Checking quotes — dental implants and prosthetics

Saving money on prosthetics can have consequences — but it is still worth comparing quotes.

Which functional analyses are carried out, and what do they cost?

Surgery: does a bone deficit have to be made good? If so, with bone substitute material or with the patient's own bone? From which part of the body is the bone to be harvested?

Then there is the cost of placing the implant in the bone. This covers the surgical work and the cost of the implant itself. The bare material cost is generally no more than 20 per cent of the total cost of the procedure. As a matter of principle, representative clinical studies should be available for any implant.

The planned prosthetics: the cost of the abutment and the crown or bridge. These costs are influenced by the material chosen for the visible part of the crown – high-gold metal with ceramic, or pure ceramic and zirconia, for example – and by the manufacturing process in the laboratory.

Navigated or computer-assisted placement involves further costs.

Once the dentist has drawn up the individual treatment and cost plan, the costs the patient actually bears also depend on their insurance status: statutory health insurance, civil-service assistance or private insurance.

For people with statutory cover, crowns, bridges and removable restorations have been subsidised since 2005 through case-based allowances, which also cover part of the cost of implant treatment. Depending on the state of the jaw, fixed subsidies based on the findings are paid.

Comparing quotes

What to look out for

Saving money on a restoration can have consequences

Cheap systems and very small suppliers appear on the market quickly and disappear even faster. In the rare case that a complication arises after healing, problems can follow, because there is no nationwide supply of replacement parts and no dentist experienced with a little-known budget system is quickly to be found. Having to break off a holiday because a screw in the abutment has worked loose and the local dentist does not know the tool needed is not worth a saving of €150.

Implants from well-known manufacturers bring security. Their international presence means nationwide support and scientific documentation of their products.

Implants at fixed prices from the internet

Whether from Germany or from low-cost countries, firm promises of low prices or all-in prices found online, without any prior diagnosis or knowledge of the patient's individual situation, should give pause for thought. Implant treatment also involves a thorough consultation, a detailed diagnosis, model analyses, medically sound treatment planning and the delivery of the result wanted. Tempting offers from far away can prove expensive in hindsight.

Cost plan

Reading a quote properly

An implant restoration can fall within the cost ranges given. Ultimately the patient's individual situation determines the cost. Elaborate bone grafting and particular aesthetic demands raise it, as do special immediate-restoration concepts. Regional differences in price also play a part. Guaranteed fixed prices quoted online without any examination at all should be treated with a critical eye.

When you compare different treatment proposals and quotes, the following points and costs have to be considered:
What costs arise before the implants are placed, in implant diagnostics (radiography, virtual three-dimensional planning)?
How is the cost calculated for a wax-up or preview – a model made in wax on which the planning of the work is based?

In the aesthetically important front region in particular, the result of the treatment can be visualised on the model. Planning and producing a restoration requires diagnostically precise data on the position of the jaw within the skull, the movement of the jaw joints and how your teeth relate to one another.

The key points at a glance

Guaranteed fixed prices from the internet, quoted without any prior examination, should be treated with a critical eye.
The bare material cost of an implant is generally no more than 20 per cent of the total cost of the procedure.
Representative clinical studies should be available for any implant.
With cheap systems from small suppliers, the supply of replacement parts is not assured everywhere.

Answered briefly

Frequently asked questions

What should I look for in a quotation?

That every item is listed: diagnostics, any bone grafting, placing the implant including materials, and the abutment and crown. If an item is missing, it becomes more expensive later.

Are cheap implants a good idea?

Rarely. With little-known budget systems the supply of components is not assured, and if problems arise you will struggle to find a dentist experienced with them. Saving 150 euros can become expensive.

Why is a fixed price from the internet suspicious?

Because nobody can know what is needed without an examination. Implant treatment involves consultation, diagnostics and individual planning – a price without that basis is guesswork.