FAQs About Dental Implants
Treatment
- I don’t have an X-Ray yet. Is that a Problem?
- How are my Teeth Initially Assessed?
- What are the Timescales for having my Treatment?
- I’ve got a Quote in the UK which refers to Further Visits During the Healing Period. How is this Addressed?
- Which Type of Implants do you use?
- If I have bone loss, is a bone graft necessary or are there implants suitable for less bone?
- How many visits are involved? And how long are they?
Travel & Stay
Price & Payment
Q: I don’t have an X-Ray yet. Is that a Problem?
No problem. We’ve got an ever-growing local list of dentists who offer x-ray’s for patients going abroad for implants.
And if we haven’t already got your area covered, we’ll find the nearest local practice for you.
Q: What About the Cost of Hotel Accommodation and Flights?
As a patient coming over from the UK, we pay the full cost of your stay at Hotel Capri with breakfast included, for you (and 1 other person staying with you sharing your room), as part of your treatment at Smile Health. We also arrange all airport transfers.
We’ll liaise with you about choosing the right flights, that work best for you (most commonly with EasyJet and Ryanair). Your flights are booked directly and paid for by you.
Through the amazing low price we offer for your treatment, adding the premium quality of service, we’re confident our overall package, always represents fantastic value for our UK patients.
Q: How are my Teeth Initially Assessed?
You be able to speak with Dr Sperber or another of our implantologists on WhatsApp (or similar) to explain your situation to.
And an x-ray of your mouth will allow us to check that you’re suitable for travelling to us to have implants.
We’ll then give you our initial advice and quote for you to consider.
If you don’t already have an x-ray, it’s not a problem. It’s usually straightforward to make an appointment locally to you. Tim, our patient liaison, will help find a solution.
Q: What are the Timescales for having my Treatment?
We schedule treatment of our UK patients into dedicated Treatment Weeks.
You can choose during which Treatment Week suits you best, subject to availability.
We’ll schedule your treatment in once you’re happy to proceed. Then your flights can be booked.
If you’d like to proceed very quickly, then we may be able to facilitate this ahead of our next Treatment Week.
Please call Tim in Patient Liaison on 0330 390 4062. He’ll talk you through all the options.
Q: Is it a Fixed Price for my Treatment?
Yes absolutely.
We’ll give you a no obligation fixed quotation.
Dr Sperber will assess your x-ray, to provide his recommended course of treatment for you, but also with alternative options (where appropriate). All treatment options will be fully costed, so you can easily compare them.
Don’t worry if you haven’t already got an x-ray. We’ll help you get an appointment locally to get a panoramic x-ray (OPG).
Q: How Long after having my Implants will I get my Final New Teeth Fitted? Plus, Where will I Need to go for this?
It depends on the therapy you’ve had with us. A single implant can have the final restoration fitted after just 6 – 8 weeks. For larger cases, it’s usually necessary to wait for a period of 3 – 6 months for the implants to become fully integrated into the bone.
After your treatment, we arrange for your new teeth to be milled by a leading dental laboratory here in Germany.
Once it’s time to have these fitted – replacing the temporary ones – there are two options open to you. Either, you come over to Germany for a final consultation to have the new teeth fitted. Or, we’ll arrange an appointment for you to see a partner dentist of ours in London, Birmingham or Manchester, who will fix your new permanent teeth onto your implants.
Q: I’ve got a Quote in the UK which refers to Further Visits During the Healing Period. How is this Addressed?
Our process for patients in the UK needs to differ to when you have treatment locally. We’re able to do this because you’re staying over for a few nights.
We concentrate certain stages of the process, so they fall at the beginning e.g. the pre-planning and post-procedure scans/impressions, and at the end, when you have the final bridge fitted. The added benefit is that this enables us to keep the cost down as low as possible.
So when you come over, we fully digitalise your situation, with a 3D intraoral scan, bite scan & digital Images to record your gum line, smile line and relationship between your upper and lower jaws.
After your treatment, we carry out all digital scanning again, but now with your new dental situation with your integrated implants. This allows us to compare the new scans with the old scans, in order to design your new teeth.
After the healing period, and you visit for your final fitting, we will make the final adjustments to the bridgework to ensure a perfectly fit. We’re able to do this because we can instruct our laboratory to make the adjustments overnight. Most practices don’t have their own lab to offer this option. Again, it’s because you’ll be staying overnight that allows for this.
Additionally, you’ll have ongoing access to your implantologist via video call from home to discuss how everything is feeling. In the unlikely event an intermediate unplanned visit to us is needed, we’ll arrange this with you, and of course with no further dental fee involved.
The main reason for the additional visits locally, is for the practice to prepare your final bridgework for fitting correctly (by taking impressions). But due to the steps we take, this isn’t necessary, meaning a more efficient process, which translates into our low fee structure.
Q: When and How Much do I Pay?
The normal structure is 50% on your initial visit to us, and 50% on the final fitting of your new teeth.
It may vary from this should your treatment be scheduled differently – but we’ll discuss with you in advance if it’s the case.
Q: Does the Price Cover Teeth Extractions as well?
Yes, all necessary extractions will be included within the quote we provide you.
Q: How many visits are involved? And how long are they?
Your treatment will be a planned on a 2 visit basis. The first visit will be 1 – 4 nights i.e. an overnight stay can be sufficient for lesser treatments, such as two implants supporting a bridge, where 4 nights would be for having full restoration of upper, lower or both jaws.
The second visit, to have your new Zirconium crowns fitted, will be a 1 – 2 night stay.
However, for larger treatment cases e.g. full mouth restoration, we do always plan the contingency of a 3rd short visit. Why? In a small proportion of cases, there are some factors which make this appropriate to achieve the optimal outcome for your treatment.
Q: If I have bone loss, is a bone graft necessary or are there implants suitable for less bone?
A bone graft will be necessary because it builds up your jawbone, so that the implants are fully secured in place for the long term. Whilst it might sound daunting, in reality it’s a small and straightforward procedure, which our dental surgeons are extremely skilled at.
The procedure is only a small part of the implants process, which doesn’t take long. You’ll be given a fully effective local anaesthetic, that ensures you’re pain-free.
You may have seen that there are implant systems available which are designed to avoid the need for bone grafting. However, we would only recommend these alternative implants where there is a specific medical need to avoid having a bone graft.
Q: Which Payment Methods are Accepted?
Credit card, debit card, bank transfer or cash are all accepted.
Some patients have used Smart Exchange to get a more competitive exchange rate than offered by their own bank, but we do not endorse any particular financial service.
Q: Is there a guarantee or warranty for the implants and teeth?
Implants: The implants themselves have lifetime warranties.
New Teeth: Yes, the guarantee is through ourselves due to our close partnership with our supplier, Schütz Zahntechnik, the largest guild of laboratories in Germany. So in the unlikely you experience a problem with your Zirconium Teeth, we will ensure the repair or replacement.
Our Guarantee: This is the guarantee of highest importance to our patients. And this is that if you have any complication, then you’ll come back to us for further treatment at absolutely no further dental cost to you. We do everything to ensure you get the perfect outcome for the agreed price.
Q: Which type of implants do you use?
We use implants produced by MIS, Astra-Tech and Straumann implants. These are German / Swiss world-leading suppliers. We only use the highest quality implants from renowned suppliers.
One of the key advantages of working with these leading suppliers is the assurance of future-proof treatments. These companies have established themselves as industry leaders, always ensuring the availability of necessary tools and components.
Speak to an advisor anytime on 0330 390 4062.
Or, visit our contact form and leave your details, we’ll get right back to you with more information.