I wanted to get a dental implant and spoke with my dentist about it. He said I was a good candidate, but the price he quoted me is beyond what I have. Someone from church mentioned I might be able to get it cheaper at a dental school. I’m all for more affordable, but wanted to double check this was a wise option. Would this be a safe way to get dental implants?
Lizzie,
Dear Lizzie,
Going to a dental school will cost less. They do that both to draw patients in for their students to practice on and because you are getting a less experienced caretaker.
It is up to you to weigh the risk versus reward and decide which you think is the most important factor to you.
Dental Implants at Dental Schools
Dental schools are very careful. They are there to teach their students best practices. There is always an instructor there to check the student’s work. All that being said, this is an advanced procedure and even uncomplicated cases, such as yours, still require surgery.
It will be the dental student which implants the prosthetic tooth root. Even expert implant dentists who’ve been doing the work for years will sometimes have a procedure fail.
There are things which can go wrong and although there is an instructor there, it is a matter of whether or not this dentist is skilled at recognizing issues quickly enough to intervene.
Paying for a Skilled Implant Dentist
If you decide you’d rather see an implant dentist with more experience, then you can see if they have in-house payment plans. They may not. But, even when they don’t, dental implants are generally paid for in two phases. First, you would pay for the implant surgery. Then, after a period of healing, you would pay for the dental crown.
If that is still out of reach, there is a medical credit company that could pay the fee to the dentist and allow you to pay it out to them. You can apply for Care Credit online. They have low and even no interest plans. If you have basically good credit, you shouldn’t have a problem.
If it turns out you absolutely cannot have a dental implant, getting a dental bridge, which is simply a false tooth suspended between two dental crowns) is a perfectly acceptable tooth replacement option.
This blog is brought to you by Philadelphia Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Michael Weiss.