Dental Implants

[Sinderelly]

Has anyone had these done? I need at least 3. I would prefer to do them all at once and get it over with but $$$ yikes! My dentist doesn't do them but gives referrals.

What is the cost per tooth? Was it painful? It sounds VERY painful with drilling a metal screw into the jawbone?

 

[Maistre Gracey]

I have several.. 4? 5?... can't remember.

Hurt? No. they give plenty of novacaine to numb you good. The only thing that truly hurts a bit is getting a shot of nivacaine in the roof of your mouth (top teeth).

Cost?? Wildly expensive, as you will also need a crown after that. Some insurance carriers are starting to cover them, but even so it's usually 50% plus one implant can max out insurance for the year.

MG

 

[Sinderelly]

Can you remember how much per tooth?

 

[Hikergirl]

My dentist wanted me to get an implant a few years ago, told me the cost would probably be between 6K and 8K for it. I opted not to do it, and not sure how much they have come down in price here.

 

[aprilchem]

My mom had her entire mouth done - she lost nearly all of her teeth at a very young age, probably 25 or 30. I believe it cost her about $25k for the whole mouth, and involved surgery under general anesthesia.

 

[HMANSION LOVER]

Had my whole mouth done, had no choice really bad teeth (broke a tooth on a piece of french toast). Due to cost I had to spread it out over many years. Used flex plan dollars. When i started we were allowed to deposit $5,000 into our flex account so that really helped. It was expensive and took some time but wow!!!!! was it worth it. Now I can eat anything I want without fear of a broken tooth. And as an extra bonus I have an incredible smile. I won't kid you there was some pain involved but well worth it.

 

[JeffreyY]

I just had one done, it did not hurt. Including everything it came to about $5,000. That included the extraction the bone graft the flipper tooth the Inplant the X-rays and the final cap. My friend also needed a sinus lift for an additional $2,500.

 

[missnic]

I'm in the process of mine. It's a front tooth (had actually been crowned when I was younger, and it just broke at the gumline). I've had the extraction and the implant itself done so far, and I get the crown done in December. My out of pocket cost is going to end up being around $2100. My insurance covers 50% for some things, and zero for things like the flipper and the drugs/sedation. I was offered 3 levels of sedation - novocaine only, a 3 pill 'relaxant', or general anaesthesia. I have a dentist phobia due to a really bad experience when I was a kid, but I opted for the mid level option, as an extra $1000 was not in the budge for full anaesthesia. I did fine with that, so I'm happy I saved the $1k. I'm also lucky that my dentist is allowing payment as services are rendered - I don't have to pay for the crown until I get it put in.

Pain wasn't bad. The day I had it done kind of sucked when the novocaine wore off, but I was fine with some extra strength tylenol. I think I took those for 2 or 3 days afterwards. The actual site itself sort of throbbed for a few days, which was worse than pain, I think. I was eating food (very carefully) the next day.

 

[dgthree]

I have 4 in my upper jaw. I had bridges, but the supporting teeth broke, so it was implants or a partial. Best money I ever spent! They look and feel great.

Now, I'm contemplating doing two lower teeth to give myself a better bite. I get $1,500 per year from my dental plan, plus pay $2600 to a flex spending account, and my dentist said that should cover one a year.

 

[LJSquishy]

My folks looked into getting an implant when they each had to have a tooth pulled and the cost would have been around $1500 per tooth out of pocket approximately. One of them has standard dental insurance through their employer and the other is retired but pays for a discounted dental plan (not as good as standard insurance but better than nothing). They both opted to go without.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

My folks looked into getting an implant when they each had to have a tooth pulled and the cost would have been around $1500 per tooth out of pocket approximately. One of them has standard dental insurance through their employer and the other is retired but pays for a discounted dental plan (not as good as standard insurance but better than nothing). They both opted to go without.

That's a good price... don't remember my exact cost but I know it was at least double.
I vaguely remember the older ones needed a crown, but for some reason I'm thinking the newer ones have something different??? That makes no sense so not sure why I'm thinking that.

MG

 

[jarofpickles]

right around 2000 for mine

 

[MomToOne]

I've had 2 done, and had issues along the way with both including one infection that caused me to be at high risk for loosing the implant altogether. But I had a great Oral Surgeon who managed to save it, and it is rock solid. Even with all the problems I had, I would 100% do it again.

As far as the cost goes, it can really vary by who's doing it and what your insurance covers and what the annual max is. When I had my first one done, most insurance wasn't covering them but these days many plans do (mine covered some of my second one). My Oral Surgeon's base price (before insurance) a few years ago was in the 2500-3000 range just for the implant surgery itself and all basic xrays (panoramics), office visits, etc surrounding it - that didn't include any extractions/bone grafts or any specialized Xrays or other imaging you might need (I had to have a funky imaging at one point that cost another $300). Then my dentist charged another 800 or so for the actual loading of the "tooth"/crown before insurance. So it's pricey. But sooooo worth it if you can afford it, and you have decades in front of you still.

One thing you can do to play the insurance game is to have the actual implant surgery one calendar year, and then put the crown on it the next year. That way you get two annual maximums to use and more will be covered.

