Anyone had partial or whole mouth teeth implants? Dental tourism maybe?

[cervelorod]

Not a dentist, but wifey is. We are in a high, south of the border migrant community, and she sees a ton of crappy work from Mexico that needs repair. These people probably didn’t have any money where they lived, so got the cheapest dental they could, as they are at the Community Health Center for dentistry here. Lots of substandard materials and shoddy work. If I was going out of the country, I have heard Costa Rica is a good place to look. OutlawRider my wife tried super hard to get into Iv sedation dentistry, but Covid kinda killed that. She did an orthodontic program instead. I know her real dream was sedation, but she’s to close to retirement age now to make it worthwhile, and I’m not ready to be poor again while she does a program.

 

[bgaidan]

Timely thread bump is timely.

I learned a couple weeks ago that I'll need to do implants for my 2 canines after trying to pull the 2 impacted ones down with braces. Cost of the initial surgery is around $1600 and that's just to pull the impacted ones and implant the cadaver bone. 6 months later I have to go back to get the actual implants JB welded in and then 2-3 months later get my dentist to do the crowns. I don't have the price for steps 2 and 3 yet, but I'm guessing I'll be $6-8k by the time it's all done.

 

[clodhopper]

real dream was sedation

 

[OutlawRider]

Thread bump as I'm in this boat currently, they said about $50-$60k for a top/bottom full arch implant, or ~$4900/ea tooth-for-tooth, might be able to do a couple 'clusters' (I forget the word he used, groups of 2/3/etc) depending on bone.

Had the consult today and the initial opinion is that my bone density is about the best case scenario for him to work with, had CT scan done as well and consult with the surgeon later in the week to put a plan together. Will likely be full sedation and get one half yanked all at once. (likewise as was mentioned earlier, Xray/scan was about $600, waived if you keep the work within that practice)

Place has a great reputation and the guy has been doing it a long time, lots of (to me) credentials...

Champagne Smiles | Dentist | Morganville, NJ

Welcome to Champagne Smiles, home of the premier dentists in Morganville, NJ. Offering comprehensive dental care for the entire family. Contact us today!

www.champagnesmiles.com

Sound about right, or anything else I should ask/look out for?

(also should add, a good friend of mine does dental lab work making crowns etc and this place is one of his accounts, he's been working with them for 15+ years and said he'd recommend him for sure)

I tell people about 30k an arch of doing full arch work. So 60k for full mouth. That is good work and not just good enough. I don’t have a set number of implants at that price. I place as many as I reliably can with the bone I have but shoot for 6 top, 4 bottom.

Lab guys are usually really good to know for finding out who is worth a crap at all. Since they see all of their work.

 

[OutlawRider]

Timely thread bump is timely.

I learned a couple weeks ago that I'll need to do implants for my 2 canines after trying to pull the 2 impacted ones down with braces. Cost of the initial surgery is around $1600 and that's just to pull the impacted ones and implant the cadaver bone. 6 months later I have to go back to get the actual implants JB welded in and then 2-3 months later get my dentist to do the crowns. I don't have the price for steps 2 and 3 yet, but I'm guessing I'll be $6-8k by the time it's all done.

I like to pull and implant same day. It is a chore but if I can, that is how I do it.

 

[OutlawRider]

Not a dentist, but wifey is. We are in a high, south of the border migrant community, and she sees a ton of crappy work from Mexico that needs repair. These people probably didn’t have any money where they lived, so got the cheapest dental they could, as they are at the Community Health Center for dentistry here. Lots of substandard materials and shoddy work. If I was going out of the country, I have heard Costa Rica is a good place to look. OutlawRider my wife tried super hard to get into Iv sedation dentistry, but Covid kinda killed that. She did an orthodontic program instead. I know her real dream was sedation, but she’s to close to retirement age now to make it worthwhile, and I’m not ready to be poor again while she does a program.

I love sedation put them to sleep and I just get to work. I would love to say uninterrupted, but some of them are a handful asleep.

 

[bgaidan]

I like to pull and implant same day. It is a chore but if I can, that is how I do it.

Even when grafting is needed? I assumed they have to get the graft to take in order to have a stable place to stick the implant.

 

[OutlawRider]

Even when grafting is needed? I assumed they have to get the graft to take in order to have a stable place to stick the implant.

Just depends comfort level. It really depends on how much bone I have to work with initially.

 

[Thatg9659]

Provience

$1000 for an extraction?

I thought it was shitty that my insurance only covered 70% of repairs,

My favorite extraction was some no nonsense dentist, made the appointment, it wasn’t a month out, set me in the chair stabbed the offending tooth a few times asking me if it hurt and it hurt like hell. Shot me up with some Novocaine and disappeared, lil while later he comes back and has it out in seconds. minutes after that I was out the door. No x-rays, no referrals no follow up no bullshit. He probably did 5 min of work on me that hour. had a pretty large office and his crew of good-looking dental assistants were organized and efficient.

 

[Provience]

Provience

this has got to be the thread I was thinking of, thanks!

 

[RusM]

Provience

$1000 for an extraction?

I thought it was shitty that my insurance only covered 70% of repairs,

My favorite extraction was some no nonsense dentist, made the appointment, it wasn’t a month out, set me in the chair stabbed the offending tooth a few times asking me if it hurt and it hurt like hell. Shot me up with some Novocaine and disappeared, lil while later he comes back and has it out in seconds. minutes after that I was out the door. No x-rays, no referrals no follow up no bullshit. He probably did 5 min of work on me that hour. had a pretty large office and his crew of good-looking dental assistants were organized and efficient.

