Dental implants have now become a highly sought-after treatment option. While dentures and other options are still popular, people now want something long-term. If affordable dental implants are on your mind, you can try Natural Teeth Implant Center. With a team of qualified experts, they can take care of your dental problems at reasonable rates.
Dental implants are especially sought by those below 30 years of age; the projected lifespan of individuals in this age group means they would want natural teeth, or their equivalents, for as long as possible.
An often touchy subject with nearly every dental procedure is the cost. Many patients believe that their dentists charge them exorbitant fees. While a $2000 dental implant procedure may sound very steep, the dentist may only be pocketing a small portion of this amount of money.
Dentists making a killing from all dental implant procedures is a bit of an exaggeration.
It is imperative to understand the different aspects while your dentist explains the full range of dental implant procedures and their costs.
Do Dentists Perform Dental Implant Procedures?
A general dentist is usually the first port of call for anyone with dental issues. While most of them have the expertise to perform dental implant placements, they are not as specialized as oral surgeons and periodontists. You may feel more comfortable having an oral surgeon perform your dental placement than a general dentist as a patient.
A dentist may refer a patient to an oral surgeon if the dental implant procedure is complicated or requires a more specialized touch.
Bone grafting is often a necessary procedure before the actual dental implant surgery. While many dentists can perform bone grafting, other more complex types like vertical ridge augmentation may require the attention of an oral surgeon.
Such a dentist will have to share the consultation and treatment fees of the dental implant procedure with the oral surgeon helping with the complicated cases. This will likely whittle down the overall profit margin.
This same scenario occurs every time a dentist has to refer a patient to another specialist. Making more money from dental implants will require such dentists to upskill, thus enabling them to curtail outside referral cases and make more money.
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Cost of Dental Implants
With multiple steps required to complete any dental implant procedure, it is of little surprise that such surgeries cost a significant sum of money. The costs associated with the actual implants to be inserted into the gums may be minimal; the manufacturer’s total price maybe $50 to produce one tooth implant, for example. This same implant will cost about $900 by the time it is ready for implantation inside a patient’s mouth.
This exponential increase in the final cost accounts for all relevant taxes, cost of labor, and geographical location of the dental clinic. All such factors contribute to the high costs of dental implant procedures.
A dentist has to equally be mindful of all such factors while setting implant procedure prices. After all such considerations and deductions, the dentist may only end up with less than 40% of the total cost for the implant procedure.
Overdentures are improved versions of regular dentures. Sometimes, they may require dental implants for improved functionality. In such instances, the final cost of having both procedures may be much higher than anticipated.
Dentists that perform a combination of these dental procedures make significantly more money than their less-skilled counterparts.
Average Earnings Per Region
Dentists are some of the highest professionals across the US. Those at the low end of the spectrum earn a minimum of $117 000 annually.
Dental implant procedures account for a sizable portion of such a salary package, with different dental implant approaches having varied pricing models.
A full-mouth implant procedure, for example, involves replacing each tooth. Another version of this treatment could involve implants that support dentures. In both cases, the treatment costs could exceed $50 000. A dentist performing such procedures regularly will likely earn much more than the average annual salary.
States like California have above-average taxation rates compared to, say, Texas. This will impact an average dentist’s earnings from dental implants; a dentist practicing in a location with high dental care costs will make more money from all procedures, including dental implantation.
Ultimately, a dentist’s training and experience play a significant role in determining their earning potential. Dental implant procedures will continue to command high treatment fees; dentists who take note of this trend and upskill accordingly will be better positioned to profit from this growing market.