A general dentist you can actually get an appointment with.
Most people pick a dentist from a search ad and hope. We rank the ten closest on distance, verified review quality, published fees and how soon they can genuinely see you — not on who bid highest.
Free to use. We're paid by verified practices, never by ranking position.
Check-up & cleaning
$140 – $350
Composite filling
$180 – $450
Root canal
$900 – $1,800
General dentists listed
Across California
New patients welcomeevery listed practice is accepting them
Step 1 — your location
Ten general dentists near you, ranked in about four seconds.
For routine care, availability matters as much as anything. We weight how soon a practice can actually see a new patient alongside distance, verified reviews and whether they publish a fee schedule.
Your location is used to sort results and is never sold or shared with third parties.
Showing 10 general dentists near Austin, TXRanked by distance, review quality and published pricing
Examining, screening, cleaning, and fixing small things before they become large ones. A good general practice catches decay while it is still a filling rather than a crown, screens for oral cancer at every check-up, and tells you plainly when something needs a specialist. The single best predictor of what dentistry will cost you over a lifetime is how regularly you sit in this chair.
Twice a year is the default, but if you have gum disease, dry mouth or a high decay rate, three or four is genuinely better value.
X-rays every 12–24 months for most adults. Decay between teeth is invisible to the eye until it is large.
Oral cancer screening should be routine at every check-up, not an extra. Ask if you are not sure it is happening.
A good dentist tells you what can wait. A treatment plan where everything is urgent is worth a second opinion.
If a new-patient visit is ten minutes and a price list, you have found the wrong practice. Here is what a proper one looks like.
01
History & medical review
Medications, conditions and previous treatment. Several common drugs change how your mouth behaves.
Visit 1 · 15 min
02
Examination
Every tooth charted, existing restorations checked, and an oral cancer screening of the soft tissues.
Same visit · 20 min
03
X-rays
Bitewings to see between the teeth, and a panoramic if you are new or something needs investigating.
Same visit · 10 min
04
Gum assessment
Pocket depths measured around each tooth. This is what separates a cleaning from a deep cleaning.
Same visit · 10 min
05
Plan & priorities
A written plan that separates what is urgent, what should be done this year, and what is being watched.
Same visit · 15 min
Before & after
Everyday cases from dentists on this list.
Submitted by listed practices, with the patient's written release and the fee they actually charged.
BeforeAfter
Nine years away, back on track
Deep cleaning, four fillings and a crown, sequenced across four months rather than sold as one alarming plan.
Duration
4 months
Fee charged
$2,840
BeforeAfter
Early decay caught on a bitewing
Two small lesions between molars, invisible on examination, treated as fillings rather than crowns two years later.
Duration
1 visit
Fee charged
$390
BeforeAfter
Cracked tooth saved
A hairline crack found before it split. Root canal and crown, rather than an extraction and implant.
Duration
5 weeks
Fee charged
$2,760
Individual results vary with your diagnosis, anatomy and healing. Fees shown are what those specific patients paid at those specific practices and are not a quote. Photography on this page is licensed stock imagery, not photographs of the patients described.
Cost & insurance
What routine dentistry costs in 2026.
Ranges below are the 25th–75th percentile of fees published by listed practices. Any dentist we match you with has agreed to give you a written quote before treatment.
Treatment
Typical range
With 0% plan
New patient examExamination, charting, screening
$90 – $220
$0Usually covered
Cleaning (prophylaxis)Healthy gums, routine scale and polish
$95 – $200
$0Usually covered
Bitewing X-raysSet of 2–4
$45 – $120
$0Usually covered
Composite fillingPer tooth, one to three surfaces
$180 – $450
Bundled
Root canalFront tooth to molar
$900 – $1,800
$99/mo18 months
CrownPer tooth
$1,100 – $2,300
$95/mo24 months
Preventive care is the one part of dentistry most PPO plans cover at or near 100%, often without a deductible and sometimes without counting against your annual maximum. If you are paying for a plan and not using the check-ups, you are leaving the cheapest part of it on the table.
What insurance usually covers
Preventive care is usually 100% covered — two check-ups and cleanings a year, often outside your annual maximum.
Fillings are typically 70–80% after your deductible, as a basic service.
Crowns and root canals are usually 50% as major services, and they consume your annual maximum quickly.
Waiting periods catch new policies. Many plans make you wait six to twelve months for major work. Check before you switch.
FSA and HSA funds cover this in full — it is a qualified medical expense.
In-house 0% plans at 6–24 months, offered by roughly two-thirds of listed practices.
Third-party financing at 24–72 months, typically 9.9%–17.9% APR once the promotional window ends.
Dental school clinics run 40–60% below private fees, with longer timelines and supervised residents.
Get it itemised, in writing — every time
Every component on a separate line. It is the only way two quotes ever become comparable, and every practice on this list has agreed to give you one before you pay a deposit.
Payment calculator
Work out the monthly number before you walk in.
Drag the sliders to your situation. Nothing is submitted anywhere — this runs entirely in your browser.
Estimates only. Actual approval, APR and term depend on the practice, the lender and your credit. Promotional 0% offers are usually deferred-interest products — if the balance is not cleared inside the promotional window, interest may be charged retroactively from the purchase date. Always read the credit agreement.
Compare your options
Treat now, or watch and wait?
