Cost Effective of Dental Implants in Houston: What You Get For Your Money, PART 4

This four-part article series explains what benefits and lifestyle improvements patients can expect from choosing dental implants as their tooth replacement solution.

Welcome to the final installment of this four-part article series in which we have closely analyzed the cost of dental implants and explained why, contrary to popular opinion, they are not the most expensive tooth replacement option on the market. In fact, they are the most cost effective! So far, an All On 4 specialist in Houston has compared the benefits and costs of removable dentures and dental implants, but what about single tooth replacement techniques? How do conventional bridges compare with implants?

Cost Effective Dental Implants in Houston

Dental bridges consist of a series of three or more ceramic crowns that have been bonded together. The two outer crowns sit on the two healthy teeth adjacent to the missing tooth or teeth while the middle crowns fill the empty tooth socket/s. There are two problems with this approach...

1. Two perfectly good teeth need to be filed down to nubs in order to provide support for the dental crown, so instead of only having lost one tooth, you are in effect losing three.

2. The bridge only replaces the crown of the missing tooth and not the root. This means that the bone underlying the crown will atrophy from a lack of functional stimulation.

Cost effective dental implants in Houston are the way to go because they maintain the health of the underlying bone tissue, which prevents the neighboring teeth from becoming unstable. They also don’t require healthy teeth to be sacrificed in order to provide them with the support they need to remain standing and strong. “Dental implants are self-supporting,” says the All On 4 specialist in Houston. “In fact, they function just like natural tooth roots, which is why we always recommend them over and above all other tooth replacement technologies.”

Other Problems with Conventional Bridges

Dental implants certainly function better than bridges, but what really makes them more cost effective is that they have a lifespan that is typically three times longer than conventional bridges. “A dental implant placed by a skilled and experienced dentist and looked after well by its owner can last two to three decades, if not longer,” says the All On 4 specialist in Houston. “Conventional dental bridges usually last 10 to 12 years before they start failing. They will then require replacement.”

But this is far from where a patient’s problems end. Dental bridges are notoriously uncomfortable because they feel unnatural. Patients often complain about the constant self-consciousness they feel because of their bridge and this can decrease quality of life. Additionally, bridges are associated with a high incidence of decay of the supporting teeth, which, as a result, may need to be extracted. So, instead of losing one tooth, patients can lose three or more. Then what? You’ll either need a partial denture or, if you make the right choice, dental implants. Why not avoid this mess in the first place by replacing a missing tooth with an implant?

A Final Note on Cost Effective Dental Implants in Houston

When you consider all the challenges and repeat expenses incurred by alternative teeth replacement techniques, such as removable dentures and conventional bridges, it becomes perfectly clear that dental implants are indeed the superior and far more cost effective solution to missing teeth. Save yourself money and maintain the quality of life you’ve grown accustomed to by prioritizing your oral health and making investments that’ll see you through the long term.

The Cost of Dental Implants: What You Get For Your Money, PART 3

This four-part article series explains what benefits and lifestyle improvements patients can expect from choosing dental implants as their tooth replacement solution.

Welcome to the third installment of this four-part article series on the cost of dental implants and why getting new teeth this way is actually more cost-effective than it is using traditional technologies, such as removable dentures. In our previous article post, a cosmetic dentist in Houston discussed the key differences between the implant methods used to give patients new teeth and removable dentures. Now, we shall explain why dental implants can actually cost patients less in the long run, contrary to popular thinking.

The Cost of Dental Implants Versus the Cost of Dentures

As we explained in Part 1 of this article series, getting new teeth with dental implants does initially cost more than it would to simply get a set of dentures custom fitted. And while there’s good reason for this, Houston residents tend to forget all the benefits and advantages they will be able to enjoy moving forward. Instead, they focus solely upon the immediate costs of the procedures. Ironically, if you zoom your perspective out just a little, you will see that the cost of dental implants can actually work out to be less in the long run than the cost of wearing and maintaining dentures!

Here’s why...

“Removable dentures are not a one-time expense,” explains a cosmetic dentist in Houston. “Because they don’t replace the roots of the teeth, the jawbone atrophies and wastes away from a lack of functional stimulation. The changing shape of the jawbone will eventually require dentures to be refitted, even if they fit snugly to begin with. Refittings are initially necessary every few years or so, but as bone loss progresses; the need for them can become more frequent. And of course, this costs money each and every time.”

Since dental implants replace the roots and the crowns of the teeth, the health of the underlying jawbone is preserved, which helps to prevent atrophy. If cared for properly by patients, the new teeth provided by the “All-On-4” can last several decades without the need for replacement or restoration, making the cost of dental implants far more desirable. So, on the one hand, you have dentures, which require periodic replacement and on the other you have dental implants, which typically don’t. Already we see the cost of dental implants constituting the smarter investment.

“The greatest irony is that eventually, denture wearers will have lost so much jawbone volume that they will no longer be able to wear their false teeth,” says the cosmetic dentist in Houston. “At this juncture, the only options available to them will be a life without teeth or a long, painful and costly road to oral rehabilitation with bone grafting. Instead of making an initial investment in the cost of dental implants, patients spend thousands and thousands of dollars on getting dentures refitted and ultimately, replaced with dental implants anyway, unless they decide to just resign to a life without any teeth at all.”

Add to these costs repeat denture expenses such as soaking solutions, adhesive strips, cleaning agents and anesthetic ointments and you’ve got a technology that is far from the cheapest and most cost effective option.

Stay Tuned for Part 4

Stay tuned for Part 4 of this four-part article series in which we will move on to comparing the differences between the cost of dental implants and the cost of dental bridges: the conventional approach to replacing single missing teeth.