I recommend going to a Periodontist or Oral Surgeon who does a lot of them. While my dentist has started doing them, I personally wouldn't ever have him do it (sorry, doc). But maybe that's just my personal history.

As far as pain goes, the implant itself isn't bad - they've pulled the tooth and nerves by that point. The extractions for me were far worse, and even they weren't that bad. My Oral Surgeon insisted that anyone having an implant get anesthesia - he was so set on it that he did the anesthesia for free (he was also a board certified anesthesiologist - the guy had more letters after his name than I'd ever seen before - even my pharmacist made a comment about it!)

 

[4HOLIDAYS]

Dh had one this past yr, almost 5K. That was a front tooth or we would have just had it pulled and be done with it. That had build up, removal, flipper, post ,the crown...everything. Way to much money for me unless it is visible.

 

[MomToOne]

Dh had one this past yr, almost 5K. That was a front tooth or we would have just had it pulled and be done with it. That had build up, removal, flipper, post ,the crown...everything. Way to much money for me unless it is visible.

The reason for having them done even when the tooth is not visible is because they maintain the bone better, which in turn causes fewer problems with your remaining teeth. A properly done implant should also last much longer than a bridge, saving money in the long run.

 

[Jen4400]

The dental practice I used to work for charged about $8,000 per tooth (this was in Seattle, where cost of living is high, and prices can fluctuate based on where you live). You can look for another general dentist who may perform the service for a lesser price, but oral surgeons and periodontists specialize in implants. Also, be sure to watch out for practices claiming a low price for an implant, as the posted price may only be for the implant itself, and not for the other services and requirements that get you from the extraction to the crown seat.

Good luck with everything!

 

[lcp9]

My husband is a dentist - I believe they charge $3000 and I'm pretty sure that includes the crown, but I'm not positive. Totally area-dependent, we're in Boise so cost of living is low. He's also a general dentist, however, he's participated in a bunch of extra training and gone on continuing education where they place like 300 implants a day in south america. General dentist capabilities will vary widely, so just ask a little about training/frequency of placement/failure rates/etc. The other thing is, implants are for patients who are VERY compliant with post-surgical instructions. Plenty of patients get pissed about spending $3000 on an implant, only to have it fail because they're still smoking a pack a day on it, you know? Good luck!

 

[ggreenfrog]

Now I am doing my research on that. My sister's husband decided to undergo his treatment in Israel, but my dad (he lives in Europe) picked a clinic in Hungary and has been satisfied. I am considering Mexico or Thailand as I came across these sites: medicaltourismabroad com au/expensive-dental-implant-costs-in-australia-you-must-know-the-best-alternative-2/ and dentalimplantsfriends com/country/mexico/ and must admit that overseas dental centers offer pocket-friendly prices. I have also read that dentists don't recommend undergoing dental implants treatment abroad, although my friends and relatives have positive experiences.

 

[NinaBella]

My husband had an implant done by the military around 10 years ago. It is a front tooth and now the front tooth next to it needs an implant. We have gotten the consultation but he is so busy at work he hasn't scheduled it yet. The first time they had to move bone to build up the area, wear a flipper for a while before the actual implant procedure, put the post in, and then the last step was screwing in the implant. For this reason, going abroad for the procedure may require several trips. I wouldn't recommend going abroad for a less expensive option. My co-worker got her daughter some optional cosmetic work to correct an oversize jaw. They broke her jaw in like 4-6 places, screws, shaving bone, etc. She got it done over the summer so she would be ready for her senior year of high school. Their first language is Spanish and they went to a dentist/doctor in Miami (we live in Tampa) and about a week before school started she got an infection, ended up back in the hospital. School started in August and missed the first two months of school recovering from the secondary procedure after the infection which the mom also did not budget for.

Remember the saying you get what you pay for.

Also, 10 years later and he needs the implant replaced. Three threads of the screw are now exposed. We did get a price for the replacement and an implant in another tooth he needs done. I think after our insurance it will be a couple thousand. I don't recall exactly and the paperwork is somewhere in our pile of paperwork. LOL. Insurance will cover a portion depending on your insurance plan.

I suggest going for a consultation and let them tell you how many appointments you will need, the timeline, and the price after insurance. It's not an in and out procedure and there is also recovery time you may need from work.

 

[MomToOne]

My husband had an implant done by the military around 10 years ago. It is a front tooth and now the front tooth next to it needs an implant. We have gotten the consultation but he is so busy at work he hasn't scheduled it yet. The first time they had to move bone to build up the area, wear a flipper for a while before the actual implant procedure, put the post in, and then the last step was screwing in the implant. For this reason, going abroad for the procedure may require several trips. I wouldn't recommend going abroad for a less expensive option.

New implant techniques have become more common these days where they place the crown tooth at the same time they do the implant or within 48 hours - it's called an 'immediate load' procedure. In that case multiple trips wouldn't be needed I don't think. There are pros and cons to it - in my case, my Oral Surgeon didn't recommend it due to the issues I've faced with bone grafts.

But I would still never have this sort of thing done overseas. I just don't think saving a few thousand dollars is worth the potential issues you can face. But to each his own.