How much do immediate dentures cost per arch?

At the SIU Center for Family Medicine, a federally qualified health center in Springfield, Illinois, the self-pay fee for an immediate denture is $1,500 per arch on its schedule effective March 1, 2025. Private practices commonly charge more, and fees vary by region, dentist, materials and case complexity. Only a written quote after an exam reflects what you would actually pay.

Do immediate dentures cost more than regular dentures?

Not always at the point of sale — SIU's published schedule prices an immediate denture and a conventional complete denture identically, at $1,500 per arch. Over time they usually do cost more, because they are fitted before healing finishes and need an earlier reline or replacement. Judge the two options on their multi-year cost, not the first bill.

Why do immediate dentures need replacing so soon?

Gum tissue and the bone beneath it keep changing shape for months after teeth are extracted, so a denture fitted on extraction day is fitted to a mouth that is still settling. The University of Iowa College of Dentistry tells patients an immediate denture usually needs replacement at the patient's expense within about a year. The American Dental Association notes a poorly fitting denture may need relining or replacing, and the American College of Prosthodontists — cited on the ADA's denture page — recommends evaluating any denture for replacement once it is more than five years old.

How much does a denture reline cost?

On the SIU Center for Family Medicine's 2025 self-pay schedule, a chairside reline is $100 per arch and a laboratory reline is $250 per arch. A chairside reline is done in one office visit; a lab reline means your denture is sent away for a period. Ask your own dentist for both figures in writing before you choose an immediate denture.

Where can I get immediate dentures at a lower price?

Dental schools and federally qualified health centers publish their fees and frequently use income-based sliding scales, which is why SIU's $1,500-per-arch figure is lower than many private quotes. Treatment at a school typically takes longer because student work is supervised and checked. Dental discount plans can also reduce fees at participating dentists, but they are membership programs, not insurance.

How Much Do Immediate Dentures Cost?

If you are having teeth removed and want to leave with a denture the same day, the first question is usually what that convenience costs. The honest answer surprises most people: at one clinic that publishes its fees — the SIU Center for Family Medicine, a federally qualified health center in Springfield, Illinois — an immediate denture is $1,500 per arch, the identical fee to its conventional complete denture (schedule effective March 1, 2025). The difference shows up later. Because an immediate denture is fitted before the gums and bone have settled, it usually needs an earlier reline, and the University of Iowa College of Dentistry tells patients an immediate denture commonly needs replacing at their own expense within about a year.

The Detailed Answer

An immediate denture is made in advance, from impressions taken while you still have your teeth, and placed on the same day those teeth are extracted. A conventional denture is made after the extraction sites have healed, which commonly takes several months of going without teeth in that arch. Both are removable. Neither is permanent — every denture is eventually relined, remade or replaced.

The cost question has two parts that are easy to mix up: what you pay on the day, and what you pay over the next few years.

What published fee schedules actually show

The SIU Center for Family Medicine publishes a 2025 dental sliding scale fee schedule (effective March 1, 2025). In the self-pay “full fee” column, an immediate denture — upper or lower — is $1,500 per arch. The clinic’s conventional complete denture, upper or lower, is also $1,500 per arch. At that clinic, choosing the immediate version does not add to the base fee.

That is one clinic in one state, and it is a sliding-scale community health center, so its fees sit below what many private practices charge. It is useful precisely because the numbers are public and dated. Elsewhere, pricing is often not broken out at all: one large national denture provider’s public pricing page, checked in October 2026, lists denture tiers by material and quality but no separate immediate-denture price. If a practice quotes you a premium specifically for “immediate” or “same-day,” ask what that premium pays for — usually extra lab work, a surgical guide, or a bundled early reline.

Prices vary by region, by the dentist, by the materials and by how complicated your case is. A written quote after an exam and X-rays is the only number that applies to you.

Why the real cost usually shows up later

After teeth are removed, the gum tissue and the bone underneath keep changing shape for months. An immediate denture is fitted to a mouth that has not finished that process, so it tends to loosen and need more adjustments than a denture made after healing.

