Does Medicaid Cover Dental? Rates by State
Medicaid covers dental for children in every state under EPSDT; adult dental is optional and varies widely. Medicaid pays dentists a median of about $84 for a one-surface filling nationally, but what it pays swings about 5.0x by state. Delaware reimburses the most ($175 across our common-procedure basket), Minnesota the least ($35). Here is where every state lands.
The tables on this page cover a common-procedure sample. The Rates plan unlocks the full fee schedule for every state, with CSV export and alerts when a state changes its rates.
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National Medicaid dental snapshot
Does Medicaid cover dental for adults?
It depends on the state. Pediatric dental is federally mandated under EPSDT, so every state Medicaid program covers comprehensive dental for children. Adult dental is an optional benefit each state funds on its own, so it ranges from full coverage to emergency-only to none. The ranking below shows what each state’s Medicaid program pays dentists; select any state for its adult-vs-pediatric breakdown and full fee schedule.
Medicaid dental reimbursement, ranked
All 50 states and DC, scored on the same six-procedure basket. The filling column (a 1-surface composite, billed the same at any age) is a concrete anchor. Select a state for its full fee schedule and adult-vs-pediatric breakdown. For why the spread runs almost 8x on a single procedure, read the pay-gap breakdown.
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| Rank | State | Basket index | Filling (D2391) | Get the CSV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Delaware | $175 | $250 | |
| 2 | Wisconsin | $118 | $160 | |
| 3 | Missouri | $117 | $170 | |
| 4 | Alaska | $114 | $142 | |
| 5 | South Dakota | $112 | $137 | |
| 6 | District of Columbia | $110 | $108 | |
| 7 | New Hampshire | $107 | $123 | |
| 8 | Oregon | $104 | $114 | |
| 9 | Louisiana | $96 | $101 | |
| 10 | Maryland | $95 | $107 | |
| 11 | Colorado | $92 | $108 | |
| 12 | Maine | $92 | $113 | |
| 13 | Ohio | $91 | $98 | |
| 14 | Michigan | $91 | $114 | |
| 15 | North Dakota | $90 | $114 | |
| 16 | Idaho | $88 | $53 | |
| 17 | Vermont | $86 | $125 | |
| 18 | Indiana | $86 | $82 | |
| 19 | West Virginia | $86 | $109 | |
| 20 | Virginia | $85 | $99 | |
| 21 | Mississippi | $84 | $99 | |
| 22 | Connecticut | $83 | $78 | |
| 23 | Massachusetts | $82 | $81 | |
| 24 | Kansas | $82 | $96 | |
| 25 | Wyoming | $82 | $95 | |
| 26 | New Jersey | $79 | $84 | |
| 27 | South Carolina | $78 | $89 | |
| 28 | Arizona | $75 | $81 | |
| 29 | Montana | $75 | $79 | |
| 30 | Georgia | $73 | $90 | |
| 31 | Texas | $73 | $85 | |
| 32 | Nebraska | $73 | $80 | |
| 33 | Hawaii | $69 | $105 | |
| 34 | Kentucky | $67 | $51 | |
| 35 | Tennessee | $66 | $71 | |
| 36 | North Carolina | $66 | $84 | |
| 37 | Washington | $66 | $60 | |
| 38 | Arkansas | $65 | $66 | |
| 39 | New Mexico | $62 | $60 | |
| 40 | Utah | $60 | $67 | |
| 41 | Nevada | $59 | $50 | |
| 42 | Alabama | $58 | $76 | |
| 43 | New York | $55 | $51 | |
| 44 | Iowa | $55 | $60 | |
| 45 | Oklahoma | $54 | $67 | |
| 46 | Illinois | $53 | $36 | |
| 47 | Rhode Island | $52 | $55 | |
| 48 | Pennsylvania | $50 | $50 | |
| 49 | Florida | $47 | $46 | |
| 50 | California | $40 | $39 | |
| 51 | Minnesota | $35 | $33 |
Medicaid rates by procedure
The other axis of the data: what Medicaid pays for one procedure across every state. Pick a procedure to compare all 50 states and DC.
