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Complete guide on dental implant cost

Dental implants cost is certainly one of the most important criteria to check when considering a tooth replacement by a teeth implant for esthetic or medical reasons.

Implant dentistry remains by far the best method to replace missing teeth, because implants give you permanent results that far outweigh the other dental alternative such as dental bridges or removable dentures.

But this superiority has a price as you will find out in this complete guide regarding tooth implant cost per tooth and for full mouth.

Dental implant cost : what is the average cost of dental implants?

Please note the prices indicated from our research may differ from those of your chosen dental specialist based on many factors ( usually regarding the upper range….), however, you will have a pretty good idea of the necessary budget for dental implants.

Single tooth implant cost

In order to understand the cost of implants below, you need to remember each implant is composed of 3 elements: the implant, the abutment and the crown. (check here our 101 guide on implants if necessary)

Dental implant = implant + abutment + crown

Dental implants elements

3 parts for a dental implant

So, any price you get is usually the total amount of those 3 parts. A single dental implant will cost you anywhere between $ 1 500 up to $ 6 700 ! Of course, the dental implants cost per tooth depends on many factors such as the nature of the missing tooth: front tooth implant cost is usually higher than the cost of a back tooth implant because front teeth are often trickier to restore due to the small space involved , and because the abutment ( what connect the implant to the crown)  for these front teeth is usually more expensive than the standard sized and angled abutments from the implant company.

single tooth implant

Single tooth implant cost
Lower end costAverage costUpper end cost
Implant element$ 900$ 2 500$ 3 200
Abutment & crown$ 600$ 1 500$ 3 500
Total$ 1 500$ 4 000$ 6 700

Multi teeth implant price or full mouth dental implants cost

Of course, it would cost you much more if you had all your teeth replaced with dental implants—surely, you would have a fortune ( or some say a car ) in your mouth. However, dental implant does not have to be on a one-to-one ratio. You can have just two implants supporting 3 teeth using a bridge, which is often much more cost effective.

multi teeth dental implant

Even for full mouth dentures, we usually find 6 implants for each arch ( upper and lower). For a complete mouth restoration by dental implant, it could cost you between $ 36 000 ( 2 dental bridges with 6 implants – $ 18 000) and $ 90 000 ( 2 times $ 45 000)…. I wish there a was a mistake…

Multi teeth implants cost
Lower end costAverage costUpper end cost
3 - tooth bridge with 2 implants$ 2 800$ 6 000$ 12 000
4 - tooth bridge with 2 implants$ 4 000$ 8 000$ 15 000
Dental bridge with 4 implants$ 8 000$ 18 000$ 25 000
Dental bridge with 6 implants ( a full arch)$ 18 000$ 30 000$ 45 000
Full mouth ( 2 full arches )$ 36 000$ 60 000$ 90 000

We also found out bridges for the upper jaw tend to be more expensive than those for the lower jaw because the procedure is a bit more complicated. The reason? the upper jaw bone is less dense than the lower one, which means that implants can sometimes have issues fusing with the lower jaw bone. That would thus require some bone grafting…

Please note, while conducting our research on prices among several dentists or surgeons, we were sometimes chocked by some quotations that were far beyond the “average maximum” limit we indicated in the chart( it was usually in cities like Los Angeles that we got outrageous prices….)

We chose not to indicate them as we consider they are somehow so over the top they would give you a wrong idea of teeth implants cost. But just for information, for one tooth, we found someone quoting $ 9000  (it was probably a gold tooth… who knows…)

The 6 Factors that influence Dental Implants Cost

When people ask you “how much are dental implants”, you can now give the average price for one tooth, for one whole upper or lower jaw and for full mouth with minimum and maximum quotations. But you probably wonder why such a wide range between low end and high end range. It is simply because the cost of tooth implant is heavily affected by many different factors you absolutely need to know.

The 1st factor: dental implant material quality

As you know, each dental implant is composed of 3 parts: implant, abutment, and crown. For each part, depending on your situation, your jawbone size, or the location of the missing tooth, there are a great number of options to choose from, which will of course affect the overall cost.

For the titanium screw part, you can basically have different sizes, and different types of surfaces (more or less porous, which will influence the speed of implant – to – bone integration…)

For the crown, the material chosen will also affect the total price. The most affordable crown is made of resin, but there are other high-quality materials used like ceramic or porcelain fused with metal which are much more expensive. A single crown may cost anywhere from $ 500 (usually resin) to $ 3000 ( ceramic /porcelain fused ). 

