How Much Does Dental Treatment Cost in Korea? Average Prices by Treatment (2025–2026)

At a glance

Dental treatment costs in Korea range from a few thousand to tens of thousands of won per visit for items covered by national health insurance (called "covered" or geubyeo items), to hundreds of thousands or even tens of millions of won for items not covered by insurance (bigeubyeo items, paid fully out of pocket). For example, a root canal at a dental clinic averages KRW 11,120 per visit, while an implant averages KRW 1,150,000 per tooth nationwide at dental clinics, and orthodontic treatment averages about KRW 3,500,000–6,000,000 in Korea.

The figures below combine non-covered treatment cost data released in September 2025 by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA), Korea's national health insurance review agency, with survey data from Korean dental information platforms such as Modoodoc and Banksalad. Prices for non-covered items vary widely by clinic, region and material, so use them only as a reference and always confirm the actual price with the dental clinic before your visit.

Prevention and oral hygiene

Item	Average	Price range	Type	Notes
Scaling (national health insurance, once a year)	KRW 15,000	KRW 10,000–20,000	Covered	Patient copayment
Scaling (Seoul and capital area)	KRW 80,000	KRW 70,000–100,000	Non-covered
Scaling (outside the capital area)	KRW 60,000	KRW 50,000–80,000	Non-covered
Gum treatment (periodontal treatment)	KRW 14,317/visit	KRW 1,400–36,100/visit	Covered	Based on Modoodoc survey of 1,439 clinics

Cavity treatment (restorative treatment)

The treatment method changes depending on how far the cavity has progressed, and the cost difference grows accordingly.

Treatment	Cavity stage	Average	Price range	Type
Amalgam	Stage 1	KRW 10,000	Up to KRW 10,000	Covered
Resin filling (insurance-covered)	—	KRW 90,000	KRW 70,000–150,000	Covered
Resin filling (front teeth)	—	KRW 100,000	KRW 70,000–150,000	Non-covered
Resin filling (molars)	—	KRW 150,000	KRW 100,000–200,000	Non-covered
Inlay	Stage 2	KRW 290,000	KRW 200,000–400,000	Non-covered
Onlay	Stage 2	KRW 330,000	KRW 250,000–450,000	Non-covered
Crown	Stage 3 (extensive)	KRW 600,000	KRW 500,000–700,000	Non-covered

Root canal treatment (endodontic treatment)

As a covered item, the cost per visit is relatively low, rising slightly with the size of the medical institution.

Type of institution (per visit)	Average	Price range	Type
Dental clinic	KRW 11,120	Up to KRW 15,000	Covered
Dental hospital	KRW 15,660	Up to KRW 20,000	Covered
General hospital	KRW 19,720	Up to KRW 25,000	Covered
Tertiary general hospital	KRW 25,230	Up to KRW 30,000	Covered

For 3 visits, the patient's share is about KRW 35,500 for a front tooth with a single canal and about KRW 79,600 for a molar with 4 canals. After the root canal is finished, the cost of a crown may be added.

Crowns (prosthetics)

Crowns are non-covered, and the price varies greatly depending on the material used. Figures are based on HIRA public data for 2025.

Material	Average	Price range	Type	Notes
Gold	KRW 500,000	KRW 450,000–600,000	Non-covered	Typical dental clinic price
PFM (porcelain fused to metal)	KRW 600,000	KRW 500,000–700,000	Non-covered
Zirconia	KRW 700,000	KRW 500,000–800,000	Non-covered	Typical dental clinic price
Zirconia	KRW 1,140,000	-	Non-covered	HIRA national average, including university hospitals
Gold	KRW 1,565,000	-	Non-covered	HIRA national average, including university hospitals

Implants

Prices are per tooth and include the placement surgery, the abutment (upper structure) and the crown. In the 2025 HIRA data, the lowest price was KRW 550,000 and the highest was KRW 4,610,000.

Category	Average	Price range	Insurance
Dental clinic national average	KRW 1,150,000	KRW 800,000–1,500,000	Non-covered
Dental hospital national average	KRW 1,650,000	KRW 1,200,000–2,000,000	Non-covered
Actual market price range	-	KRW 1,500,000–3,000,000	Non-covered
Full arch (one entire jaw)	-	KRW 9,000,000–20,000,000	Non-covered
Full mouth (both jaws)	-	KRW 18,000,000–40,000,000	Non-covered

For people aged 65 and over, national health insurance covers up to 2 teeth, with a 30% patient copayment.

Orthodontics

According to 2024 statistics from the Korean Association of Orthodontists, the Korean average is KRW 3,500,000–6,000,000.

Type of braces	Average	Price range	Type	Features
Metal braces	KRW 4,000,000	KRW 2,500,000–6,000,000	Non-covered	Relatively economical
Ceramic braces	KRW 5,500,000	KRW 4,000,000–7,000,000	Non-covered	Clear material
Clear aligners (Invisalign, etc.)	KRW 7,000,000	KRW 5,000,000–10,000,000	Non-covered	Removable
Lingual braces (behind the teeth)	KRW 10,000,000	KRW 7,000,000–15,000,000	Non-covered	Not visible from outside
Partial clear aligners	KRW 1,500,000	KRW 700,000–2,500,000	Non-covered

Also budget for costs on top of the treatment fee: an initial examination of KRW 100,000–400,000, monthly adjustment fees of KRW 50,000–100,000, and a retainer of KRW 200,000–500,000 may be added.

Cosmetic treatment

Item	Average	Price range	Type
Laminate veneers (Gangnam area, Seoul)	KRW 700,000/tooth	KRW 430,000–1,200,000/tooth	Non-covered
Laminate veneers (Gyeonggi-do)	KRW 350,000/tooth	KRW 310,000–400,000/tooth	Non-covered
Laminate veneers (outside the capital area)	KRW 320,000/tooth	KRW 270,000–370,000/tooth	Non-covered
Professional whitening (1 session)	KRW 200,000	KRW 100,000–400,000	Non-covered
One-day package (scaling + whitening)	KRW 350,000	KRW 200,000–500,000	Non-covered
At-home whitening kit	KRW 100,000	KRW 50,000–150,000	Non-covered

Five factors that change the cost

• Region — Prices in the Gangnam area of Seoul tend to be 20–40% higher than outside the capital area.
• Size of institution — Costs rise in the order of dental clinic, dental hospital, general hospital and tertiary general hospital.
• Material — Depending on whether gold, porcelain, zirconia or another material is used, the same treatment can differ by 2–3 times.
• Insurance coverage — For covered items such as root canals, scaling and gum treatment, the patient pays around 30%.
• Implant coverage for seniors — People aged 65 and over get national health insurance coverage for up to 2 implants, which greatly reduces their share of the cost.

Sources

• HIRA disclosure of non-covered treatment costs (2025.09)
• Ministry of Health and Welfare standards on disclosure of non-covered treatment costs
• Modoodoc dental price survey data (2026.03)
• Korean Association of Orthodontists orthodontic treatment statistics (2024)

Prices for non-covered items differ from clinic to clinic, so be sure to confirm the actual price with the clinic before starting treatment.