Since full mouth immediate implant therapy is an irreversible and a life-altering procedure, it is important to avoid the following common mistakes in considering this treatment. The impact of each mistake can be quite profound on the quality of your life.
1) Shopping around solely based on the treatment cost.
“How much are dental implants?” is one of the most frequently asked questions. Given the nature of implant therapy and how life-changing it can be, it is important not to take treatment lightly, and pick quality treatment suited for you.
Cost of dental implants is directly related to the following factors:
- Quality of implant system
- There are low-cost, and premium implant systems. Clinical outcome and success rate for immediate full mouth immediate implant therapy will be very different based on which system is used.
- Quality of laboratory work and the material used to make the teeth.
- There are several different materials available to create the teeth, and each material has a variety of different companies, varying in quality, that make or supply them.
- Experience of the clinical team
- This is a very complex treatment that involves multiple providers. It is important to meet each one and evaluate, not just their individual experience, but the experience they have in performing this treatment together. Learn how to choose a provider here.
- One set fee vs. a la carte fees.
- Are you being charged one set fee for the procedure from each provider? Or are you being “nickel and dimed” for any small variation in treatment that the surgeon or restoring dentist may encounter?
2) Not knowing your options.
The first step before considering this expensive, irreversible, life-altering and complicated treatment is to thoroughly understand your options. Sit down with one of the clinical experts at the American Institute of Implant Dentistry and educate yourself about different treatment options.
Discuss following topics with one of the AIID experts:
- Saving your teeth vs. removing them all and going for full arch implant therapy.
- Comparing different options of full mouth immediate implant treatments such as All on 4®, TeethXpress®, All on 6,® Same day teeth®, teeth tomorrow®, G4 by Golpa® and next day teeth®. Even though the final result in most of these treatments options may look similar, some of these treatment protocols require aggressive jaw bone removal.
Knowing your options will make you more comfortable with your final decision. After all, you have one shot to make the right decision about this complex, irreversible and life-altering treatment.
3) Not asking the right questions.
One of the biggest mistakes any full arch immediate implant patient can make is not being prepared to ask critical questions during the consultation appointment:
- Do I have enough jawbone for an immediate full arch immediate implant treatment?
- Does the treatment option being presented to me require removing part of my jaw bone? (There needs to be adequate height and width of bone to reliably place implants. A 3-D image called a cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) scan will be critical in determining the quality and quantity of bone.)
- What implant system do you use?
- How many patients have you treated?
- How long have you been doing this treatment option?
- What is the main advantage of starting this complex treatment with you vs. many other providers available to me?
- How long will it take start to finish to have final full arch teeth(full mouth implant teeth? There is an inconsistency in language here, but I don’t know how to best retrofit it) in my mouth?
- Do you have one all-inclusive set fee, or is treatment cost is an a la caret (carte) structure that varies based on number of implants and the need for other procedures such as bone grafting?
4) Seeking treatment from a provider with limited experience.
The consequence of seeking full mouth immediate implant teeth treatment from a provider that has limited clinical experience with this treatment option can be consequential. Take into consideration that age of the provider and number of years in the practice are not good indicators for this treatment option. You have to ask following questions:
- Where did you receive your training for immediate full arch treatment?
- How long have been a provider for Full mouth immediate implant treatment?
- Can I see some before and after pictures of of your own cases? (A provider who does not have a portfolio of before and after photos should a major red flag for you)
- Can you talk to me about your success rate? (If a provider tells you the success rate is 100% and that they have never seen a failure, you should consider it a red flag. It is always a good sign when a provider talks about failed cases proactively. If not, ask the provider to talk about some of his/her failure cases)
These days many providers are offering a variety of full mouth immediate implant teeth, but as with many other services in life, there is a distinct difference in being able to perform the procedure and being able to do it exceptionally. You will find many providers who fit in the former category and perhaps not so many in the latter.
About us
The American Institute of Implant Dentistry is one of the world’s premier implant education institutes, committed to continued education for dental implant specialists. These courses are taught by highly qualified and experienced instructors, who personally practice what they teach. After 27 years of bringing our knowledge and experience to dental professionals around the world, we have now started the AIID Clinical Practice. Featuring a multidisciplinary, results-driven approach, AIID Clinical Practice is able to complete every step of your procedure under the same roof with the same clinical team. Experience the world-class care and sophisticated techniques taught to thousands, all conveniently located in one practice in Washington, DC.