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD008397.pub2
  3. Doughty J, et al. Contemporary dental tourism: a review of reporting in the UK news media. British Dental Journal 2025;238(4):230–237. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41415-025-8330-2
  4. NHS. Dental treatments. https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-teeth-and-gums/dental-treatments/
  5. NHS. How much NHS dental treatment costs. https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/dentists/how-much-nhs-dental-treatment-costs/
  6. NHS. Dental services available on the NHS. https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/dentists/what-dental-services-are-available-on-the-nhs/
  7. NHS. Treatment abroad checklist. https://www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/healthcare-abroad/going-abroad-for-treatment/treatment-abroad-checklist/
  8. General Dental Council. What you can expect from your dental professional. https://www.gdc-uk.org/standards-guidance/information-for-patients-public/standards-of-care
  9. General Dental Council. The registers. https://www.gdc-uk.org/about-us/what-we-do/the-registers — search the register at https://olr.gdc-uk.org/searchregister
  10. General Dental Council. Specialist lists. https://www.gdc-uk.org/registration/your-registration/specialist-lists
  11. Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Dental implants in restorative dentistry. https://www.cuh.nhs.uk/patient-information/dental-implants-in-restorative-dentistry/
  12. Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust. Dental implants. https://www.guysandstthomas.nhs.uk/health-information/dental-implants
  13. Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust. Bone grafting for dental implants. https://www.guysandstthomas.nhs.uk/health-information/bone-grafting-dental-implants
  14. Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. Dental Implants. https://www.leedsth.nhs.uk/patients/resources/dental-implants/