Dental Crown Cost UK: What You'll Actually Pay in 2026

A dental crown costs between £500 and £900 for most people going private in the UK. That's the realistic middle ground - a proper porcelain or ceramic crown that looks like a real tooth and lasts a decade or more.

You can spend less if you go with metal. A full metal crown on a back tooth might come in around £400-£500, because there's no cosmetic work involved. It's silver-coloured and obviously not a real tooth, but for a molar nobody sees, that's sometimes fine.

And you can spend more if you want the premium materials. Zirconia and E-max crowns run £800-£1,200, sometimes higher. These are the ones that even dentists have trouble distinguishing from natural teeth. Whether you need that level of perfection depends on where the crown is going and how much that matters to you.

At UrgentCare Dental, crowns are £650. That's a proper ceramic crown, custom-made to match your other teeth.

Why Crowns Cost What They Do

A crown isn't just a cap that gets popped on. There's actual craftsmanship involved.

Your tooth gets prepared, which means reshaping it so the crown can fit over the top. Impressions get taken - either physical moulds or digital scans - and sent to a lab. A technician builds the crown by hand, matching the colour and shape to your existing teeth. Then it comes back, gets fitted, gets adjusted until the bite feels right, and gets permanently cemented in place.

That's at least two appointments, laboratory fees, and skilled work at every stage. The cost reflects all of that.

The Different Types

The material your crown is made from affects both the price and what you end up with.

Porcelain-fused-to-metal crowns have a metal core with porcelain layered over the top. They're strong, they look reasonably natural, and they sit in that £500-£700 range for most practices. The downside is that the metal can sometimes show as a dark line at the gum, especially as gums recede with age. For back teeth this rarely matters. For front teeth, some people find it bothers them.

All-ceramic crowns are exactly what they sound like - no metal at all. They look more natural because light passes through them the way it does through real teeth. They're typically £600-£900 and work beautifully for front teeth where appearance matters most.

Zirconia crowns are the newer option. Zirconia is incredibly strong - stronger than traditional porcelain - so these crowns can be made thinner while still lasting. They're £800-£1,200 at most practices. The strength makes them good for people who grind their teeth or need crowns on molars that take heavy chewing forces.

Metal crowns are the budget option for back teeth. Gold alloy or other metals, no porcelain covering, obviously metallic appearance. They're extremely durable - often outlasting every other type - but nobody's putting one on a front tooth. Around £400-£600 typically.

What Pushes the Price Up

A few things can move you toward the higher end of that range.

Front teeth cost more to crown well. Matching the colour perfectly to the teeth either side, getting the shape right, making sure the translucency looks natural - that's harder than crowning a molar that nobody sees. Some practices charge more for anterior crowns because of the extra skill and time involved.

If the tooth needs building up first, that adds cost. A tooth that's broken down badly or has had a root canal might need a post and core - basically a reinforced foundation - before the crown can go on top. That's additional work and materials.

Location matters too. London practices generally charge more than clinics elsewhere. A crown that's £650 in Manchester might be £900 in central London for the exact same materials and quality.

How Long They Last

A well-made crown on a well-prepared tooth should last 10-15 years minimum. Many last considerably longer than that - 20 or 25 years isn't unusual if you look after them.

What kills crowns early is the stuff that kills natural teeth: grinding, clenching, chewing ice, opening bottles with your teeth. The crown itself is tough, but the tooth underneath is still a tooth, and the margin where crown meets tooth is still vulnerable to decay if you're not keeping things clean.

If you grind your teeth at night, your dentist will probably suggest a night guard. That's worth doing. Replacing a crown because you've ground through it is an expensive way to learn the lesson.

Crown vs Other Options

Sometimes a crown isn't the only choice, and it's worth knowing what else exists.

For a tooth that's damaged but not severely, composite bonding might be enough. It's less invasive and less expensive, though it won't last as long and can't handle the same forces a crown can.

For a tooth that's beyond saving, you're looking at extraction and then either a bridge, an implant, or a gap. A crown only works when there's enough healthy tooth left to crown.

For a tooth that just looks bad but is structurally fine, veneers might be the answer instead. Veneers only cover the front surface rather than the whole tooth, so they're less invasive.

Your dentist will tell you what's actually appropriate for your situation. Sometimes only a crown will do the job properly.

Is It Worth It?

A crowned tooth is a saved tooth. That's really what you're paying for.

The alternative to crowning a damaged tooth is usually losing it eventually. A big filling might hold for a while, but teeth with large fillings tend to crack. Once they crack the wrong way, extraction becomes the only option. And replacing a missing tooth - whether with an implant, bridge, or denture - costs more than crowning it would have.

There's also something to be said for keeping your own teeth. Implants are impressive technology, but they're not teeth. A crown lets you keep what you were born with, just reinforced and protected.

The Consultation

At UrgentCare Dental, consultations are £20 and that gets applied to treatment if you go ahead. You'll find out exactly what's going on with the tooth, whether a crown is the right solution, and what it'll cost for your specific situation.

Not every damaged tooth needs a crown, and a good dentist won't push you toward one unnecessarily. But when a tooth genuinely needs crowning, getting it done sooner rather than later usually means a simpler procedure and a better outcome.