The 2nd factor: the kind of teeth to be replaced

Among the other factors to take into account, you also need to know that the cost will depend on the type of teeth that you will replace; a back tooth implant will  be less costly than a front tooth one.

Front tooth implant price is usually higher than molar implant cost because :

  • front teeth are visible, so, because of this esthetic issue, dentist can charge higher fees as a result
  • there is less space involved , which makes the procedure a bit trickier
  • the abutment ( what connects the implant to the crown)  for these front teeth is usually more expensive than the standard sized ones for back teeth.

The 3rd factor: your dentist or dental surgeon expertise, experience, popularity

Any experienced dental implant specialist will charge a pretty high professional fee. You are going to pay for the time and money they spent on being the best in the trade, like minimum of three years of studies and clinical experience. So the more experienced and skilled your dentist is, the higher the bill. If you find that appalling, then you can try a general dentist who spared three months of his (her) time to learn about dental implant surgery but make sure your dentist has has some experience to offset a shorter training.

The 4th factor: Your dentist location

As you can imagine, the location of the dental clinic has a big impact on the prices. Try calling a clinic located in the suburbs and one right in the middle of a business district and you will find that there is a big difference between the prices of the two. The trend is : the more crowded towns, the higher prices as demands are higher in more crowded areas.

As an example, the cost of dental implant in Cupertino, California is about $ 6,500, while a dentist in Cleveland, Ohio said that single tooth implant procedure that includes surgery and restoration costs $3,000 to $4000. This accounts for almost 100% savings if you have your dental implant in Cleveland.

The 5th factor: Additional professionals involved

Now, if you have other professionals involved aside from your dentist then expect the price to be even higher. Right off the bat, you will have lab technicians and possibly anesthesiologist to think of.

The 6th factor: What most people forget… leading to bad surprises

You pretty know how much does a tooth implant cost and you probably think you know everything you need to know. Well, this is not really the case….As most people forget to take into account other elements or services in the total bill, that always come as an unpleasant surprise at the end. There are 3 elements that you may have to keep in mind.

– a ) Don’t trust a dentist that doesn’t require them

This what we often forget to count. In order to propose you the best option for your unique situation, your dentist will definitely require some scans of your dental overall picture, to plan meticulously your implant surgery. If your dental expert doesn’t even require any imaging services, run….. Nerve damage happens because dentists did not carefully check their position beforehand…  and the bad news is they are not free…. so basically what you will need are scans like X-ray and CT scan which can be quite expensive depending on the imaging center you choose. So remember to add these scanning expenses to the overall dental implant cost.

  • Ordinary X-ray: A single dental x-ray costs around $15 up to $25.
  • Bitewing X-ray: If your dentist wants to have a full view of how your back teeth touch each other when you are biting, a bitewing x-ray is required and it costs anywhere from $50 to $100 per session.
  • Panoramic X-ray: A 2D image of your entire mouth may also be needed by your dentist to have a clear view of the structures and tissues surrounding the upper and lower jaws. This procedure known as panoramic x-ray is about $100 to $200.
  • CT scan or Computerized tomography scan is the king of scan: it combines several X-ray views from different angles and computer advanced technology to create “slice” images of the bones and soft tissues inside your body. To give you a better idea, think of the CT images as single slices of bread. Your dentist can study each of these slices individually or in some cases can get a 3D image by combining the whole series. CT scans are much more useful for the dentist than plain x rays.

Imaging test prices
Lower end costAverage costUpper end cost
Dental X-ray$ 25$ 150$ 250
Dental CT Scan$ 250$ 700$ 1000

– b) How your bone can increase your dental bill

Losing your teeth often leads to bone deterioration over a period of time. To be able to have dental implants, it is important to get a thorough check up of the bones first to determine if your jawbone can support an implant. It must be healthy enough, thick enough or dense enough. If not, you are in for an additional treatment prior to the implant operation, called bone grafting.

In a number of cases, where the bones are not broad enough, alternative procedures like short dental implant can be used. Otherwise, bone grafting may be needed to correct the jawbone.That is definitely one of the extra procedures that will surely jack up the price of your tooth implants cost.

Below are 3 bone-grafting procedures to give you an idea of the different options and which one will be necessary for your condition if you are suffering from bone deterioration.

Socket grafting or simple bone augmentation

This treatment enables to increase the density or quantity of bone at potential sites of implantation, using some natural bones from other parts of your body or a donor; or from synthetic bone material and grafting it on where necessary. This will lead to increased bone mass, which will enable the jawbone to support implants where needed.

