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I need a crown
A porcelain/ceramic crown on one tooth.
The three prices nobody explains to you
What you'll see quoted $1,460 The billed charge. A list price. Nobody pays this.
What a dentist actually accepts $864 The allowed amount — payment in full, in-network.
What insured patients paid $351 Average, from real claims.
Source: Colorado All-Payer Claims Database (CIVHC) — dental analysis, commercial claims (CY2024) — the only US source publishing dental allowed amounts from actual commercial claims.
The internet will tell you a crown costs about $1,460. That's the BILLED charge. An in-network dentist actually accepts $864 — and insured patients paid $351 on average.
What you'd actually pay
Your plan pays —
You pay —
Remember: dental plans have no out-of-pocket maximum. Medical insurance
protects you from catastrophe. Dental insurance caps what the insurer pays, not what you pay.
An estimate, not a quote. Prices are Colorado commercial claims — the only state that publishes
this. Colorado's data misses roughly half of covered lives (self-insured employers don't report). Coinsurance
tiers (100% preventive / 80% basic / 50% major) are an industry convention, not a measured average —
nobody publishes what share of plans actually use them. Not dental or financial advice.
Our methodology →