Implant Price Comparisons Only Make Sense When You Are Comparing the Same Procedure
If you’ve looked into dental implants, you probably noticed one billboard saying full complete tooth and implant $1,000 and another dentist saying $10,000 for what seems like the exact same tooth. And you’re probably wondering, how is that possible? What’s going on with the difference in prices? Are the expensive places overcharging for implants? Or are the cheap places hiding something for how they can do it so cheap?
I’m Dr. Brett Langston. I’m a prosthodontist and the owner of Dental Implant Aesthetic Specialist here in Brookhaven, Georgia. And I’ve restored a lot of implants. I’ve seen it all in the last 20 years.
The first thing that you have to understand is that when you talk about an implant, you have to make sure you’re talking about the same thing — an apples-to-apples comparison. Sometimes when advertisements are for implants, they’re really talking only about the actual titanium screw that goes down in the bone. Then there are additional charges for the rest of the pieces like the tooth that actually goes in the mouth. Then there are also single implants where you’re just doing one tooth versus a mouthful of implants where you’re restoring all the teeth. So when you’re comparing prices, you really need to make sure that you’re talking about the exact same procedure because there is a big difference when you’re doing one implant versus a mouthful of implants.
Billboard Implant Prices Often Exclude the Crown, Imaging, and Provider Time
You may see a billboard that advertises an amazingly cheap price for the implant. A lot of times, if you look, that really only includes the cost of the titanium implant that goes in the bone. It doesn’t take into account dentist time, any radiographic imaging, the lab fees, the actual crown that goes on top of that tooth. So when you add it up, at the end of the day, that really, really cheap implant you see advertised on a billboard probably isn’t as great a deal as you think it is.
In our office, we just charge one fee. It’s all inclusive for the implant, the crown, the surgery, any follow-up, any kind of adjustments or changes. All that is one thing. We don’t believe in nickel and diming here. So you know what you get — it’s one inclusive price. Unfortunately, we have had a lot of patients that come to us having come from another office where they walked in thinking they were only going to have to spend $1,000 on an implant and then once all was said and done, they got a final bill that was almost $8 or $9,000 that they weren’t anticipating.
Implant Brand Quality Affects Long-Term Outcomes and Future Restorability
If you are actually able to compare apples to apples, the same process, the same final delivery of the product, a lot of times the variation in fees comes from a variety of factors. There are actually a ton of different implant brands. And while you can get some cheaper brands, I like to compare it to cars. You can get a Pinto, you can get a little tiny car that sure, it’s an implant technically, but you don’t have a lot of faith that it’s going to last a lifetime. And a lot of times the better brands do a lot of research. They spend a lot of time and money on research and development to make sure that implant is the highest quality. So the dentists that place the higher quality implants, obviously they cost more to supply than the cheaper implants. So a lot of times the difference in just the cost of the implant itself is a big change between two dental offices.
Not all implants are created equally. And by that I mean sure, they share a lot of similar components. They’re commercially pure titanium. They’re all pretty much the same shape. They come in lots of different sizes. But the difference is some of the brands spend a lot of money to develop a better, more premium quality implant that’s going to last longer, cause less complications, and be able to be easily restored.
If you use a cheaper, lesser-known implant, not only can you have complications, but 10 years from now, if that company goes out of business, a lot of times they don’t make the parts and pieces and components to restore that implant. Fortunately, as a prosthodontist, we do get a lot of patients that come in with either unknown implants or implants that were done elsewhere. There have been times where they don’t make those parts and pieces anymore and we almost have to start over, and that’s really expensive and it’s a second surgery and it’s a lot more time involved for the patient.
So it’s one of those things: if you’re going to get an implant you definitely want to make sure you’re going with a dental team that does it right, uses quality materials, uses a quality lab, plans the procedure out really well, because you don’t want to be stuck with an implant that’s failing 10 years down the road that nobody can do anything with. And the main problem is that on day one or even week one or even month one, if you use a cheaper implant, you might not notice a difference. It might be going just fine. Everything’s great. The problem becomes at year five or year 10 or year 15 when you start having trouble with that implant. A cheaper implant might have a lot more problems and might not be able to be fixed, and a more quality implant can be fixed.
Provider Experience in Implant Placement Justifies a Higher Fee
Another major reason for the price difference is the experience of the surgical and restorative team. You want to make sure that your implant team has a lot of experience and does this consistently and does a lot of these cases. A dentist can go to a weekend course and learn how to place implants and start to get better and better, but you really want to go to somebody who’s got years and years of experience because not only do they know what they’re doing, they can also anticipate any complications and plan for not having to deal with those complications down the road.
One thing to keep in mind is you’re not just paying for the difference in the price of the actual implant and the tooth that goes on top. You’re actually paying for the experience of someone who does hundreds of these a month versus someone who does one or two a year.
These Red Flags Indicate a Low-Cost Implant Clinic to Avoid
Here are some reasons when getting a cheaper implant might be a red flag. If the clinic doesn’t explain to you what all is included in the price, or if they just kind of rush you into a decision without thoroughly walking you through every little step of the process. It’s absolutely crucial to make sure that the surgical team has access to three-dimensional imaging. It’s 2026. We don’t rely on two-dimensional images anymore. A three-dimensional cone beam scan is definitely standard of practice for implant placement.
If you feel any kind of pressure or the price is going to go away if you don’t sign on today, that’s another big red flag. You’re doing healthcare. You’re not trying to buy a car that they’re trying to remove from the lot by the end of the month. If they don’t have a long-term follow-up plan to keep up maintenance and make sure that there are no complications with the implant, that’s a big red flag. Another red flag is if there’s no evaluation of your gum health, your bone level, the tissue response, and there’s not an in-depth discussion of how healthy that area is that’s going to receive the implant.
A successful implant always requires planning. So if it feels rushed, if it feels off the cuff, if it feels like they’re just going to grab something from their shelves and put it in here because you’re missing a tooth, that’s definitely a red flag.
Geographic Cost of Living Is the One Legitimate Reason Implant Prices Vary
About the only reason that I can think of that implants would be cheaper at one location than another for a legitimate reason is really geographic or cost of living reasons. A lot of times in metro New York, downtown Atlanta, surrounding areas where cost of living is more expensive, everything has a little bit higher price, whereas in rural Montana or out in Alaska, the cost of living is a lot lower, and so the cost might be lower. So don’t automatically assume just because the cost is lower where you are that it’s not a quality implant. You just need to make sure you do your research and you know what you’re getting.
Ask These Questions Before Choosing a Dental Implant Provider
Instead of asking why is it so cheap, here are a couple of better questions you should ask. Number one, what does this include? Is it just the implant or is it the implant, the abutment, the crown, the whole prosthesis? What implant system do you use? If they can’t tell you, or if they use a generic brand, that’s a big red flag. What happens if something goes wrong? Do they have a plan for restoring the area? Whether it’s removing the failing implant, regrafting the area, putting in a new implant, will they try and charge you to put that new implant in again? And finally, how many of these do you do a month? Are you experienced in possible complications? What’s your success rate? How long have you been doing this?
What you’re looking for is not only price transparency, but also clinical transparency when you’re looking for your clinical provider. Implantes dentales are expensive, but look at them as a long-term investment. Sometimes the cheaper version isn’t necessarily the worst, and sometimes the most expensive isn’t necessarily the best. But if you don’t understand exactly what you’re paying for, you’re not comparing apples to apples.
I’m Dr. Brett Langston, owner and prosthodontist at Dental Implant Aesthetic Specialist here in Brookhaven, Georgia. I’m here to help you watch your mouth.
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