DiNinno Family Dental
How Much Are Dental Implants?
“What is this treatment going to cost?”
This is the question at the forefront of every patient’s mind when we begin discussing a treatment plan. I do my best to “ballpark” the amount when we are in the brainstorming phase of dental implant treatment planning and we hone in on the amount when the plan begins to take shape.
Figuring out the Cost of Dental Implants in Fitchburg, MA
Below is a good article from the Academy of Dental Implants.
Utilizing dental implants as part of a comprehensive treatment plan allows us to restore any patient to a great aesthetic and functional dentition. Please call us with your questions: DiNinno Family Dental Office Phone Number 978-342-8710.
We refer to Central Mass Oral Surgery/ for all of our dental implants.
How Much Do Dental Implants Cost?
The answer might surprise you:
- A dental implant may cost no more than other treatments to restore a tooth.
- A dental implant may even cost less than other tooth replacement options.
Why Are Dental Implants Cost-Effective?
Because a dental implant typically lasts longer if you use a dental implant dentist who has proven skills, education, and training (find one near you).
For example: Dental implants typically cost less than a dental bridge long-term because a bridge has higher maintenance costs. A dentist who is experienced in tooth replacement can explain the reasons.
A note of caution before we get into the implant cost details: if someone gives you a price without seeing your mouth first, be wary. Dental implants are customized for your mouth. An experienced implant dentist knows that no two patients or their dental implant treatments are exactly alike, so the number of appointments, procedures — and costs — will vary accordingly.
Why pay “list price” for the worst-case scenario when you can get pricing for a dental implant that is based on your situation?
With that in mind, The New York Times estimated a cost range for a single tooth implant to be $3,000 to $4,500.
But the way for you to get the lowest possible cost is to contact a credentialed dental implant expert. The important aspect here is the “credentialing,” because credentialed implant dentists have documented levels of training, experience, and education.
Any dentist can say “Sure, I can do implants,” but a credentialed implant dentist has proven experience. This means they have information available that will help keep your cost to the minimum.
What If You See Ads with Very Low Prices for Dental Implants?
You might think these dental implant prices are too good to be true. Well, you know what they say about something sounding too good to be true … The key is to ask the right questions of an implant dentist you know you can trust.
Be certain that the treatment you are getting is not just complete but is truly customized for your mouth and oral health needs. For example, does the price include bone augmentation, soft tissue treatment, extraction if needed, the abutment, the crown, and a provisional, immediate load? Ask where the crown is manufactured, what the size of the implant is, etc. That is why the AAID Credentialed Implant Dentist was created — so you can trust your implant dentist to plan the treatment that is safe and best for you both now and in the long term.
Don’t presume that every dental implant dentist is credentialed. You should always ask an implant dentist: “Are you AAID credentialed?” You’ll sleep better when you do because you will have peace of mind.
Here is a free directory of pre-qualified, credentialed implant dentists from the American Academy of Implant Dentistry, the U.S. authority on dental implants. Just enter your zip code and you’ll find credentialed implant dentists near you.
So here is the key to the lowest dental implant cost:
Use a proven, experienced implant dentist to help ensure the dental implants last. Do that and you can get great value.
Unlike many other tooth replacement options such as dentures, dental implants are highly customized to look, feel and act like your natural teeth. That is one of the reasons people love their dental implants! But that is why to give you the best value, a dental implant dentist needs to see your mouth instead of guessing.
For example:
- How many teeth is the patient missing?
- Are the missing teeth located next to each other?
- What is the health of their jawbone?
- All of this affects how much a dental implant costs.
The questions that an experienced dental implant dentist will ask you are for your safety and successful treatment. These questions can also help minimize your cost. Why pay for the “average” implant procedure if that isn’t what you need? Finding an implant dentist you can trustis the key.
You should be very careful if someone offers an exact price for dental implants without seeing you. An experienced dental implant expert knows the dental implant process is highly personalized for you.
So what is a tooth implant cost / dental implant cost? The best answer is to ask an experienced, proven implant dentist near you. They can minimize your costs after they have examined your mouth and existing teeth in person.
You should also make it a point to ask any dentist, “Are you credentialed by AAID?” AAID credentialing means the dentist has met key standards for experience, training, education, skills, and competence. You can find a trusted, credentialed implant dentist near you using this free directory. Be sure to ask if they are credentialed by AAID because this will give you peace of mind – and confidence you are getting the best value.
