There are many dental professionals who aggressively market bargain-basement dental implant treatment. Dental implant treatment can be costly. But the big question is: are you getting value for the cheap dental implant treatment? The proper placement of dental implants to replace missing teeth is not as simple as just placing a titanium screw in the jawbone. Quite often, there requires extensive planning for the proper placement of implants. It is vital that the area where the implant is going to be placed be thoroughly investigated to ensure there is adequate bone volume. Frequently, this may require imaging in the form of computerized tomography (CT scan) to ensure that the bone volume is adequate and there are no vital anatomical structures or pathology present. A simple dental x-ray is usually not enough. If the implant is placed without proper planning, it may be placed in an inadequate area not only where the implant may perforate outside of the jawbone, but it may be placed in an area where proper function with the opposing teeth may not be suitable. Often, this results in either the failure of the implant to integrate into the jawbone or a slow progression of implant failure over time. Either way, the implant is lost, and you are back to square one. Also, implant failure may result in the destruction of the surrounding jawbone and that may necessitate extensive and expensive bone grafting to place another implant in this site. Ask the dentist who is selling you the cheap dental implant if they are thoroughly planning for the optimal placement of your dental implant.
Often, cheap dental implant treatment entails the placement of cheap dental implants that are manufactured in foreign countries. These may be “knockoffs” of reputable dental implants but without the proven and safe, reliable track record of the dental implant manufacturers who have been around for a long time. Do you want to have something placed in your body that is not proven? This is not an area to take chances on.
Finally, the prosthetics part of this treatment usually has crowns that are made right in the dental office. If it is a front tooth, you want your tooth to fit and look like your natural teeth. This can be demanding and often better suited for a full-service dental laboratory. Ask the cheap implant dentist if they are making your crown or if a reputable local lab doing it? Some dentists may use foreign labs to lower costs and there may be a concern for the quality of the prosthetics long term.
The reality often is that cheap dental implant treatment may be successful in the short term but what if your implant fails in the first five years? And to replace that failed implant requires more treatment at an additional cost, is there value in that?
There are many important questions to ask the cheap implant dentist because you want to make sure that the treatment is done correctly and safely, it is your mouth and body in question, and you should not take chances.