X-Rays
Preventive
Root Canals
Orthodontics
Implants
Children anchor Medicaid dental
Medicaid dental is built around children. Federal EPSDT rules require every state to cover comprehensive dental for everyone under 21, so pediatric schedules are broad and consistently funded; adult dental carries no such mandate and is an optional benefit each state sets on its own. The clearest sign of that priority: in the 12 states that publish separate adult and pediatric fee schedules, a 1-surface filling pays a child at least as much as an adult in 11 of them. (Cleanings are not comparable this way; the adult and child cleaning codes are different procedures.)
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We’ll email you the common-procedure Medicaid rates as a CSV: exams, cleanings, fillings, crowns, extractions, and more. No login, no spam.
Common questions
Does Medicaid cover dental for adults?
It depends on the state. Pediatric dental is federally mandated under EPSDT, so every state Medicaid program covers comprehensive dental for children. Adult dental is an optional benefit each state funds on its own, so coverage ranges from full to emergency-only to none. Select any state below for its adult-vs-pediatric breakdown and what its Medicaid program pays.
How much does Medicaid pay for dental?
It varies about 5.0x by state. Nationally, Medicaid pays a median of about $84 for a one-surface filling, from $33 in Minnesota to $250 in Delaware. On a basket of six common procedures, the typical state reimburses about $79; Delaware pays the most ($175) and Minnesota the least ($35). These are fee-for-service rates and exclude Medicaid managed-care plans.
Which state Medicaid program pays the most for dental?
Delaware pays the most on a fixed basket of common procedures (an exam, two cleanings, a filling, a crown, and an extraction), with a representative reimbursement of $175. Minnesota pays the least at $35, a roughly 5.0x gap.
How is the state ranking calculated?
Each state is scored on a fixed basket of six common procedures (periodic exam, adult and child cleaning, 1-surface filling, stainless steel crown, simple extraction). A fixed basket compares states on the same procedures rather than on a raw average, which the particular mix of codes a state happens to publish would distort. Rates are the median across a state's published schedules.
Why do Medicaid dental rates vary so much between states?
States set their own Medicaid fee schedules. Pediatric dental is federally mandated everywhere under EPSDT, but adult dental is an optional benefit each state funds independently, and even mandated services are priced at each state's own rates. The result is a roughly fivefold spread between the highest and lowest states for the same work.
Are these the rates a dentist actually receives?
These are the published fee-for-service schedule amounts: what the state Medicaid program pays when a service is reimbursed. They are not a coverage or eligibility guarantee, and they do not reflect rates paid by Medicaid managed-care plans, which contract separately. Confirm current rates and eligibility with the state program.
Methodology
Rates come from each state’s published Medicaid dental fee schedule, all public records. The ranking uses a fixed basket of six common procedures so every state is compared on the same work, not on a raw average that code mix would distort. Where a state publishes separate adult and pediatric schedules, rates are the median across them. These are fee-for-service schedule amounts (what Medicaid pays when a service is reimbursed), not a coverage or eligibility guarantee, and they do not reflect Medicaid managed-care plan rates. Confirm current rates and eligibility with the state Medicaid program.
Who uses this data
Fee schedules are one slice of a larger dental market dataset. The same government sources power territory and acquisition intelligence for the teams that work with dental practices every day.
Territory trigger feeds, license expiration alerts, and practice profiles for reps who sell into dental offices.
DSO acquisition teamsDSO affiliation mapping and practice-level signals for buy-side sourcing.
Practice brokersRetirement-age and license signals for finding practices likely to transition.
Our data sourcesEvery dataset behind these numbers: NPPES, state dental boards, Medicaid fee schedules, CMS, and OIG exclusions.