While the cost of dental implants can’t easily be guessed without seeing you, one point is clear: the long-lasting nature of dental implants can make them an excellent value. In fact, dental implants can be very cost effective compared to many other tooth replacement options.
This cost-effectiveness of dental implants is not the only reason dental implants are the choice of so many people, however.
Here are 4 of the most popular reasons people choose dental implants instead of other tooth replacement options, such as dentures:
1) Dental implants won’t embarrass you.
Dental implants from a proven implant dentist give you complete confidence that you can eat without being self conscious because they function similar to your natural teeth. In contrast, non-implant tooth replacement options such as dentures may make eating difficult, and they may reduce your ability to taste foods fully.
Even worse, because dentures are not affixed to your jawbone, they could slip or click while you laugh, cough or kiss. In contrast, a tooth implant gives you peace of mind because it won’t slip. Tooth implants, or dental implants, become part of your jaw structure, making it easy for you to enjoy the company of others without fear of embarrassment.
2) Dental implants will give you a natural-looking smile.
Can you tell when someone is wearing dentures? Perhaps their gums don’t look quite right. Or perhaps the dentures don’t seem to fit the natural shape of their mouth.
Dental implants from an experienced implant dentist give you the most natural look and smile of all tooth replacement options. That is because they are inserted by dental implant experts in a way that fits your unique mouth structure. As a result, they look more like your own teeth than other replacement options.
Even better, dental implants feel like your natural teeth. Unlike many other replacements for missing teeth, dental implants have a shape and sensation similar to the rest of your teeth, with no extra wings or bridges. That’s a great reason to show off your beautiful, natural-looking smile!
3) Dental implants can help you stay heathy.
Dentures and other non-implant tooth replacement options may also feel less natural to your body, and it may react to the loss of your tooth. Specifically, you may begin to lose bone in your jaw, leading to long-term changes in your jawline and looks. Dental implants by credentialed implant dentists are superior tooth replacement options in this regard, because they are embedded directly into your jawbone. This provides your body with the stimulation it expects, so the body responds by continuing to keep your jawbone – and your looks – robust and healthy.
Dentures can also trap food particles between your gums and the dentures themselves. This can lead to the growth of bacteria, which in turn can contribute to gum disease and bad breath. Dental implants, on the other hand, act much more like your natural teeth.
4) Dental implants are convenient.
Once you have replaced your missing teeth, you want to get back to life. Dental implants help you do so, as they are durable, and may even last a lifetime. In contrast, dentures may need to be replaced more frequently. Over time, dentures can also become worse fitting due to changes in your facial structure as you age and lose bone in your jaw.
Of course, one of the most unpleasant tasks associated with dentures is cleaning: dentures require removal every night. In comparison, dental implants can be flossed and brushed just like your natural teeth. Talk to a dentist experienced in tooth replacement, and they can give you more information about the pros and cons.
Conclusion
Dental implants can be very cost-effective versus other tooth replacement options. But there are many other great reasons for choosing dental implants, including peace of mind in social situations, robust health, and convenience.
Keep in mind that due to the sophisticated science of dental implants, it is important that you choose a dental implant expert. AAID offers a searchable directory of credentialed implant dentists. These dental implant experts have met key educational, training, and competency standards that will help them give you a great implant experience.
Straight teeth are healthy teeth!
Health Benefits of Straight Teeth
You may be surprised to know that the benefits of having properly aligned teeth extend far beyond a confident smile. According to the American Dental Association, straightening your teeth can actually significantly affect your overall dental health.1 Think about it — a smile can hardly be perfect if it’s not a healthy one. Fortunately, with Invisalign®, having a confident smile and reducing your risk for tooth decay and gum disease go hand in hand.
Healthier Teeth and Gums
Swollen, red gums can often be the result of having teeth that are crowded or too widely spaced. Unfortunately, these are also signs of periodontal disease. When teeth are properly aligned, it helps the gums fit more securely around the teeth, allowing for the strongest and healthiest defense against potential periodontal problems. That’s where Invisalign comes in. The comfortable and clear aligners gently and gradually begin to move your teeth into the proper position — without unsightly brackets and wires.