Block Grafting

This procedure is pretty exceptional and is applicable to patients who have lost a lot of their bone structures in their jaw part, which will require larger quantity of bone than for a simple bone augmentation procedure. A bone block coming from the patient is used to replace the missing bone, and is fixed with titanium screws.

Sinus Grafting

The bones that make up your face are hollow and do contain air spaces called sinuses. The sinuses above the upper back teeth are called maxillary sinuses. When you lose an upper posterior tooth, the floor of the maxillary sinus may move down gradually into the space previously occupied by the root of the missing tooth. So, if we want to place an implant, it is sometimes required to put the sinus floor back up to its original position by adding a bone graft. This process is also known as a sinus floor bone augmentation or a ‘sinus lift’

So, to better understand, a sinus lift is also a bone grafting procedure but is slightly different from bone augmentation because it deals mainly with the height of the upper jawbone. Bone density is not the only requirement here, the height of the jawbone is equally important, so that patients can get implants in the upper jaw.

For all those 3 bone-grafting procedures, the healing time is pretty long and can take 3 months to one year, for the grafted bone to fuse with the natural bone depending on the complexity and amount of bone grafted. Once the healing is over, the dentist will then be able to place the dental implant.

Regarding bone grafting costs, sinus grafting and block grafting are considered complex procedures.  Socket grafting with a small area to treat using donor or synthetic bone material will be considered as simple. Other bone augmentation cases with your body bone will usually belong to the complex category.

Bone grafting prices
Lower end costAverage costUpper end cost
Simple bone graft$200$600$1 300
Complex bone graft$1 800$ 2000$ 3300

 – c) Prior removing of anything in the way leads to additional cost

In some cases, the damaged tooth that will be replaced by a dental implant has already been extracted, but in others, you need it to be done beforehand. A tooth extraction is simply the removal of a tooth from its socket in the bone. This service cost is different depending on the extraction complexity.

Simple tooth extraction : If the tooth can be seen in the mouth, and mostly protrudes from the gum, it is usually a simple extraction with local anesthesia to numb the area. The dentist will simply grasp the tooth with forceps and move it back and forth to loosen the tooth before removing it completely. Sometimes, he would also use an instrument called an elevator or luxator, to loosen the tooth by widening the socket and make the removal easier.

A non-surgical extraction for a tooth can cost $75-$300 depending on the tooth, the dentist, the emergency.

Surgical tooth extraction : If the tooth is broken off at the gum line, or if the tooth has not erupted from the gum, or if the underlying teeth root is too large or curved, a surgical tooth extraction may be necessary.

After giving you a local anesthetic to numb the tooth area or a strong general anesthetic if required, the dentist will cut the gum to reach the tooth, remove some bone tissue covering it, if necessary. Your dentist will then use forceps to grasp the tooth and gently rock it back and forth to loosen it from the jawbone and ligaments as for the simple extraction. Sometimes, a hard-to-pull tooth must be cut into pieces to be removed separately.

Once the tooth is pulled, the dentist will pack a gauze pad into the empty socket and ask you to bite down on it to help stop the bleeding. In few cases, some stitches (self-dissolving) are required to close the gum edges.

A basic surgical extraction (tooth is broken off at the gum line) usually costs $150-$300; a complex surgical extraction (tooth has some bone covering it) can cost $300-$650 or more.

Is tooth removal painful? During the procedure, you will of course feel some pressure (with the forceps moving back and forth), but no pain as you get local or general anesthesia. Remember to let your dentist know if you feel any pain so you can get additional local anesthesia etc…

To know: Dental insurance can cover 55%-75% of regular costs if the extraction is considered medically necessary and not for esthetic grounds.

single tooth extraction prices
Lower end costAverage costUpper end cost
non- surgical tooth extraction$75$ 200$300
Surgical tooth extraction$ 150$ 400$ 650

Insurance coverage of Dental Implants: check the 4 fine print limits.

For dental implant cost insurance may help you to cover your implant expenses or at least this is what you think. Mind you, your monthly payments are pretty high. So it would be quite normal. Yet, dental implant, according to insurance definition, is a cosmetic surgery because it provides aesthetic value and people can opt to have one even if there are other options available. As such, insurance companies do not cover dental implant costs.

However, there are now insurance groups that look at the functional aspect of the procedure and have opted to include it in their coverage but with a number of limitations.

You would, of course, be best to contact your insurance company to find out what your dental coverage is and at what reimbursement level if any. Some dental clinic can even help you check your insurance policy  and do the research for you. It is completely free. ( or at least make sure it is before giving your insurance information)

Broadly speaking, most dental insurances don’t cover the dental implants themselves but can cover the crowns on top or dentures on implants.

