Dental implant fixtures are expensive for the dentist, and dentists have a strong temptation to search for cheap dental implants. There are some things that you, as a consumer, need to be aware of to help you obtain the best care and the best value for your money.

There are about two hundred companies making these fixtures. But only six of these have published juried research about the fixtures they make, to prove that they are safe and effective. Published research is required to obtain ADA (American Dental Association) and FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approval.

But research is expensive. And making implant fixtures to the precision tolerances and with the high-quality materials required for long-term service in the mouth is also expensive. The result is that there is a great cost discrepancy among the various fixtures that are sold to dentists. A dentist can buy a "generic" fixture, made in the Philippines, for example, for $3 to $5. The name brand equivalent of the same fixture will cost one hundred times as much—from $300 to $500.

You can see the temptation for the dentist. But quality-conscious dentists will insist on using only name-brand fixtures.

The use of cheap dental implants that do not meet FDA or American Dental Association standards leads to various problems, including loose implants, dental implant infection, and ultimate dental implant failure. The picture to the right shows a fixture retrieved from an implant failure case. The screw, which wasn't manufactured to the strict tolerances required by the FDA, became loose. This caused it to accumulate oral debris and ultimately to become infected. The patient had to repeat the surgery and have new fixtures placed.

A cheap dental implant

Another problem of cheap dental implants, besides the milling standards, is the metal they are made of. If the fixtures aren't of a high quality, they can have toxic metal impurities in them. See our page about toxic dental implants for more information on this issue.

The bottom line for you as a consumer: Beware of searching for cheap dental implants. What you think is a bargain now may be very costly for you in the long run.

For information about the very best quality available in dental implant care, please see our Phoenix dentist website. There is a great deal of information posted there, as well as photos of his work and testimonials from grateful patients.

Visit Dr. Chal's main web site to read more about him and to see photographs of his beautiful work.