Palliative (Emergency) Treatment of Dental Pain
Open-data reference.
About palliative (emergency) treatment of dental pain
What it is: Emergency treatment of acute dental pain
What it costs: The national private-market average is $96 based on the ADA Health Policy Institute Survey of Dental Fees (2024). State variation pushes this between $85 (lowest cost-of-living states) and $115 (highest). State Medicaid programs that cover palliative (emergency) treatment of dental pain for adults reimburse an average of $44 (range $30–$70 across the 40 covering states). The highest-paying Medicaid programs are Alaska ($70), New York ($65), District of Columbia ($62), worth checking if you're comparing states for Medicaid access to this procedure.
(across covering states)
Palliative (Emergency) Treatment of Dental Pain cost by state
| State | Medicaid fee | Private estimate |
|---|---|---|
| Alaska | $70 | $104 |
| New York | $65 | $115 |
| District of Columbia | $62 | $114 |
| Minnesota | $61 | $99 |
| Hawaii | $58 | $111 |
| Connecticut | $57 | $107 |
| North Dakota | $57 | $90 |
| Massachusetts | $55 | $108 |
| Washington | $52 | $108 |
| California | $51 | $111 |
| New Jersey | $51 | $111 |
| Maryland | $50 | $108 |
| Oregon | $50 | $100 |
| Vermont | $50 | $98 |
| Iowa | $46 | $89 |
| Virginia | $46 | $100 |
| Wyoming | $46 | $93 |
| Rhode Island | $45 | $99 |
| New Hampshire | $44 | $103 |
| Montana | $42 | $92 |
| Wisconsin | $42 | $94 |
| Colorado | $40 | $101 |
| Michigan | $40 | $93 |
| Maine | $40 | $98 |
| Nebraska | $39 | $90 |
| North Carolina | $38 | $91 |
| Illinois | $37 | $98 |
| Nevada | $37 | $98 |
| New Mexico | $36 | $91 |
| Utah | $36 | $95 |
| Kentucky | $35 | $87 |
| Louisiana | $34 | $90 |
| Ohio | $34 | $90 |
| Idaho | $34 | $92 |
| Missouri | $32 | $90 |
| Pennsylvania | $32 | $96 |
| Arkansas | $31 | $86 |
| Indiana | $31 | $89 |
| South Carolina | $31 | $90 |
| West Virginia | $30 | $86 |
| Delaware | – | $98 |
| Florida | – | $97 |
| Arizona | – | $95 |
| Texas | – | $95 |
| Georgia | – | $91 |
| Kansas | – | $89 |
| Tennessee | – | $89 |
| Oklahoma | – | $88 |
| South Dakota | – | $87 |
| Alabama | – | $85 |
| Mississippi | – | $85 |
Analysis: how to think about palliative (emergency) treatment of dental pain costs
The adjunctive category spread for palliative (emergency) treatment of dental pain (CDT D9110) runs 36% between the cheapest and priciest states in our 2024 dataset, and cost of living explains most of that gap, not procedure difficulty.
40 of 50 states reimburse adult Medicaid patients for this code, averaging $44 (about 46% of the private rate). Practices in the other 10 states have no Medicaid fee schedule entry for D9110, which is part of why Medicaid-accepting providers can be scarce for this procedure. Related: finding affordable dental care.
Related
Source: ADA HPI Survey of Dental Fees (2024). State Medicaid fee schedules (2026 Q1). Estimates, not quotes, see our disclaimer.