Unlocking the Secrets of Dental Implant Pricing: What You Need to Know

Comparing Implant Pricing: What Dental Implant Charges Cover

There are two distinct components to what you’re paying for:

1. Materials

• Impression material
• Anaesthesia
• Implant root
• Implant crowns or “new teeth”
• Single-use materials, like curtains
• Sutures

The most expensive items are the dental implants themselves, and then there’s the prosthetics or ‘new teeth’, which are milled to fit perfectly onto the implants. There are both temporary and final sets to be made.

These are the physical components involved, which certainly do come in differing levels of quality. Yet the cost of these physical components can be considered something of a constant, or a ‘fixed’ part of what you are paying for.

You’re unlikely to find large variation in the cost of the items, unless a dentist is placing low-quality implants, or possibly not providing a proper set of temporary prosthetic teeth.

2. Professional Fees

The ‘non-component’ part of what you pay for, however, is not at all ‘fixed’ or ‘constant’. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. And that’s the surgical skill, knowledge, and experience of the dental surgeon – his or her level of expertise and specialism.

2.1 Becoming a Specialist

In Germany, each of the regions actually has its own rules about when a dental surgeon is permitted to call him or herself a specialist.

As for all areas of surgery, a dentist becomes specialised through education, further training, and building up career experience. Dentists can also pursue specialism by taking further academic postgraduate courses, or attending specific training modules offered by various dental societies.

2.2 Importance of Regular Training

It really is essential that an implantologist undertakes regular further training so he or she is up-to-date with the latest science and technology – which here in Germany, is mandatory.

And yet the word ‘specialist’ itself can’t really indicate whether an implantologist actually has the necessary expertise.

2.3 The Role of Professional Experience

Professional experience plays a major role – and in particular, how many implants an implantologist has placed – with the associated crown/prosthetic correctly designed and fitted.

Undoubtedly, there’s a large degree of variation in prices for dental implants across Europe. Yet it’s also true to say there’s great variation in the ability, expertise, and experience of dental surgeons too – and this is the key part of the service a patient pays for.

3. Fixed Prices for Dental Implants

In truth, before a patient has been examined, it’s not actually possible to ‘guarantee’ a fixed cost with 100% certainty.

So prices which are advertised as fixed are often, in reality, only a ‘guide price’ or ‘best-case’ scenario. This is because it always depends on the individual medical needs of a patient.

In fact, in Germany, this is reinforced by our dentistry regulations, which means the treatment can’t take place until a patient has been given a full list of costs which will, or even could arise.

These regulations are in place to ensure that high standards of dentistry are maintained in Germany and to guard against a ‘race to the bottom’ on price and quality.

Dentists practising in countries such as Hungary, Croatia, and Turkey aren’t covered by the same strict regulations as in Germany. This means they are able to make bold claims about cheaper implants, without having to be concerned about being misleading.

4. ‘Cheap’ Treatment Offers in Eastern Europe

There are hundreds available online, and they’re not just targeting Brits. Germans are also being enticed by these seemingly ‘too good to be true’ prices.

Our fundamental concern is that commercial considerations may be present in the mind of the dentist when carrying out the treatment. This can easily lead to lower quality of dental work in order to meet the ‘cheap’ fee, especially if any complicating factors arise (for example, the need for a bone graft).

Something else, which is far from obvious to a patient, is that there are nearly always different options available for solving dental problems.

4.1 Variety of Treatment Options

Take someone who doesn’t have natural teeth left and so wishes to have fixed bridges supported on dental implants. The fixed bridge could be installed on 4, 6, or even 8 implants, which would self-evidently come at different costs. And then there’s a variety of options in how the bridgework on the implant can be created, which greatly varies in the time and cost to produce to a high quality.

4.2 The Importance of Proper Planning

However, the patient may be left completely in the dark of other options because the price has been fixed at a low level early on.

What we suspect from experience of seeing patients who have travelled eastwards for treatment is that the dental treatment has been carried out without necessary planning, and carried out in a way which has been dictated to by the low budget (or without the necessary expertise in implantology at all). Yes, the patient may have paid for a lower quote than at home, but they haven’t received value for money.

In fact, sadly sometimes the money they’ve paid is a complete false economy because the patient needs to start again, often from a more complicated situation.

5. Be Picky About Choosing Your Implantologist

In Europe every year, in the region of 5 to 6 million dental implants replace missing or unhealthy teeth. That’s a lot of implant surgery by a great many different dentists.

Undoubtedly, there’s significant variation in the experience which dentists and oral surgeons have to offer. Some clinicians are just starting out placing their first implants, others have more than 20 years’ experience in dental implantology.

5.1 Minimising Risks

Problems arise when the clinician reaches the limit of his or her knowledge.

5.1.1 The Role of Specialists

Specialists have the knowledge to minimize the risks of a dental implant failing or producing unwanted results, such as:

• Infection
• Loss of the implant
• Poor aesthetic results
• Unexpected pain
• Functional problems

A significant landmark is reaching 10,000 implant cases. If this is achieved, there’s truly genuine expertise in implantology.

At Smile Health, we have 3 oral surgeons, 5 specialists in implantology, and a further 10 clinicians with extensive implant experience. Our joint knowledge and experience have brought us to in excess of this golden number of 10,000 implant cases. This doesn’t just give us the belief that we’re specialists in implantology – we are specialists in implantology.

Dental Implants are a fantastic development in modern dentistry and oral rehabilitation, yet complications do sometimes occur – often entirely avoidable ones.

We regularly take on patients who are having problems with their implants placed by smaller less experienced dental practices – and for one reason or another, things haven’t gone to plan.

5.2 Comprehensive Expertise

Smile Health has been intensively specialising in dental implants for many years. So if this is you, and even if you just want a second opinion, please just get in touch with us.

It’s why with Smile Health, you’re also far more likely to get completely problem-free dental implants at the first time of asking!