Teeth Implants Cost in Houston: What You Get For Your Money, PART 2

This four-part article series explains what benefits and lifestyle improvements patients can expect from choosing dental implants as their teeth replacement solution.

Welcome to Part 2 of this four-part article series on teeth implants cost and what Houston residents can stand to benefit from making the right investment in their oral health. It is the objective of this series to obliterate the misconception that the cost of dental implants is prohibitively high and to help patients understand all the incredible benefits they will stand to enjoy by opting for the more sophisticated teeth replacement technology.

In Part 2, we will be speaking to an All On 4 implants specialist in Houston about the key differences between the oral rehabilitation techniques used to give edentulous (toothless) and near edentulous patients new teeth and why dental implants offer much better solutions than traditional removable dentures. We will then, in Part 3, explain why dental implants can actually cost patients less in the long run, contrary to popular thinking.

“All-On-4” Implants Versus Removable Dentures: What’s the Difference?

“All-On-4” implants offer Houston residents a fixed (non-removable) solution to rampant tooth loss, which is usually a result of gum disease. The use of dental implants (see image above) to support a strong, durable and custom set of replacement teeth means that patients can eat all the foods they love, but previously couldn’t because of their failing dentition or inferior teeth replacement technology. The “All-On-4” bridge also feels like natural teeth and because it doesn’t press down on or rub against the gums, it doesn’t cause acute oral discomfort as dentures frequently do.

Dentures, on the other hand, are removable appliances that rely on their bulkiness and products such as adhesive strips to remain stabilized in the mouth. They need to be removed after meals and at nighttime for cleaning and to allow the gums to breathe, respectively. Dentures may initially fit comfortably, but after time the underlying jawbone undergoes a remodeling process caused by a lack of stimulation to the bone. It’s atrophy of the hard tissue that causes the jaw to waste away, which ultimately leads to that pinched, sunken-in facial appearance one typically associates with elderly denture-wearers.

“Dental implants help to prevent the aging process caused by tooth loss because they replace the roots of the teeth, whereas dentures only replace the visible crowns,” explains the All On 4 implants specialist in Houston. “It’s always worth considering just how much you value your youthful facial appearance because dentures slowly destroy it, whereas implants help to preserve it.”

Other key benefits of “All On 4” implants include:

• The bridge supported by them isn’t bulky, so it won’t trigger the gag reflex or impede taste ability,
• They are cleaned just like natural teeth,
• They cannot shift or move around and won’t ever fall out, as dentures tend to.
• They feel natural and so they don’t cause constant self-consciousness and discomfort.

Stay Tuned for Part 3

Now that we’ve taken a look at the key differences between All On 4 implants and removable dentures, we want to know just how their costs differ in both the short and the long term. Stay tuned for Part 3 of this four-part article series to read about how the teeth implants cost in Houston can actually be lower than the cost of removable dentures when you consider all the repeat expenses the latter comes hand-in-hand with.

Dental Implants Specialists Explain: What You Get For Your Money, PART 1

This four-part article series explains what benefits and lifestyle improvements patients can expect from choosing dental implants as their tooth replacement solution.

One of the most unfortunate misconceptions flying about - one that deters many Houston residents from choosing the best and most comfortable, functional and aesthetic tooth replacement technology - is that the cost of dental implants appears to be prohibitively high. Instead of even considering having tooth loss treated with this sophisticated and typically one-time solution, patients will opt for inferior technologies that are riddled with shortcomings and have significantly shorter lifespans. In order to get to the bottom of this misconception, we spoke to a dental implants specialist in Houston about the benefits of dental implants and just what patients are getting from covering their costs.

Looking Beyond Relative Costs

First and foremost, it must be stated that the cost of dental implants is indeed higher than it is for technologies such as removable dentures and conventional bridges, but there is a very good reason for that. The resources and skills that go into the manufacturing and surgical placement of implants demands that they go for a higher price on the market. Having said this, the benefits and the quality of life patients can enjoy after having had teeth replaced with implants as opposed to dentures or conventional bridges make it worth the extra investment.

“Dental implants initially cost patients more than conventional tooth replacement technologies, but in the long run, they work out to be far more cost effective,” explains a dental implants specialist in Houston. “This is because where other dental devices would require costly restoration and even periodic replacement, dental implants do not. They can last several decades without a patient ever needing to spend a single additional cent on them, provided they are looked after, of course.”

The Psychological Cost Trap

The biggest mistake patients make when choosing a tooth replacement technology is to focus exclusively on the relative costs. Of course oral rehabilitation with Houston dental implants may be costlier than having a set of removable dentures fitted, but have you considered the long-term benefits of dental implants? Can you put a price tag on your youthful appearance, the ability to smile with confidence and being able to manage your favorite foods without visibly struggling?

More importantly, can you put a price tag on 10 years of living? That’s right... living with inferior dental technology can shorten one’s life expectancy by a decade, but this will all be discussed in detail in the following installments of this article series. Patients frequently fall into the psychological cost trap when considering teeth replacement because they don’t appreciate just how important their teeth are and how integral they are to a happy, quality life.

“People happily fork out more money on fancier cell phones, cars and computers because they know they’ll be getting something that’s of a higher quality and offers more functions and benefits,” says a dental implants specialist in Houston. “Yet somehow, this mindset fails when they need new teeth. Then it becomes a matter of the cheapest option, regardless. If your heart surgeon offered you a choice between the latest heart valve replacement and a garden hose, which will work, but will probably require replacement and might cause you some discomfort, what would you choose? Obviously the best! So, why not choose the best for your mouth as well?”

Stay Tuned for Part 2

Perhaps it’s because Houston residents simply don’t know what it is they stand to benefit from by covering the cost of dental implants... so stay tuned for Part 2 of this four-part article series to read about the many important advantages of dental implants as a solution to single and multiple missing teeth!