Oregon moves a boundary most states leave alone: who is allowed to treat you. It is one of only six states that license denturists, and unlike Arizona it lets them take patients directly rather than only on a dentist's written work order. It also licenses dental therapists and lets some hygienists work without a dentist present. If you need a denture, that changes who you can walk in and see. A traditional denture averages $2,128 an arch here.
| Service | Typical |
|---|---|
| Full traditional dentureOregon average | $2,128 per arch |
| Auto repair shop labor rateOregon average | $150 per hour |
| Attorney hourly rateOregon average | $255 per hour |
Ranges last checked September 2026. They come down automatically when they are due to be rechecked.
Every figure above comes from a named source we can link to, with the date we last checked it. We publish ranges rather than single prices because a range is what a provider will actually give you: the same job moves with what is being worked on, the materials, how hard it is to get at and how busy the trade is locally. Treat these as the order of magnitude to expect before you call, not as a quote.
Where a source publishes figures state by state, this page shows the figure for this state rather than a national average. Where no state-level source exists, it shows the national range and the local factors that move a job within it. We do not scale a national number by a multiplier of our own invention.
Every range carries a review date. When that date passes the number comes down until it is rechecked, rather than sitting here undated.
Six states license denturists: Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Maine and Arizona. In the other forty-four, denture work runs through a dental office and the technician who builds the appliance never meets the patient.
Being licensed and being independent are not the same thing, and Oregon is the clean example of the difference. Arizona licenses denturists but ties them to a dentist: A.R.S. 32-1294 says a denturist shall not practice denture technology except under the supervision of a licensed dentist and pursuant to a written work order of a licensed dentist. Oregon sets no equivalent condition and lets a denturist take patients directly.
Oregon licenses dental therapists, a profession that can diagnose within a supervising dentist's authorization and perform simple extractions of erupted posterior primary teeth. It also permits hygienists holding an additional permit to work without a dentist present, in settings such as nursing homes, correctional facilities, community clinics and schools.
Oregon does all three, which makes it a useful place to see how far these boundaries can move. Most states do none of them.
State boards publish license status, and that stops well short of what a patient wants to know. In Oregon the existence of a complaint is confidential and only a final disciplinary action becomes public. A clean lookup is not the same as no complaints; it means no case has been closed against them with a public finding.
Oregon sits above the national figure for dentures, a little above it for auto repair labor, and close to the median state average for attorney rates. The table above carries the current numbers with the month each was checked.
On dentures, tier moves the price much further than geography does, so the first thing to establish in any quote is which tier it is for.
For denture work, establish two things in the first phone call: which tier the quote is for, and whether the practitioner can see you directly or needs a referral. In Oregon a denturist can do the former; that is the whole reason the distinction matters here.
Ask what sits outside the denture price. Extractions run $165 simple to $375 surgical, X-rays $56 to $612, an exam about $210 and anaesthesia about $703. A plan that starts with extractions is a much larger bill than the appliance price suggests.
Ask how many adjustments and relines the first year includes. Bone under a denture keeps remodelling for months after teeth come out, so adjustments are expected rather than exceptional, and whether they are billed each time is one of the biggest differences between two otherwise similar quotes.
Check the license, and know what you have checked: current status and any public disciplinary finding, not complaints.
Yes. Oregon is one of six states that license denturists, and unlike Arizona it sets no condition requiring a licensed dentist's supervision or written work order. Arizona licenses denturists but ties them to a dentist under A.R.S. 32-1294; Oregon does not.
A full traditional removable denture averages about $2,128 an arch, against a $2,022 national figure. Tier matters more than geography: a low-cost set averages $460 and a premium set $6,703, so establish which tier you are being quoted before comparing two prices.
More people than in most states. Oregon licenses dental therapists, who can diagnose within a supervising dentist's authorization and perform simple extractions of erupted posterior primary teeth, and it permits hygienists with an additional permit to work without a dentist present in settings such as nursing homes, community clinics and schools.
No. In Oregon the existence of a complaint is confidential and only a final disciplinary action becomes public. A clean record means no case has been closed against them with a public finding, which is a narrower statement than it appears.