SF Bay Area Guide
Wisdom Teeth Removal Cost in San Francisco, 2026
No published source provides SF-specific oral surgery fee benchmarks, so this page focuses on what is verifiable: the national reference range, the local low-cost pathways, and the coverage rules. Nationally, CareCredit's published cost guide puts all four wisdom teeth at $1,200 to $4,175 depending on impaction and anesthesia (checked June 2026). UCSF and University of the Pacific Dugoni dental school clinics typically charge well below private practice. Denti-Cal covers adult extractions when medically necessary.
What an SF Quote Costs
There is no published SF-specific fee benchmark for oral surgery. The ADA discontinued its national Survey of Dental Fees in 2023 and nothing has replaced it (the fee data sources page explains the landscape). The verifiable national reference points, both checked June 2026: CareCredit's cost guide reports a national range of $1,200 to $4,175 for all four teeth depending on impaction and anesthesia, and Aspen Dental publishes an average of $299 per tooth (range $184 to $488) from its 2026 internal data.
To localise a figure, use FAIR Health Consumer's free ZIP-code estimator, built on insurance claims data, then collect two or three itemised CDT-coded quotes from SF practices: those are the only binding numbers. Within the metro, Pacific Heights, Marina, Russian Hill, and Financial District practices generally price above Outer Sunset, Excelsior, Visitacion Valley, and SoMa practices for the same CDT codes, and Peninsula practices (Daly City, San Mateo, Palo Alto) vary widely, so quotes from more than one district are worth the phone calls.
SF Dental Schools and Public Hospital
San Francisco has two accredited dental schools within the city and a major public hospital with oral surgery capacity. The dental school pathway is one of the few cost-effective options in a metro with otherwise high private practice pricing.
UCSF School of Dentistry
Parnassus Heights
University of California San Francisco School of Dentistry oral and maxillofacial surgery clinic. Affiliated with UCSF Medical Center for hospital-based cases. Research-oriented program. Expect a wait list; fees are set per case and are typically well below private practice. Confirm directly with the clinic.
Information →U of the Pacific Dugoni
SoMa, Howard Street
University of the Pacific Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry. High-volume public clinic, the largest dental school by patient throughput in Northern California. Three-year compressed program produces high resident volume. Often a shorter wait list than UCSF; fees are set per case and are typically well below private practice. Confirm directly with the clinic.
Information →ZSFG Hospital
Potrero Hill
Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital operates oral and maxillofacial surgery for Medi-Cal and uninsured. Sliding-scale fees. Strong for complex bony impaction cases requiring hospital resources. Expect a substantial wait list for non-urgent cases.
Information →SF Department of Public Health dental clinics operate at multiple neighbourhood locations on sliding-scale fees. The Castro Mission Dental Clinic, Maxine Hall Health Center, and Southeast Health Center provide routine dental care and refer surgical extraction cases to dental schools or ZSFG.
FQHCs with dental capacity in SF include Mission Neighborhood Health Center (Mission District), Glide Health Services (Tenderloin), North East Medical Services (Chinatown, Sunset), and St Anthony Foundation (Tenderloin). Use the HRSA FQHC locator to find the nearest dental-equipped centre.
SF Insurance and Tech Industry Plans
SF dental insurance is dominated by Delta Dental of California (the largest dental insurer in the state), MetLife, Aetna Dental, Cigna Dental, Blue Shield of California Dental, Anthem Blue Cross Dental, and Kaiser Permanente Dental. Annual maximums on employer-sponsored dental plans are often modest relative to a full surgical case, so check your plan's maximum and coverage percentage before scheduling, and ask the practice to submit a pre-treatment estimate.
SF is unusual in the United States for the prevalence of enhanced tech industry dental plans. Many large tech employers offer dental benefits materially above the commercial market average, and patients on these plans often have most of a wisdom teeth case covered. Plan members should verify the specific benefit terms with the dental benefits administrator (typically Delta Dental or MetLife) before scheduling, and confirm the network status of the chosen oral surgery practice.
Medi-Cal Dental (Denti-Cal) covers medically necessary wisdom teeth extraction for adult enrollees in SF. The dental schools (UCSF, Dugoni) and ZSFG Hospital are the most reliable Medi-Cal acceptors for surgical extraction; the commercial private practice Denti-Cal network is small.
For uninsured SF patients, the without-insurance page documents dental savings plans and cash discount tactics that apply nationally. SF-specific tactic: Dugoni School (with its higher patient throughput than UCSF) combined with a dental savings plan is typically the lowest realistic cost path for routine cases. For Peninsula and South Bay residents, the Stanford Medicine outpatient oral surgery service offers another pathway, though Stanford typically prices closer to private market than to dental school.
San Francisco: FAQ
How much does wisdom teeth removal cost in San Francisco in 2026?
Which San Francisco dental schools do wisdom teeth removal?
Does Denti-Cal cover wisdom teeth removal in SF?
Is there a published fee benchmark for SF oral surgery?
What insurance is common in SF for dental coverage?
Where can I find affordable oral surgery in SF?
Other major metros: New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Miami, Boston, Atlanta.
Sources: CareCredit wisdom teeth cost guide (checked June 2026); Aspen Dental published pricing (checked June 2026); Medi-Cal Dental Program; Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital; HRSA FQHC Locator.
Not medical advice. Dental school clinic availability should be confirmed directly with the institution.