First and foremost, implants work. While it’s a highly successful and predictable procedure, it’s not simple, requiring the skills of a trained specialist. Dental implants have a 98 percent success rate when performed by a skilled dental implant surgeon. Ultimately, they can save patients money by preventing complications and improving dental health.

Today, implants are the standard of care for tooth replacement that improves dental health for thousands each year. As a result, an increasing number of dental practices and companies now offer implant services and products. And as with any growing market segment, to gain market share, many practitioners advertise dental implant services by offering incentives or making questionable promises to attract new patients.

These offers can range from rock bottom pricing to promises of giving new teeth in a day. And, if these offers sound too good to be true, they usually are. Here is what you need to know before getting burned by misleading implant advertisements.

The Loss Leader

Implants starting at a very low price point, usually less than $1,000. This advertisement strategy most often turns into adding costs for every aspect of treatment with services carrying itemized costs above and beyond the advertised rate. The approach relates dentistry as a close sales ploy to charging new car buyers for a myriad of accessories and ancillary equipment on top of the advertised cost of the new vehicle. Low costs don’t always mean the best price.

Teeth-in-A-Day

This has become something of a marketing fad with national implant ads. Teeth-in-A-Day means you have your teeth removed, implants placed, and receive crowns, bridges, or dentures all in one day. Many commercial “implant centers” do a hard sell to fit a patient into a treatment plan. Healthy natural teeth end up being extracted in order to place multiple implants and connect them with an immediate prosthesis on the same day! There are too many variables not yet thoroughly understood to actually deliver on this lofty promise.

One Hour Dental Implants

This is a frequent advertisement and it means absolutely nothing. Every patient is different with varying needs, different complexities, and treatment approaches required. Even in the most ideal conditions, implant procedures can take several hours based on the treatment, which can and should vary from patient to patient.

The Bottom Line

Do your research, ask the right questions, and know what you are getting for the advertised price and how much your total cost should be. And most importantly, know the credentials and qualifications of the implant specialist you select for your implant procedure. Dental implants are a lifetime investment and shouldn’t be taken lightly.