What Are Dental Implants and How Much Do They Typically Cost? An Easy Guide

The average American spends roughly $650 per year on dental care. While $650 might not seem like a lot, when you add that up across the US, you’re looking at over 110 billion dollars.

So, why all of the interest in dental work? In our estimation, people love investing in dental because it offers both form and function benefits.

Those form and function benefits are why a lot of people find themselves asking, “How much do dental implants cost?” After all, there are fewer dental procedures more impactful than getting implants.

In this post, we aim to answer that question by talking a little bit about what a dental implant is and which factors affect its price. Keep reading to learn more!

What Is a Dental Implant?

A dental implant is any permanent or temporary fixture that gets affixed to your jaw or an existing tooth to improve the visual or functional efficacy of your mouth. Given that definition, a few oral additions qualify as implants.

For example, a bridge would be an implant as would a crown.

The most popularly recognized type of implant is dental veneers which are full, synthetic teeth that are drilled into your jaw to mimic how a real tooth would sit.

Where Can You Get Dental Implants?

Rudimentary dental implants like bridges and crowns can be found at almost any dental office. More substantial implants like veneers can be found at dental offices as well, although, locating them can be more difficult.

Some people will need to go to specialized cosmetic or dental ER-oriented practices that specialize in planned or emergency dental implants to get their work completed.

How Much Do Dental Implants Cost?

While we’d love to quote you a flat number on dental implant expenses, there are too many variables that affect the cost to do that. To give you a picture of cost, here are common elements to be aware of:

Number of Implants You’re Getting

A single dental veneer might run you $2000. A whole mouth full of them would cost substantially more. That bears the question of how many implants you plan on getting.

Just about every dental implant establishment offers discounts based on implant volume.

Your Area

Getting dental implants in San Francisco is going to cost you a lot more money than getting dental implants in Mexico City. That’s a reality based on the cost of doing business and the cost of living.

This is why many people that are seeking expensive procedures get those procedures outside of their populated hometowns to seek better rates in cheaper markets.

Office Prestige

That dental implant office that runs ads on the radio every day is usually going to be more expensive than the smaller implant office you’ve never heard of. They might offer the same quality of work but the demand-driven off of the prestige of advertising creates conditions for higher rates.

This truth leads many to be proactive in searching for implant institutions in their area as many of the places that are hardest to find are most worth engaging with.

Financing

Few people have the kind of cash on hand required to get a mouth full of veneers. That’s where financing comes in.

Dental care financing will pay for your medical procedures upfront and ask from you a monthly fee in return, plus interest. That interest will affect the overall cost of your procedure, sometimes by thousands of dollars.

Insurance

Some types of insurance will cover certain dental implants. If yours does, you’re in luck!

We’ve rarely seen dental insurance policies cover the full cost of veneers. More commonly, they’ll cover around 30% or so of a procedure’s price.

Implant Type

As we mentioned already, there are several types of dental implants. Permanent fixtures like veneers will cost a lot more than temporary fixtures like crowns.

Which type of implant you lean on or which combination you invest in will, consequently, have a big impact on the overall weight of your tab.

Looking at Averages

We’ve gone over the key factors affecting the how much do dental implants cost question. If you came into this post looking for hard numbers to play around with, here’s what we’ll say…

Speaking broadly, a single dental implant could run you anywhere from $1000 to $6000. The price you’ll pay will be affected by everything we’ve discussed and the volume of implants you’ll get.

In speaking to people that have gotten whole mouth implant procedures done in the United States, they’ve paid $30,000+. Obviously, aggressive financing offers and insurance subsidies make numbers like that a lot more palatable to the average person.

Are Dental Implants Worth Investing In?

When people ask “how much do dental implants cost”, what they’re really asking is whether or not dental implants are worth investing in. The only person that can answer that question is the person that’s asking but what we will say is that more often than not, dental implants are an incredible purchase.

Quality dental implants make eating easier. They make life less physically painful. They have the ability to revolutionize your confidence which may very well be the biggest advantage they offer.

The bottom line is that if you’re only going to live once, you may as well do it feeling your physical and mental best. Dental implants allow for that possibility and therefore are certainly worth your consideration.

For more information on dental implant prices, getting dental implants, and other health topics, check out the newest content on our blog.