Let’s not sugar-coat it: dental work is expensive in Australia. (As an amusing side note, the more you sugar-coat your teeth, the more expensive your dental work will likely be.) Get your dentistry done Down Under and you can be paying at least twice as much as you would be in some overseas countries—and, sometimes, that’s including the return plane tickets.
Some Aussie dental patients heed these prices and actually go on ‘dental holidays’. In fact, this trend has become so common that it’s opened a niche in the market known as ‘dental tourism’. This now streamlined practice is available in the form of ‘dental packages’—i.e. holiday packages with a dental focus that still amount to less than (if not the same as) what you would pay for the procedure at home.
Dental implant procedures, in particular, are among the more expensive operations on the Australian dental market. On average, dental implants cost between $3,000 and $5,500 each.
Why are dental implants so expensive?
There are a number of reasons. Let’s get into them.
You’re paying for the labour cost
When purchasing a product, it’s easy to forget that you’re covering the associated labour costs. Installing a tooth implant is no easy feat—and the more experienced your dentist, the more it’s going to cost. To install dental implants is to perform an invasive surgical procedure. You’re trusting someone to drill a hole into your jawbone and insert a permanent titanium implant. You should pay them handsomely for this—especially if they have decades of experience and a stellar reputation. As the old saying goes, you get what you pay for.
If you find yourself wondering why something as small as a screw is costing you a few thousand dollars, remember that you can sometimes pay over six dollars for a cup of coffee. It’s not a super similar comparison, but a fair chunk of that price is the labour costs involved.
You may be incurring a ‘location tax’
It’s not just real estate that’s location, location, location. Just as property in major cities costs more than that in rural locations, tooth implants cost more in denser locations than they do in less popular regions. This is due to demand. For example, dental implants are going to set you back more at clinics in Melbourne CBD than they will if you go somewhere in the outer limits of Greater Melbourne.
You may need to pay for more than just a single tooth implant
As common sense dictates, the more work that’s involved, the more the procedure is going to cost. You might need a tooth extraction or even multiple tooth implants. Considering that the former is a separate procedure in itself and the latter will cost per implant, this can all add up to a hefty dental bill. (We won’t reiterate how much dental implants cost each.)
The material usually isn’t cheap
Finally, material of the crown can play a significant role in how much a tooth implant costs. Of the most common materials, porcelain and composite resin, the former is going to be harder on the wallet. Moreover, the titanium screw itself is fundamental to the tooth implant. And in case you hadn’t cottoned on, titanium is not cheap.
How do dental implants compare to dental bridges?
Dental implants are the superior choice to dental bridges. Once you’ve lost your natural tooth, your jawbone will recede—and because bridges don’t connect to the jawbone, they won’t block this recession. Dental implants, on the other hand, do connect to your jawbone to mimic tooth roots. They will hold your jawbone in place, bridging the gap that bridges create. Did we also mention they’ll look great?
Dentist@330’s Best Dental Clinic in Mount tips
At Dentist@330, we have highly qualified dentists who know what they’re doing and are ready to answer your questions. Oftentimes, these questions pertain to cost. To help our patients, we have interest-free payment plans available such as Afterpay and National Dental Plan. You don’t, by any means, have to pay anything upfront.
For quality dental implants and manageable payment plans, give Dentist@330 a call. We’ll do everything we can to fill the gaps and get you smiling again. Whether it’s a general checkup or something as intricate as implants, we’ve got you covered. Contact us today!