The American Dental Association notes that a denture that no longer fits well may need relining or replacing, and its denture resource cites the American College of Prosthodontists’ recommendation to have any denture evaluated for replacement once it is more than five years old. The University of Iowa College of Dentistry is blunter about immediate dentures specifically: it tells patients they are more expensive and “will need replacement at the patient’s expense, usually within one year.”

Those follow-up visits have their own prices. On the same SIU schedule, a chairside reline is $100 per arch and a laboratory reline is $250 per arch. A full replacement denture would be another $1,500-per-arch fee. So the reconciliation is this: the immediate denture itself may cost the same as a conventional one, but the realistic cost over the first few years is often higher, because the reline or remake arrives sooner.

What you may be buying with the extra spend

The trade-off is not just financial. An immediate denture means you are not without teeth in public during healing, and the denture acts as a covering over the extraction sites. Many people decide that is worth an earlier reline.

It is a judgment call, not a clinical rule. People having several teeth removed at once, or with existing bone loss, may face more shape change and more adjustments. Your dentist or oral surgeon is the one who can say whether an immediate denture is reasonable for your mouth.

Are “same-day dentures” the same thing as immediate dentures?

Usually yes — “same-day” is marketing language for a denture delivered the day your teeth are extracted, which is what an immediate denture is. Be careful, though: some practices also use “same-day” for an in-house lab that remakes an existing denture quickly for someone who already has no teeth. Ask which one the quote covers, and ask whether any follow-up relines are included in the price.

Is it cheaper to wait and get a conventional denture instead?

Often, over several years, yes — because you skip the early reline or remake that healing forces on an immediate denture. The cost of waiting is going without teeth in that arch while the extraction sites heal, which commonly takes months. Compare the full picture, not the first invoice; our Denture Costs hub breaks down the separate line items — exam and X-rays, extractions, the denture itself, and adjustments.

How soon will I need a reline, and what does one involve?

Sooner than with a conventional denture. The University of Iowa College of Dentistry tells patients an immediate denture commonly needs replacing within about a year, and relines usually come before that. A chairside reline is done in the office in one visit; a lab reline sends the denture away, so you are without it for a time — at SIU’s published fees, $100 and $250 per arch respectively. Our Denture Care section explains what relines and repairs involve day to day.

Will dental insurance pay for both the immediate denture and the replacement?

Not reliably. Most dental plans carry an annual maximum and often a waiting period before they cover major work like dentures, and many limit how often they will pay for a denture or a reline. Ask your plan, in writing, how it codes an immediate denture (D5130 or D5140) versus a complete denture (D5110 or D5120), and whether a replacement within a year would be covered at all.

What to Do Next

Before you agree to an immediate denture, get a written, itemized treatment plan — not a single bundled figure — and read it against this checklist:

The line items. Exam and X-rays, each extraction, the immediate denture per arch, and any surgical costs, listed separately with procedure codes.
What is included after delivery. How many adjustment visits are covered, and whether the first reline is in the price or billed separately.
The reline and remake fees in writing. Ask the practice what it charges for a chairside reline, a lab reline, and a replacement denture, so you can see the multi-year cost before you commit.
Lower-fee routes. Dental schools and federally qualified health centers publish fee schedules and often use sliding scales based on income; dental discount plans cut fees at member dentists but are not insurance.
A second quote. Fees for the same codes differ widely between practices in the same town.

Then ask the dentist directly: given my extractions and my bone, how soon do you expect this denture to need relining or remaking? The answer is the real price tag.

Sources:

SIU Center for Family Medicine — 2025 Dental Sliding Scale Fee (effective 3/1/25) — Self-pay full-fee column: immediate denture (D5130/D5140) $1,500 per arch, same as complete denture (D5110/D5120); chairside reline $100 and lab reline $250 per arch.
University of Iowa College of Dentistry — Dental Care Services — Patient page stating immediate dentures are more expensive and usually need replacement at the patient’s expense within about one year.
American Dental Association — Oral Health Topics: Dentures — Guidance that a poorly fitting denture may require relining or replacing; the page also cites the American College of Prosthodontists’ recommendation to evaluate a denture for replacement once it is more than five years old.
Aspen Dental — Dentures Cost — Public pricing page checked October 20, 2026; lists denture tiers but no separate immediate-denture price tier.