Don’t Fall For The $399 Dental Implant

$399 dental implant. Don’t fall for it! What is the catch? Why are implants so expensive? These are these things I hear all of the time.

Let’s address some of these things…especially the $399 dental implant catch and some of the advertisements you might see.

Watch the video or read below (video transcription lightly edited for easier reading).

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Dental implants require skill, training and lots of experience

Keep in mind that a dental implant is a medical device being implanted into your body, it’s not just simply a screw just put in there haphazardly. This is a very precise science, and really the number one thing you’re looking for is the training, judgment, skill and experience of the dental implant specialist and the team that is there with you.

When you go to a heart surgeon or have your knee replaced, you’re not necessarily looking for the cheapest guy.

I’m not the most expensive guy at all, I’m not the cheapest person, but I can tell you some of these $399 dental implant deals are, to be honest….scary. And realistically, they are often a teaser rate, kind of like a 0% interest balance transfer on a credit card. THERE IS A CATCH!

– Dr. Ramsey Amin of Burbank, CA

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Why is the $399 dental implant advertisement a catch?

The advertisement is meant to bring you into his/her office and then other fees are bundled on top of that…

“Oh, you need an abutment, oh, you need a bone graft, oh, you need a PRP a PRF special blood draw, and, oh, sedation.”

Everything is just added, added, added, and it comes out to be almost the same cost. So bundling is something that is done. It’s deceptive, and again, I don’t agree with it.

In my office everything is upfront, there are no hidden fees. And realistically, the most important thing is to keep you safe during this procedure and have a good long-term result.

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Dental implants don’t last forever. I fix failed dental implants quite frequently.

Dental implants are not permanent. I repeat, they are not permanent. They can last a really long time when done well, though.

Keep in mind that 30% of what I do are redo-implants, some of them complete full arch redos (i.e. all of someone’s teeth in the upper and/or lower jaw). That means I have to take everything out, or just falling out, or the gums are sensitive and bleeding and red. Oftentimes these problems are just a lack of experience on other dentists’ part.

And it sounds great to just have something done. I’m sure we all want to save money. If I can get a TV at Costco for less than I can get it on Amazon, then I’m probably going to buy it at Costco, but it’s the same TV. It’s not a service, it’s not the person putting it in and their whole team.

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Dental labs are important in the dental implant process

Some of the things I find, as well, is the quality of the lab that’s used. So some labs that, we call them “production labs,” they’re like the size of McDonald’s and they are processing teeth at a rapid rate.

Some cases are shipped overseas to China where they use lead and very inferior products called “ti bases” for little short crowns that tend to fall off. They look good at first (everything looks good at first), everything kind of works well, but what happens at year three through seven is where we really see problems.

Do I have a 100 percent success rate? No. I’d be lying to you if I said that. Of course I’ve had failures. I’ve placed maybe 13,000 implants at this point in my career…actually I’ve lost count at this point!

But having dental implants placed correctly and keeping you safe during the process? How about being sedated for these procedures? Are you monitored? Is there a team that knows what they’re doing if you have an airway problem or if you have a really bad bleed?

And these things can happen as we get into more advanced procedures like I do, or zygomatic implants into the cheek bone, or pterygoid implants, or things into the nose, or down in the nerves, or transplanting bone around.

What happens if things go wrong?

Myself and my team are extensively trained and experienced to keep you safe from beginning to end.

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Why else are $399 dental implant advertisements a catch?

I’ve also seen in other offices (and people who I mentor all across the United States) that sometimes it’s just an inventory problem. They put that size implant in because that’s all they had readily available. There was no proper size of implant that was present so they just used whatever was on the shelf. Sad to say, there’s also implants available on eBay and even Amazon…really just poor quality of materials.

If this were your mom or your dad or somebody you care for having this done, what would you want? Are you happy that you saved a lot of money and paid $399 for the implant?

Maybe, but what’s it like later on with possibly redoing the dental implant or if there’s a presence of other diseases.

I’ve also seen at these really fast and rushed clinics, there’s no diagnostics that happen. You come in and you have that implant the same day, which is a little bit nuts, especially if it’s something like a bigger case that requires planning and blueprinting and procedural setup, and what I call “mental rehearsal.” You just don’t go in and just put a screw in haphazardly.

Dr. Ramsey Amin of Burbank, CA

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Choose the right dental implant specialist, not just the cheapest

So, these are things I think you should take into consideration. Watch out for bundling, watch out for experience, you know, ask your dentist.

• What is their experience in this?
• How many have they done?
• How many zygomatic or pterygoid dental implants have they done?
• How many full arch restorations have they done?
• What kind of lab do they use?
• Is it genuine zirconia or is it imported from other countries where they’re just going to crack/break a few years later?

And there’s just…the sky’s the limit with the amount of problems that can happen with implants. Believe me, they’re still the greatest and the best way to replace your missing teeth. They’ll give you back so much good in your life, especially if missing teeth or loose teeth have damaged your confidence or your social life or your married life, or anything to do with your work.

These things are really important to us. So to me, I think it’s important to have it done the right way. I’m not saying that if you had it done for $399 that it would happen to be wrong; we just see a correlation between these very low cost clinics and bigger problems.

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I stand behind what I do.

I have a very well trained team that have been with me for a long time and we know how to handle situations. We know how to pivot when something’s not going well. If we go into the bone and it’s really soft, well, what do you do? You just still put it in? Do you graft? Do you have the tools and techniques, experience, training, and judgment to move on, to do something else and keep your patient safe? Or do you just stick it in anyway?

Again, I speak from the heart and I see so many problems. And it’s become more and more often.

I’ve been doing this for 22 years and it has just exploded with problems we see from other dentists. I’ll put some links on for some things that you can learn about implants and what you’re getting involved into, especially the full arch replacement (i.e. full mouth dental implants).

I would say, be very careful with what you do with these and research. Do your due diligence. Again, I’m Dr. Ramsey Amin, Burbank, California, and reach out if you need. I tend to answer comments and try to help people as much as I possibly can. I’m looking forward to meeting you online, take care. Thanks so much.