Some dental insurances only cover about $1000 per year, so by stretching your dental implant treatment over two policy years you could maybe manage to get about $ 2000.

If your insurance has dental implants as part of the benefits, you must take a closer look at the fine print to find out more about the exact provisions.

  • Waiting period. Dental implant may be covered in your policy, but you still need to adhere to the lock in period before you can avail of this service. You need to check how long you must retain your insurance policy before you can get an implant.
  • Policy of pre-existing condition. Most of the time, this is the catch-all reason why insurance companies do not pay. Know what pre-existing conditions disqualify you from dental implant coverage.
  • Partial coverage. Again, this is related to dental procedure being a cosmetic procedure. Insurance companies differentiate procedures as functional or cosmetic. Know what functional procedures are included in the whole dental implant process and find out if your insurance will cover that part.
  • Sports accident. If you lost your teeth due to a sports accident, then your insurance probably will not pay for your dental implant—especially if the accident is caused by negligence like not wearing protective gear while biking.
  • Cap limit. You might have dental implant coverage in your insurance, but only up to a certain amount and on a yearly limit.

Dental Implants prices by country

Among the list of alternatives to get cheaper dental implant, checking dental implant centers in other countries can be quite interesting . A number of countries in Asia, Eastern Europe, South and Central America are offering dental implant procedures at costs way below what is offered in the US, UK, and some other first-world nations. yet, you need to take into accounts the language barrier, flight tickets, accommodation and necessary expenses…. Keep in mind also if you need any revision or check ups that traveling back to your dentist won’t be very practical. However, many satisfied patients chose this option and got great results with the total amount being still lower than what they would have paid in USA .

Besides, it is also a great way to combine dental care and vacation all together.

Here is a list of countries that offer dental implants and their costs:

tooth implant prices in Europe and America
CountryLowAverage CostHigh
USA$ 1500$ 4 000$ 6 700
UK$ 1600$ 3 600$ 6 000
France$ 1500$ 3 000$ 4 500
Spain$ 1200$ 2 500$ 3 600
Italy$ 1400$ 2 000$ 3 700
Mexico$ 900$ 1 600$ 3 000
Romania$ 800$ 1 300$ 2 600
Hungary$ 700$ 1 100$ 1 800

To give you more idea about prices of dental implants in other countries, we also gathered current cost for dental implants offered by different clinics in seven Asian countries :

Tooth implant prices in Asia
CountryLowAverage CostHigh
India$ 130$ 600$ 1 500
Vietnam$ 820$ 1 200$ 1 700
Philippines$ 230$ 1 600$ 2 300
Thailand$ 800$ 1 800$ 2 400
South Korea$ 900$2 000$ 3 200
Malaysia$ 900$ 3 000$ 9 000
Singapore$ 2 200$3 700$ 5 300

India has the lowest average cost of tooth implant at $600, with lowest price at $130 ; while Singapore is the most expensive one among the countries at an average of $3 700.

The cost of dental implants is an important factor to take into consideration. Dental implants are quite expensive. Yet, please keep in mind your dentist’s experience and expertise are far more important than the financial aspect because it is your health, because we are dealing with living tissue and dental implants that require highly specialized skillsets. Don’t rush, or feel compelled to take hasty decisions when meeting any implant dentist. Take your time to ask questions, compare prices and choose the dental expert you feel is the best one for you.

10 thoughts on “Complete guide on dental implant cost”

  1. I needed to thank you for this excellent read!!
    I definitely loved every little bit of it. I have you saved as
    a favorite to look at new things you post…

    1. chris

      Hi sabine,

      thank you for passing by, hope it helped you;)

      cheers

      chris

  2. antonio

    Nice article very informative for people with low incomes.

    1. chris

      Hi antonio,
      thanks. hope it helps everyone that needs dental implants to get them at a better price.
      chris

  3. michelle

    You share interesting things here about dental implants. I think that your website will be great.
    Will definitely keep an eye on it. Can you add some social share icons?

    1. chris

      Hi michelle,
      thank you for your comment. and yes I will add some social buttons soon.

  4. johanna li

    Thank you for this awesome guide, clear and complete on implant cost. I will consult a few dentists to have 2 dental implants placed.
    johanna

    1. chris

      hi johanna, thanks, glad it helped you. Feel free to keep us posted about your implants 🙂

  5. emma

    Great post, I need some implants soon, so it was right what I needed to know. thanks for this very detailed post.
    emma

    1. chris

      Hi emma

      so sweet of you. feel free to keep us in the loop about your implants. fingers crossed.

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