Updated September 28, 2026
The short answer
A partial denture costs $1,167 to $1,993 per arch at the one national chain that publishes partial prices — cast metal at the low end, flexible at the high end. Colorado’s Medicaid program pays $575 to $824 depending on the base material, a program floor that is never a retail price.
A partial denture replaces some teeth while your remaining natural teeth stay put, held by a framework or clasps that grip those teeth. Because the frame does real mechanical work, the base material decides both the price and the feel — and unlike complete dentures, most chains publish nothing for partials. The figures on this page are the ones that are actually published, read on September 28, 2026, each with its source.
Providers’ and programs’ own published figures, retrieved September 28, 2026. We keep dated snapshots of every source.
What a partial denture is
A removable partial replaces one tooth or several while anchoring to the teeth you keep. The replacement teeth sit on a gum-colored base; the base connects to a framework — metal, acrylic or a flexible polymer — that rests on and clasps your natural teeth. That is the whole trade against a complete denture: a partial preserves teeth and bone and stays smaller in the mouth, but it depends on the health of the teeth it grips. When those anchor teeth are failing, the honest conversation is whether extractions and a complete denture cost less than repairing around them; the complete-denture price page holds those figures.
The three partial types, and what each costs
Cast metal framework
A cobalt-chromium frame with acrylic saddles: thin, rigid and the long-service standard. Aspen Dental publishes its Cast Partial at $1,167 to $1,721 per arch across locations. Colorado Medicaid’s fee schedule values a cast metal partial (D5213) at $823.67 — the highest of the three materials, which tells you how programs rank the product.
Flexible base
A nylon-family polymer that flexes into place, with gum-colored clasps instead of visible metal. Aspen publishes its flexible line, Flexilytes Combo, at $1,327 to $1,993 per arch — the premium partial in its book. The Colorado Medicaid allowable for a flexible-base partial (D5225) is $724.05. Flexible bases resist breaking but cannot be relined as readily as acrylic; ask how a reline or added tooth is handled before you buy one.
Acrylic resin base
An all-acrylic partial with wire clasps — the entry product, and what a temporary “flipper” is. The chains do not publish flipper or resin-partial prices at all. The one published anchor is Colorado Medicaid’s $575.09 allowable for a resin-base partial (D5211), the lowest of the three materials. Resin partials are the easiest to add teeth to later, which is why they are the standard interim appliance while other work finishes.
Every published partial figure on one table
| Partial | Published figure, per arch | Where the number comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Cast metal (retail) | $1,167 to $1,721 | Aspen Dental’s published Cast Partial range |
| Flexible (retail) | $1,327 to $1,993 | Aspen Dental’s published Flexilytes Combo range |
| Resin base, Medicaid floor (D5211) | $575.09 | Health First Colorado fee schedule, effective July 1, 2026 |
| Flexible base, Medicaid floor (D5225) | $724.05 | Health First Colorado fee schedule, effective July 1, 2026 |
| Cast metal, Medicaid floor (D5213) | $823.67 | Health First Colorado fee schedule, effective July 1, 2026 |
Does coverage pay for partials?
Where a state Medicaid program covers dentures, partials usually ride along — with their own rules. From the program manuals themselves: Arkansas covers adult partials with prior authorization (full dentures need none); Illinois covers partials for adults with prior authorization and relines every 24 months; Hawaii covers an interim partial once a year but excludes unilateral partials; North Carolina allows one partial per arch every eight years and does not cover cast metal partials at all. The state-by-state table gives every program’s answer with its source. Original Medicare pays nothing toward partials, the same as any denture; what exists on that side is a Medicare Advantage plan’s dental benefit and its annual cap — the Medicare page shows how to read one. Paying cash? The save-money routes apply to partials too, dental schools especially.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a partial denture cost?
The published retail range is $1,167 to $1,993 per arch — Aspen Dental’s Cast Partial and Flexilytes lines, the only national-chain partial prices published anywhere. Independent dentists set their own fees and rarely publish them; since the ADA discontinued its fee survey in 2023, there is no national average to cite honestly.
Does Medicaid cover partial dentures?
In most states that cover dentures at all, yes, usually with prior authorization and material limits — North Carolina, for instance, covers partials but not cast metal ones. Coverage is set state by state; the state table on this site gives each program’s answer from its own manual.
What is the cheapest kind of partial?
An acrylic resin partial — the flipper family. No chain publishes its retail price, but the material ranking is visible in Colorado Medicaid’s fee schedule, which values resin at $575, flexible at $724 and cast metal at $824. Resin is also the easiest to modify later, which is why it serves as the interim appliance.
Can teeth be added to a partial later?
Often, yes — adding a tooth or a clasp to an existing partial is a standard laboratory procedure, and it even appears as its own line in Medicaid fee schedules. Acrylic bases take additions most readily; flexible bases are the hardest to modify, so ask about future additions before choosing one.
More cost and coverage answers
How much dentures cost
Every published chain price, per arch, with dates and sources.
Without insurance
Entry tiers from $395, what the sticker price leaves out, and the lower-cost routes.
Medicaid, state by state
Whether your state covers adult dentures: all 50 states and DC, sourced.
Implant dentures
Snap-on and fixed implant figures, published average to range.
Sources and how this page works
Every figure traces to a source read on September 28, 2026: Aspen Dental’s denture cost page for the Cast Partial and Flexilytes ranges, the Health First Colorado standard dental fee schedule (via HCPF’s provider rates page) for the D5211, D5213 and D5225 allowables effective July 1, 2026, the state Medicaid program manuals cited row by row on the state table, and the ADA Health Policy Institute on the discontinued fee survey. We keep dated snapshots of every source, prices change without notice, and no one can pay to change a figure on this page. Spot something stale? Tell us.
