Selecting a dentist solely based on a cheap dental implant price is probably not a good idea. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t seek out dental services that are reasonably priced. No one would begrudge you of that. With this in mind, it is always best to take a comprehensive questioning approach beyond the price of services.
When all is said and done, your goal should be to achieve a beautiful smile that allows you to eat from a wide range of food choices for a long time. This goal is usually not possible with traditional dentures.
But achieving this goal may also not be possible if cheap dental implant materials and low-priced dental laboratories are being used so that dentists can offer you a very low price on dental implant services. The following are three reasons why low-cost dental implants may be more expensive for you in the end.
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- Low-priced dental implant products
- Low-priced dental laboratories
- Global dental tourism
- Avoiding cheap dental implants from costing you more in the end
1. Low-priced dental implant products
For a dentist to provide you with “cheap dental implants” and maintain a profitable operation, it means they are more likely to buy their dental implant products from a manufacturer who produces “cheap” or low-priced products. There is really no way around this.
For the implant manufacturer to supply low-cost products, they too must cut their manufacturing costs. It’s cheaper to engineer dental implant parts that don’t fit together with great precision.
A poorly designed dental implant may not withstand your repetitive jaw pressure from chewing coarse foods like raw carrots, steak, nuts or hard candy. If the low-cost dental implant cannot withstand natural chewing pressure, your inexpensive teeth (crown, full-mouth bridgework or denture) that is attached to your dental implants will eventually come loose.
A loose dental implant crown forces you to go back to your dentist to address the problem each time the crown comes loose. This leads to loss of time and, frequently, additional fees associated with fixing the problem.
Under these circumstances, you will pay more for a poorly designed “cheap” dental implant than for a premium implant design.
2. Low-priced dental laboratories
The teeth that will be attached to your dental implants are manufactured by a dental laboratory. Like cheaply manufactured dental implants, a low-priced dental laboratory may also be used by a dentist to keep costs down.
A low-priced dental laboratory may not be capable of giving you the natural-looking smile you desire. This is often due to the low-grade skillset of the discounted dental laboratory.
Also, an inexpensive dental laboratory will often use cheaper materials to create the implant teeth. This helps to bring down your dentist’s costs as well.
But if you are not satisfied with the look or feel of your new dental implant teeth, you may be forced to pay an additional fee for a different dentist to provide a more pleasing result.
In the end, this journey of arriving at a final result that pleases you is more expensive then seeking a reputable implant dentist to begin with. Even when fees may initially appear to be priced higher, a quality dental laboratory will save you money long-term.
3. Global dental tourism
Traveling internationally for inexpensive dental implant services is another option that can seem appealing at face value but may be more expensive to you in the end. This is often referred to as “global dental tourism.”
Some people are attracted to this because they believe it will save them money. Countries like Mexico or Costa Rica can often offer lower-priced dental implant services because of their reduced labor costs. Be careful with choosing this option.
Lower labor cost isn’t the only reason fees tend to be less through these dental tourism services. Often times, these countries use a cheap dental implant that U.S. dentists may be unable to service if something malfunctions and a dental implant part needs to be replaced.
Will you be required to go back to Mexico to have your implant tooth fixed? Possibly. If you choose not to, and the part can’t be replaced, the entire dental implant may need to be removed and replaced, requiring additional surgeries and cost.
You may also discover that the doctor assigned to care for you through a dental tourism service is in-training. Low-cost training labor is another way to keep the cost of treatment down and offer you cheap pricing.
But high-quality implant dentistry requires significant training and experience. Receiving dental implant services from an unskilled clinician in another country could be quite costly over time.
Avoiding cheap dental implants from costing you more in the end
The bottom line is that when deciding on who’ll satisfy your need to replace your missing teeth, consider this fact.
“Cheap dental implants” are usually not as inexpensive as they may seem at first. You are better off seeking options that make the cost of dental implants more affordable through payment plans.
Insist your dentist use a premium dental implant system that is well researched for your case. If they refuse to do so, consider choosing a different implant surgeon. It may save you time and money in the end.
As Dr. Craig Misch — a world-renowned dental implant surgeon — stated, “…it is important that we prioritize the health of our [dental implant] patients and favorable long-term clinical outcomes over the economics of lower costs.”