Easier Cleaning
One of the biggest challenges of having braces is removing all the food that gets trapped in the brackets and wires. This can often lead to plaque buildup and eventually tooth decay. With Invisalign, the aligners are removable, so it’s easy to continue brushing and flossing your teeth the way you normally do.
Overall Health
Think of your teeth as a window to the health of your body. Your teeth and gums — and how they look to others when you smile—say a lot about your overall health. If you’re taking good care of both, you’re probably taking good care of the rest of you.
Tooth decay and gum disease are caused by bacteria. Left untreated, they can cause mouth sores, tender or bleeding gums, bad breath, and possible tooth loss. Studies by the American Dental Association have shown that oral infections can also lead to other more serious ailments such as heart disease,2 stroke,3 pneumonia4 and diabetes.5 Invisalign aligners make daily oral hygiene easier, thus reducing the risk of possible problems. And correctly aligned teeth can also alleviate the issues that can be caused by an improper bite, speech or chewing difficulties, jaw problems, and increased wear on the tooth enamel. Invisalign effectively addresses all of these orthodontic issues, so you’ll have the confidence of a great smile and increase the likelihood of improved oral health.
1 http://www.mouthhealthy.org/en/az-topics/b/braces
2 http://www.mouthhealthy.org/en/az-topics/h/heart-disease-and-oral-health
3 http://www.mouthhealthy.org/en/az-topics/g/gum-disease
4 http://www.mouthhealthy.org/en/adults-over-60/concerns
5 http://www.mouthhealthy.org/en/az-topics/g/gum-disease
Benefits of Dental Implants
What are the benefits of dental implants over other treatments?
Why are dental implants often the first choice and a standard of care compared to other options to restore missing or damaged teeth?
- Next best thing to healthy, natural teeth. Strong and stable, a dental implant restores a lost tooth so that it looks, feels, fits and functions like a natural tooth. Other options can lead to bone deterioration, and may interfere with eating, smiling, speaking and other activities of everyday life.
- Built to last. Dental implants are a long-term solution. Traditional, tooth-supported dental bridges only last five to seven years, and with proper care often more than 10 years, but at some point they may need to be replaced. While dental implants may need periodic adjustments, they can last a lifetime when properly placed and cared for over time.
- Enjoy life without worrying about your teeth! No need to stay home or feel uncomfortable in public, embarrassed because your smile looks different, or worrying that missing teeth will limit your ability to join in the fun or that removable dentures or tooth-supported replacement teeth will loosen or fall out when you talk, eat or laugh. Teeth restored with dental implants are teeth that let you, not your teeth, lead your life.
- Retain your natural face shape, and smile. A face without teeth can sag and appear sunken and sad. Dental implants allow you to maintain the natural shape of your face and smile.
- Protect healthy bone. Leaving empty spaces in your mouth after losing one or more teeth can lead to additional health issues, such as the loss and deterioration of some of your jawbone. When it is not being used to support a natural tooth, the jawbone deteriorates, losing its strength and firmness. Dental implants are the only dental restoration option that preserves and stimulates natural bone, actually helping to stimulate bone growth and prevent bone loss.
- Keep your teeth in your mouth – not in a cup. Dental implants allow you to keep your teeth where they belong – in your mouth. And no more worrying that your dentures might slip or fall out. Brush, floss and care for teeth that have been replaced using dental implants exactly the way you would natural teeth – in your mouth.
- Speak easy. Adjusting to removable dentures can mean struggling to pronounce everyday words. Not so with dental implants, which function like natural teeth.
- Eat your favorite foods! Taste and enjoy the foods you love without hesitation. You can bite naturally, eat virtually anything you want and, unlike removable dentures that can feel uncomfortable, you can experience the full taste of the food you eat with dental implants, too.
- Look Mom, no cavities! Cavities can’t occur in an implant-restored crown, or replacement tooth; however, you will need to visit your dentist as scheduled and clean and care for it and your gums and mouth every day, the same as you would if it were a natural tooth.
- Keep teeth in place – silently. Dentures may slip when you eat, talk, smile, laugh, kiss, yawn or cough, so that you have to “reposition” them back into place in the mouth. Dental implants are fixed in place and fuse naturally with your jawbone, meaning your replacement teeth won’t move, click or shift.