The most useful thing a general dentist does is tell you which of these applies. Here is the honest arithmetic.
Ask to see every option planned. A dentist who only ever recommends one route, regardless of the scan, is worth a second opinion.
Treat now
Monitor and prevent
Leave it
Cost today
$180 – $450 filling
$0 – $95 fluoride
$0
Likely cost in 3 years
$0 — done
$180 – $450 if it progresses
$1,100 – $2,300 crown
Likely cost in 7 years
$0
$180 – $450
$3,100 – $5,800 implant
Tooth structure kept
Most
All, for now
Progressively less
Risk of pain
Low
Low if reviewed
High eventually
Appropriate when
Decay has reached dentine or the tooth is symptomatic
Early enamel decay that fluoride can genuinely arrest
Almost never — this is the default that gets expensive
How to judge a practice
Four things that separate a good practice from an average one.
None of this is marketing gloss — each one measurably changes how predictable your result is. Ask the practices you shortlist which of the four they actually have.
Imaging
They show you the images
A practice that turns the monitor towards you and walks through what it is actually seeing is a practice that expects to be questioned.
Ask to see your own scan
Pricing
A written, itemised quote
Every fee on its own line, handed over before you pay a deposit. Every practice we list has agreed to provide one.
Non-negotiable on this list
Volume
They do this often
Skill compounds with repetition. Each listing shows how many cases of this type the practice has completed in the last two years.
Case counts shown on every card
Aftercare
Someone answers afterwards
A named contact for the week after treatment, and a written policy on what a redo costs if something is not right.
Checked at every renewal
Inside the network
What a listed practice looks like.
We visit or video-audit every practice before it goes on the list — the operatory, the sterilisation room, the imaging suite and the front desk that will handle your insurance claim.
The operatoryChair, imaging and delivery unitSecond surgerySo urgent cases aren't bumpedSterile protocolAudited at every renewalThe front deskFiles your claim, not youStreet levelParking and access checked
Free consultation
Tell us the situation. We'll do the calling around.
Send this once and up to three matched general dentists near you come back with their next new-patient appointment, what a first visit includes and what it costs.
Our Austin care team — 11 people, none on commission
1. You send the details
Ninety seconds. Your ZIP, what you need, and your insurance if you have it.
2. We shortlist and forward
We pick the three strongest matches on distance, case volume and price transparency — then send them your case.
3. You compare in writing
Three written estimates in your inbox within two business days. Pick one, or none.
Care team hours (Eastern Time)
Monday – Friday7:00 AM – 11:00 PM
Saturday8:00 AM – 9:00 PM
Sunday9:00 AM – 8:00 PM
Open now — median callback time 41 minutes
Get up to 3 written estimates
Free, no obligation, and your details are never sold to advertisers.
FAQ
General dentistry questions, answered straight.
Reviewed by our clinical advisory panel in January 2026. General information, not a diagnosis.
Still deciding?
Talk it through with a care coordinator before you book anything. They don't work on commission and they can tell you when this is the wrong call.
Twice a year suits most people, but the interval should be based on your risk rather than a habit. If you have gum disease, a dry mouth from medication, a high sugar intake or a history of frequent decay, three or four visits a year genuinely saves money by catching things while they are still small. If you have had no new decay in a decade and healthy gums, some dentists will stretch you to nine or twelve months.
No. Bitewings every twelve to twenty-four months is typical for an adult with average risk, and less often if your risk is low. They exist because decay between teeth is completely invisible to the naked eye until it is large. If a practice takes a full set at every six-month visit, ask why — the answer should be a clinical reason, not a routine.
A regular cleaning removes plaque and tartar from above and just below the gum line on healthy gums. A deep cleaning — scaling and root planing — goes underneath the gum to clean the root surfaces where pockets have formed, and it is treatment for gum disease rather than maintenance. It should follow measured pocket depths, not a glance. Ask to see your numbers.
Three signs of a good one: it separates urgent from soon from watch-only; it shows you the evidence on your own X-rays or photographs; and it includes at least one thing the dentist says does not need doing yet. A plan where every tooth needs work and everything is urgent is the classic pattern worth a second opinion, and a second opinion costs a fraction of the treatment.
You are extremely common and no reputable practice will make you feel bad about it. Expect a longer first appointment, a full set of X-rays, and a plan that is sequenced over several months rather than everything at once. Tell them when you book that it has been a long time — good practices allocate more chair time for exactly this.
For preventive care, almost always — two check-ups and cleanings a year are usually covered at or near 100%, often without touching your annual maximum. For major work the picture is weaker: a $1,500 annual maximum against a $2,300 crown means you are largely self-funding. Run the arithmetic on your own plan rather than assuming either way.
The FDA, ADA and World Health Organization all consider existing amalgam fillings safe to leave in place, and removing sound amalgam purely on health grounds is not supported by evidence — the removal itself releases more vapour than leaving it alone. Replacing amalgam because it has failed, is leaking, or because you want a tooth-coloured result is a completely reasonable choice.
Most listed practices see children from around age three, and some from the first tooth. Family practices are convenient and mean one set of appointments rather than two. If your child is anxious or has particular needs, a paediatric specialist is worth the separate trip — ask the practice directly rather than assuming, and use the filters above to see who takes families.
Imaging
Pricing
Volume
Aftercare
