How Much Are NHS Fillings? | Current Band 2 Costs By UK

If you have ever typed “How Much Are NHS Fillings?” into a search bar, you already know how confusing the answer can feel. The price depends on where you live in the UK, whether you pay the full charge, and whether your filling is part of a wider course of treatment.

How Much Are NHS Fillings? Band 2 Charges Explained

Across England and Wales, standard adult NHS dental treatment uses three charge bands. Fillings sit in Band 2, which groups them with root canal work and extractions. You pay once per course of treatment, not per tooth, so several fillings in one plan still attract one Band 2 fee.

From 1 April 2025, the Band 2 charge in England is £75.30 for a paying adult. In Wales, Band 2 costs £60.00 and that figure currently applies for the 2024 to 2025 period. Scotland and Northern Ireland use item of service fee scales instead of the three band model.

Country Or Region	How NHS Fillings Are Charged	Typical Cost To Paying Adult
England	Three band system; fillings sit in Band 2 course of treatment.	£75.30 Band 2 charge from April 2025.
Wales	Same three bands; fillings again sit in Band 2.	£60.00 Band 2 charge from April 2024.
Scotland	Item of service fee scale with a set price for each filling type.	Sample NHS fees often range from around £13 to £29 for amalgam fillings.
Northern Ireland	Patients pay 80% of the Health Service fee up to a cap per course.	Health Service amalgam fillings often fall in a band from around £8 to £19 per tooth.
Children In England And Wales	NHS fillings are free for under 18s and under 19s in full time education.	£0, provided the course of treatment is under the NHS and exemption rules apply.
Adults With Valid Exemption	Certain benefits or low income schemes remove the dental charge.	£0 for covered courses of treatment.
Urgent Treatment England	Emergency appointment with short term work such as a temporary filling.	£27.40 urgent charge in England from April 2025.

Band 2 looks like a single price, yet real bills vary with exemptions, repeat visits, and whether you switch between NHS and private care. The next sections break those pieces down so you can map the official rules to your own bill in real life.

NHS Filling Costs And Band 2 Rules In England And Wales

For adults who pay full NHS charges in England, a filling almost always falls under a Band 2 course of treatment. You pay £75.30 for the whole plan after 1 April 2025. That price covers everything in Band 1, such as the check up and any X rays, along with the filling work itself.

In Wales the structure mirrors England, but prices differ. Band 2 costs £60.00 and again includes the check up, planning, and the fillings in that course. You still pay once per plan, so two or three fillings at the same time attract the same Band 2 fee as a single filling.

The official NHS dental treatment costs page sets out which procedures sit in each band and confirms that Band 2 covers fillings, root canal work, and extractions in England. Welsh patients can check band amounts through local health board information based on the same three band layout.

What Counts As One Course Of Treatment

A course starts with an examination, includes the planned work, and ends when the dentist marks that plan as complete on the system.

If you need two fillings on different teeth and your dentist plans them together, you pay one Band 2 fee. If you return within two months for extra work that still falls in Band 2, this can sit inside the same charge in Wales, while in England a fresh course may attract a new Band fee.

If you attend for a check up and no fillings are needed, the visit stays in Band 1. If you arrive in pain and need an emergency appointment, you may pay the urgent charge instead, which sits lower than Band 2 but covers only limited short term care such as a temporary filling.

When A Filling Might Be Private Instead

Even when a practice advertises NHS care, not every filling will sit under NHS rules. Some dentists offer white fillings on back teeth only on a private basis, or suggest private options when NHS time or lab allowance would not cover the requested work.

In that case, you pay the Band charge for the NHS part of the plan plus a separate private fee. Private filling prices vary widely between practices and between regions, so a quick check of the practice fee list helps you judge whether the quoted private price feels fair.

Scotland And Northern Ireland NHS Filling Prices

In Scotland and Northern Ireland, NHS fillings do not sit inside three simple bands. Instead, each item has its own fee on a published list. Patients usually pay a percentage of that fee, up to a maximum charge per course of treatment.

Scottish practices commonly show sample fees for standard items. A small amalgam filling on a back tooth may sit in the low double digit range, while a larger metal filling costs more. White fillings on front teeth also carry set fees but can move over to private lists for certain teeth.

In Northern Ireland, Health Service dental charges work in a similar way. Adults who pay charges usually contribute 80% of the dentist fee for each item, up to a cap per course, while the state covers the rest.

Help With NHS Filling Costs And Exemptions

Not everyone who needs a filling pays the headline band price. Children, some young people in full time education, pregnant people, and several benefit groups receive free NHS dental care. Certain types of hospital based dental treatment are also exempt from standard band charges.

On top of this, the NHS Low Income Scheme can cut or remove dental charges if your income and savings sit under set limits. You apply for this through an HC1 form. If the NHS awards an HC2 certificate, covered dental work, including fillings, is free for the life of that certificate.

The NHS Business Services Authority explains these rules in detail and offers an online checker on its help with NHS dental costs page. That tool walks you through your age, income, and benefit status so you can see whether you should pay the full Band charge, a partial charge, or nothing.

NHS Filling Costs Recap And Real Examples

By this point the headline figures should feel clearer. Still, cost questions tend to arise when you try to apply those figures to real life. The table below sets out common filling scenarios and shows what a standard paying adult might expect to hand over at the desk.

Scenario	Where And Who	Likely Patient Charge
One small filling after a check up.	Paying adult in England on standard NHS banding.	One Band 2 course at £75.30.
Three fillings planned in one go.	Paying adult in Wales seen at the same practice.	One Band 2 course at £60.00.
Emergency visit for severe toothache and a temporary filling.	Adult in England needing urgent care only.	Urgent charge at £27.40, with later planned work charged separately.
Single amalgam filling on a back tooth.	Adult NHS patient in Scotland.	Item of service fee in the low tens of pounds.
White filling on a front tooth.	Adult Health Service patient in Northern Ireland.	Patient pays 80% of the Health Service fee, up to the course cap.
Two fillings for a 16 year old.	NHS course in England or Wales.	No charge, as the patient sits in an exempt age group.
Filling plus crown on the same tooth.	Paying adult in England.	Whole course usually charged at Band 3, so £326.70 from April 2025.
Private white filling on a back molar.	Any part of the UK where the practice offers this only as private work.	Set by the practice; prices in many areas run into three figures.

Real costs still shift between practices, especially where a mix of NHS and private care appears on the same plan. Always ask the receptionist or treatment coordinator for a written estimate that shows which parts of the plan fall under each band and which lines are private.

Official band fees usually change once a year around April. That means any figure in a guide like this can date over time. When you are close to booking treatment, pairing the outline here with the latest figures on official NHS pages gives you the most reliable picture.

So when you ask “How Much Are NHS Fillings?” you now know that there is no single answer, but there is a clear method. Work out which country you live in, check whether you qualify for help with costs, and see which band or item your treatment plan sits under. Once you have those parts, the final price on the day should no longer come as a surprise for you personally.