- Protect your healthy teeth. Placing a tooth-supported bridge requires grinding away the teeth on one or both sides of the missing tooth or teeth – thereby damaging healthy teeth to restore those that are missing. The modified healthy teeth are attached to, and support, the bridge. Dental implants go in the jawbone, in the spot where your missing tooth root was, without impacting healthy teeth. They also help prevent healthy, adjacent teeth from shifting as they would if an empty space were left for an extended period of time.
- More predictable than other repair and restoration methods. Dental implant treatment has a track record of reliable, long-term successful outcomes and is often considered “more predictable” than other treatments to repair or replace missing teeth, including bridgework, removable appliances and retreatment of failing root canal (endodontic) therapy.
Why is a deep bite bad for my teeth?
Deep Bite Causes, Issues: Fitchburg, MA
A deep bite can be easily corrected these days with one of the many effective orthodontic and restorative treatment options.
Malocclusion (or a bad bite) is the result of misalignment of the teeth and jaws, often caused by genetics, but can also be due to teeth crowding, bad, worn or decayed teeth, poor or failing dental work and missing teeth, particularly missing back teeth. Habits such as thumb sucking, lip or nail biting, clenching or grinding teeth can also contribute to the problems. Missing back teeth in an adult can create or exacerbate a ‘deep bite’ leading to collapse of the bite and lower face, giving a more aged appearance.
Although it may appear as merely an aesthetic issue a bad bite is in fact far more serious; it can lead to significant damage to the teeth and gums as well as headaches, temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorder, hearing difficulties and digestive problems – all of which have physical and social implications.
The most common types of bite disorders are:
- a deep overbite
- a closed bite
- a crossed bite
- an open bite
- teeth crowding
- teeth protrusion
What is Deep Bite?
Out of all the bite disorders, a deep overbite – when the upper front teeth almost completely overlap the lower front teeth – is the most detrimental to the teeth and health of the jaw joints. It also has an impact on facial aesthetics. Often the lower teeth line or lower dental arch has a ‘bell-shape’, where the lower front teeth rise up much higher than the back teeth and sometimes it is so pronounced that the top edges of the lower teeth actually bite into the gum tissue in the roof of the mouth, potentially stripping the gums from the back of the top teeth. This can be a very serious issue and often leads to loss of the front teeth.
Correcting deep bite misalignment will not only improve the functionality of your teeth, but also make brushing and flossing easier – thus helping you to keep your teeth healthy. Of course it also dramatically improves the appearance of your smile too.
Deep Bite Treatment
This often requires a multi-discipline approach with orthodontics and restorative dentistry usually involved. Modern orthodontic treatment is able to correct an improperly aligned bite by intruding your anterior (front) teeth and/or erupting your posterior (back) teeth; many of the options available today are very discreet.
It is common to find the back of the upper teeth and the lower front teeth very worn in ‘deep bite’ cases and treatment often requires restoring the teeth with composite bonding, porcelain veneers, or dental crowns and the use of a ‘Dahl’ appliance (a type of removable orthodontic appliance) is sometimes needed. Sometimes the bite on all the teeth needs to be built up with composite bonding initially, followed by porcelain veneers, onlays, or crowns.
Missing back teeth often creates or worsens a ‘deep bite’ situation and in these cases restoration of the missing teeth with dental implants and/or bridgework are needed to re-establish the correct bite.
In severe cases, orthognathic surgery may be the best solution. The choice of treatment will depend on the extent of your deep bite, your facial profile and likely growth, but we will always recommend the least invasive, longest-lasting solution to meet your overall needs.
Invisalign Teen
More and more we are using Invisalign for our younger patients. Studies have shown that teens have better compliance rates than adults! Obviously there are exceptions, but there are many benefits to using Invisalign over conventional braces. In our office we offer Invisalign and conventional braces, we use (3M mini brackets). We usually have a consult and take orthodontic records to determine what is best for you or your child.
https://www.invisalign.com/braces-for-adults-and-teens/teens
Invisalign Costs
Check out this handy calculator to calculate what your monthly payment would be to have a healthy and beautiful smile.
For reference, most insurances have an orthodontic benefit of $1000 to $3000 dollars. This is one time use and doesn’t affect your annual dental benefit.
Also, our costs range between $4000 and $6000 for a full case depending on the complexity.
https://www.invisalign.com/cost
Our New Blog!
Our blog has recently been set up. Please check back soon!