Dental Implant Costs

The first fundamental in understanding the costs of dental implant treatment is that there are two separate parts of the treatment—surgical and restorative. In fact, for the highest level of care, two different specialists are typically involved. The surgical treatment is performed by an oral surgeon, the restorative treatment by a restorative dentist.

Some people make the mistake of trying to compare the cost of an implant crown with the cost of a simple crown on a tooth. This ignores the cost of the surgery. In actuality, the cost of an implant crown is about four times the cost of an ordinary crown. It would be more in line to compare it with the cost of the other option for single tooth replacement—a dental bridge—which costs three times as much as a crown. This makes replacing a single tooth with a dental implant a little more expensive than replacing it with a bridge.

Cost of Full Mouth Dental Implant Restoration

Complete restoration of your mouth with dental implants can be very complex and can become quite costly. The mouth is a complex structure. Not counting wisdom teeth, there are twenty-eight individual teeth. They need to be designed to be esthetically appealing. There are also complex chewing motions in multiple directions and the individual teeth have to be shaped to fit into those motions. There are two complicated temporo-mandibular joints that control the parameters of these motions, and measurements need to be taken of the distance between them, and their slopes and inclinations in various planes of motion in order to duplicate those motions on an engineering instrument so that a harmonious bite can be created.

The mouth is an organ of the body, and it is a rather important organ. The health of the entire body depends upon the ability of the mouth to process the proper foods. There are many cases where the absence of functioning teeth has been the precipitating factor in total body decline.

Besides this, the mouth performs a vital communication function.

The fee for complete reconstruction of the mouth will vary considerably from case to case. Some cases require bone grafting, some don't. Some patients elect to have the most stable and most expensive options available, some choose more economical approaches. When you receive your estimate for your case, we suggest that you compare it to the costs of restoring other organs in your body. Here is a list of the costs of various organ replacements:

• Kidney Transplant - $259,000
• Liver Transplant - $523,400
• Cornea Transplant - $20,700
• Bone Marrow Transplant - $676,800
• Intestine Transplant - $1,121,800

Investment in Dental Restoration Evaluated Against LIfe Expectancy

Also, when you consider the cost of restoring your mouth, consider the number of years you plan to enjoy it. Besides the medical necessity of adequate nutrition, there is an enjoyment factor. What is it worth for you to be able to maintain your health by eating adequately plus to be able to enjoy your food for the rest of your life? That is a way to consider your investment in an understandable framework. Statistics show that, at the time of retirement, males can expect to live to the age of approximately 82, females to approximately age 85. You may want to base your evaluation of the cost on the number of meals you expect to enjoy.

Here is Dr. Chal's patient, Lonnie, some time after completing her full-mouth dental implant restoration. She is clearly a woman who enjoys her food! Consider what it would be worth for you to be able to enjoy, rather than suffer through, every meal for the rest of your life.

There is additional specific information about dental implants costs on Dr. Chal's implant dentistry website. Click the link to read more.