Written and clinically reviewed by the Healthio dental team, Antalya.
In short
On the NHS in England a crown costs £332.10 — the Band 3 charge, whatever material is used and however many crowns are in the same course of treatment. Privately in the UK, a single crown usually runs £400 to £1,000 depending on the material and the practice. In Turkey the same crown is typically £90 to £250.
"Crown" and "cap" are the same thing. So are "tooth cap" and "teeth caps" — the words changed, the restoration did not.
And the part most price pages leave out: for one crown, travelling abroad rarely saves money once flights and a hotel are counted. The maths turns somewhere around three or four units. We have put the actual break-even in section 06, including the case where the answer is "stay home".
On this page
Crown, cap, tooth cap — one restoration
If you have been quoted for a "cap" and are now reading about "crowns", nothing has changed. Cap is the everyday word; crown is the clinical one. Both describe a shell made in a laboratory that covers the whole visible part of a tooth, cemented over what remains of it.
A crown is what a dentist reaches for when a filling is no longer enough — a tooth that has broken, has been root-treated, is heavily filled and cracking, or is worn down. It is not the same as a veneer, which covers only the front surface and keeps far more of the tooth. That distinction matters for cost, because the two are priced separately and are not interchangeable.
NHS crown cost: the Band 3 charge
In England, NHS dental treatment is charged in three bands, and a crown falls into Band 3. The published charges are £27.90 for Band 1, £76.60 for Band 2 and £332.10 for Band 3 (NHS: how much NHS dental treatment costs). Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland use different systems.
What the £332.10 buys
One charge per course of treatment — so two crowns planned together still cost £332.10, not £664.20.
It also covers everything from the lower bands done in the same course: exam, X-rays, fillings, extractions.
Treatment is free if you are under 18, pregnant or within 12 months of giving birth, or on certain benefits.
Why people still go private
Finding an NHS dentist taking new patients is the first obstacle, and in much of England it is the whole obstacle.
Material choice is clinically led, not cosmetic. On back teeth an NHS crown may be metal, and you cannot pay a top-up to change that within NHS treatment.
Purely cosmetic work is not NHS treatment at all — crowning sound teeth to change their appearance is private everywhere.
If you can get NHS treatment for a single damaged tooth, take it. £332.10 for a crown, including the exam and any fillings in the same course, is cheaper than the same work privately in the UK and cheaper than flying anywhere. Price comparison only becomes interesting when NHS treatment is not available to you, or when the work is cosmetic and therefore private by definition.
Private UK crown cost by material
Private pricing varies more by postcode than by anything clinical — a London practice and a practice in the north of England can differ by several hundred pounds for an identical crown from an identical laboratory. The ranges below are what UK patients typically encounter.
Crown cost in Turkey
The same materials, from the same manufacturers, cost a fraction of the UK price — not because the ceramic is different but because laboratory work, clinic overheads and salaries are. The figures below are typical for Antalya in 2026.
Ranges reflect the Antalya market in 2026 and vary with the laboratory and the number of units. Ask any clinic for a written per-unit quote after an examination.
Crowns need one trip, not two
Unlike implants, crown work is completed in a single visit of roughly five to seven days: preparation and scanning at the start of the week, temporaries while the laboratory works, then fitting and bite adjustment before you fly home. That single-trip structure is what makes the travel maths in the next section work at all.
The hidden lines that change the total
A crown quote is almost never just the crown. These are the items that turn an advertised figure into an invoice, and they are the same items wherever you are treated.
- Root canal treatment first. A tooth with an infected or dying nerve has to be root-treated before it is crowned, and that is a separate procedure with its own price.
- Post and core. When too little tooth remains, a build-up is needed to support the crown. Almost always charged separately.
- Crown lengthening or gum work. Occasionally needed when the break runs below the gum line.
- Removing an old crown. Replacing an existing crown is not always priced the same as making a first one.
- Hygiene treatment first. Crowns are not fitted onto inflamed gums, and a scale and polish may be a prerequisite rather than an upsell.
- A night guard. If you grind, the guard is what protects a £200 or £700 crown from becoming a £200 or £700 crown again in three years.
When travelling actually saves money
Most clinic price pages compare a Turkish crown with a UK crown and stop there, which makes any number of crowns look like a bargain. The honest comparison adds the trip. Below, flights and a week's accommodation are budgeted at £500 for one person, and the Turkish crown at £180 against a UK private crown at £650 — mid-range figures for both.
Break-even sits at roughly two crowns; it only becomes worth the disruption at three or four. Below that, a UK dentist you can walk back to is worth more than the difference — and if a follow-up appointment is needed six weeks later, being in the same country is worth a great deal. We would rather tell you that than sell you a flight for one tooth.
Cheap crowns: what to check first
A low price per unit is meaningful only once you know what sits behind it. These are the questions that separate a fair price from a cheap one.
Ask for in writing
The material and the laboratory by name, not "premium ceramic".
A per-unit price, plus every conditional item — root canal, post and core, hygiene.
How many teeth are being crowned and why each one needs a crown rather than a filling, onlay or veneer.
The guarantee: what it covers, how long, and who pays travel if a crown has to be remade.
Warning signs
A quote with no X-ray. Nobody can price a crown without knowing whether the nerve is alive.
A plan that crowns healthy teeth for appearance. Ask what a veneer or bonding would achieve instead.
A package price with no per-unit breakdown — you cannot compare it with anything.
Same-week discounts. A broken tooth needs treating; it does not need treating by Friday.
Crowns last roughly ten to fifteen years wherever they are made, and how much natural tooth is left underneath matters more than the price on the invoice — we have set out the evidence in how long crowns and "Turkey teeth" actually last. If the tooth cannot be saved at all, an implant is a different treatment with different economics.
Frequently asked questions
Antalya, Turkey
A per-unit quote, not a package number
Send us photos and a recent X-ray and you will get a written quote listing every tooth, why it needs a crown rather than a filling or an onlay, the material and laboratory, and the price of each conditional item before it happens. If your case is one or two crowns, we will tell you it is not worth the flight.
Filo Apartmanı, Fener, Tekelioğlu Cd. No:51/B, 07160 Muratpaşa / Antalya
Written and clinically reviewed by
The Healthio dental team, Antalya
Healthio is a dental clinic in Antalya treating patients from the UK and across Europe, with restorative and cosmetic work carried out on site. Meet the clinical team →
Published: 3 September 2026 • Last clinical review: 3 September 2026.
This page is for information and does not replace a clinical examination. Whether a tooth needs a crown, an onlay, a filling or extraction can only be established after an examination and radiographs. NHS band charges apply to England and are taken from NHS guidance at the date of publication; charges are reviewed periodically and differ in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Private UK and Turkish figures are typical market ranges, not quotations. Discuss treatment abroad with your own dentist before deciding.
