Best dental loans

Compare our top 4 picks for best dental loans

• Our top pick overall: Best Egg
• Our pick for customer satisfaction: NetCredit
• Our pick for smaller dental loans: Upgrade
• Our pick for larger dental loans: Achieve

Other lenders to consider

While the following companies didn’t make our top picks, these lenders also stand out for dental financing, each offering distinct advantages depending on your needs.

Dental loans guide

Dental procedures can cost thousands of dollars, whether you need a basic root canal, invisible braces or a complete smile makeover. When your insurance doesn’t cover the full bill or you need treatment outside your plan’s limits, dental loans offer a financing solution. These loans let you pay for necessary and elective procedures without draining your savings.

Since interest rates and terms vary among providers, comparison shopping helps you avoid overpaying for your oral health care.

Dental loans explained

Dental loans are personal loans for oral health expenses. “What makes them ‘dental’ is how they’re marketed — more dentists are now offering these types of loans to patients,” said Jeffrey Zhou, CEO and founder of Fig Loans.

However, the dentist isn’t lending the money. Instead, financial companies partner with practices to offer these financing options in the office.

Dental loans function like unsecured personal loans, meaning you don’t need to provide collateral. They come with fixed monthly payments and are based mostly on your creditworthiness. Dr. Sandip Sachar, dentist and owner at Sachar Dental in New York City, notes that patients borrow a lump sum and repay it over time.

These loans cover virtually any procedure expense not fully covered by your dental insurance plan, including the following:

• Root canals, crowns and bridges
• Tooth extractions and oral surgery
• Cosmetic procedures (e.g., gum contouring, veneers)

The key advantage is that some lenders adjust their approval criteria for medical expenses — potentially making it easier to qualify. This allows you to undergo the necessary procedures you couldn’t otherwise afford all at once.

But while these loans help spread large dental bills into manageable payments, they come with trade-offs. “Interest rates tend to be very high with these unsecured loans,” Dr. Sachar warned. Rates can jump dramatically, and if you don’t pay off the balance by the end of the introductory period, interest may be charged on the full amount from the purchase date.

» HOW TO: Save on teeth aligners

Comparing loan options

To find the best deal for your situation, “consider [your] total cost over the life of the loan, not just the monthly payment,” said Dr. Sachar.

Here are the essential elements to compare:

• APR: This includes interest and required lender fees, giving you a better picture of the true cost of borrowing.
• Origination fees: These can reach 9.99% of the loan amount. However, some lenders charge nothing.
• Prepayment penalties: Be wary of lenders charging fees for early loan payoff.
• Loan terms: Shorter terms mean higher monthly payments but thousands less in total interest.
• Credit requirements: Minimums range from 580 to 660, depending on the lender.
• Repayment flexibility: Look for options such as payment deferrals or autopay discounts.

Most lenders require steady income, manageable debt-to-income ratios and credit scores above their minimums. So review these before applying.

Dr. Sachar warns that multiple credit inquiries can hurt your credit score, so use prequalification tools first. Once you’ve found suitable options, submit formal applications to your top choices within a 14- to 45-day window to minimize credit score impact.

Use prequalification tools to avoid hurting your credit score. When you're ready to apply, stick to a 14- to 45-day window to limit the impact of multiple inquiries.

Alternatives to dental loans

Dental loans aren’t the only option for financing your treatment. Several alternatives might save you money or offer better terms, especially if you have good credit or need a smaller procedure.

“The best alternative is negotiating with your dentist directly,” Zhou told us. Many practices offer cash discounts or custom payment plans since they know their costs and want to help you get needed care.

Here are other options worth exploring:

• In-house financing: These are interest-free payment plans without credit checks, typically for routine procedures. Unlike traditional loans, these don’t affect your credit score but are limited to specific treatments.
• CareCredit: This healthcare credit card offers promotional 0% periods ranging from six to 24 months. CareCredit is useful for larger procedures that you can pay off quickly. “If the balance isn't paid in full by the end of the promotional period, [you’ll get charged] deferred interest, retroactively from the initial date of the start of the loan,” Dr. Sachar said. So, it’s important to have a clear payoff plan.
• Health Savings Accounts (HSAs): These let you use tax-free money for dental procedures. However, “only qualified procedures are allowed … you can’t use HSA money for veneers, for example,” Zhou told us. Cosmetic or elective work generally doesn’t qualify.
• Credit cards: These work well “if you have 0% APR, and can pay off the balance before that [promotional] period ends,” according to Zhou. “Then you can save on interest.” The advantage is immediate access, but maxing out cards hurts your credit score and leaves you with no emergency funds.
• Personal savings: This is the most cost-effective option since you avoid interest and fees that come with loans. The downside is potentially depleting your emergency funds or delaying treatment while you save.

When considering credit-based options, it’s important to understand special financing offers. "Watch out for deferred interest offers that claim to offer 0% APR,” Zhou said. “If you miss the payoff window by even one day, you could owe months of back interest at rates over 25%.”

If you don’t qualify for an unsecured loan, a secured personal loan could be an option. These loans require collateral, like a vehicle or certificate of deposit, but you could get a better interest rate in exchange.

Methodology

To determine our top picks, including our pick for the best overall dental loan, we used a weighted scoring system that took into account both reviews about each company from ConsumerAffairs users and specific company offerings we researched.

We conducted sentence-by-sentence sentiment analysis of thousands of reviews on our site from June 1, 2023, to May 31, 2025, to identify the aspects people care about most — and which companies reviewers were happiest with in terms of these aspects. For dental loans, these included:

• Loan process
• Customer service
• Punctuality and speed
• Rates

We then carefully selected the most important offerings consumers should consider before choosing a lender and researched these offerings at each company. For dental loans, these features included:

• Minimum and maximum loan amounts
• Lowest and highest APRs
• Fastest funding time
• Maximum origination fee
• Maximum term length

The company with the highest score in each category’s uniquely weighted formula was given the “Our pick for” designation. In some cases where a single company received the top score across multiple categories, the company with the second-highest score was named the winner.