It's all in the wrist

 

[OutlawRider]

It's all in the wrist

It was already getting pushed out by the infection. I have extractions that take 5 seconds and extractions that take upwards of an hour. Granted, if it took an hour, there is something going on that I am close to a vital structure or I am trying to preserve bone.

And that is my specialty, surgery. I get tossed all the fun ones no one else wants.

 

[Filthy McChevy]

The one implant I have cost 850 start to finish, and insurance paid for it.

 

[bgaidan]

Just depends comfort level. It really depends on how much bone I have to work with initially.

It was already getting pushed out by the infection. I have extractions that take 5 seconds and extractions that take upwards of an hour. Granted, if it took an hour, there is something going on that I am close to a vital structure or I am trying to preserve bone.

And that is my specialty, surgery. I get tossed all the fun ones no one else wants.

The two I'm about to get yanked, he's worried about breaching the sinuses. I guess since I'm getting cadaver grafts, if he does breach, he'll just cover it with the grafts, but still a little bleh. Guessing that's also why he's not going to do the implants at the same time.

 

[OutlawRider]

The two I'm about to get yanked, he's worried about breaching the sinuses. I guess since I'm getting cadaver grafts, if he does breach, he'll just cover it with the grafts, but still a little bleh. Guessing that's also why he's not going to do the implants at the same time.

Yes. but sinus perforations are no bueno. I typically rebuild the floor with a type of membrane and then place the bone graft material. Some just YOLO and pray. I've only really had one that has ever been a true bear to deal with even after trying to fix it. At that point, I just go in through the side of the sinus and lift the whole thing and fix it for certain.

 

[CJF]

The two I'm about to get yanked, he's worried about breaching the sinuses. I guess since I'm getting cadaver grafts, if he does breach, he'll just cover it with the grafts, but still a little bleh.

Breeching the sinuses is way worse than "a little bleh". Make sure you really trust this guy.

 

[vetteboy79]

OutlawRider

Full tooth-for-tooth implants top & bottom happening here, with two sets of BioTemps in the interim.

Process started two weeks ago when I had 13 root canals over the space of 2 days, to prep assorted teeth top & bottom to receive the first set of BioTemps. We were attempting to do everything with oral sedation (Lorazepam and Diazepam)...the first day was 3 root canals and I needed 2-3 doses sublingual, but that went ok. Day two was an additional 10 root canals and 3 doses was just almost enough, I was uncomfortable and twitchy by the end of it, but it wasn't bad.

Last Thursday I went in to get the bottom ones pulled (the ones that weren't root canaled/anchors for the BioTemp), whatever bone stuff was needed (I think not much, the guy was very happy with bone structure/density), and the screws placed for the remainder. Attemped to do that with 3 doses, they had to administer a 4th a few hours in (so they tell me), and by the end of it the guy was basically ready to give up because I was fighting so much. Plan was to come back the following day to do the same on the top (plus sinus lift) but he flat refused to do it unless I was gonna do IV sedation. Which is fine, that's what I was planning on from the start anyway, and already saved about $15k in the process by having those first procedures done with the oral. But that also required scheduling the anesthesiologist so since then I've just had a few random teeth on the bottom and a bunch of screws placed, they didn't want to fit the BioTemps until they could do top & bottom at the same time.

So the IV session happens tomorrow, which will be extractions, sinus lift, bone stuff, screw placement, etc and placing BioTemps top & bottom. Go home and rest for a day, come by on Thursday for a followup where they'll do adjustments on the BioTemps to get the bite where it needs to be, then it's gonna be a few months before anything else happens (aside from maybe a checkup here & there).

Then go back in, yank the BioTemps off, yank the remaining original teeth out, place the screws for those, place the abutments on the screws before, temporary crowns on those, second set of BioTemps anchored there, etc. Wait a few more months.

Go back, yank that second set of BioTemps off, place remaining abutments, install the full actual set of crowns, smile and be happy

Or something like that. Will probably be $150,xxx by the end of the day. I believe all hardware is Zimmer.

Sound about like your typical day at the office? I think they're excited that I'm giving them full reign to do their best work with no compromises and it'll likely land me a spot as one of their front page testimonial/videos for their practice

For many, many reasons I am very glad that this is all occurring at a very highly rated office that happens to be down the street from me instead of a country that requires passport travel way far away.

 

[OutlawRider]

OutlawRider

Full tooth-for-tooth implants top & bottom happening here, with two sets of BioTemps in the interim.

Process started two weeks ago when I had 13 root canals over the space of 2 days, to prep assorted teeth top & bottom to receive the first set of BioTemps. We were attempting to do everything with oral sedation (Lorazepam and Diazepam)...the first day was 3 root canals and I needed 2-3 doses sublingual, but that went ok. Day two was an additional 10 root canals and 3 doses was just almost enough, I was uncomfortable and twitchy by the end of it, but it wasn't bad.

Last Thursday I went in to get the bottom ones pulled (the ones that weren't root canaled/anchors for the BioTemp), whatever bone stuff was needed (I think not much, the guy was very happy with bone structure/density), and the screws placed for the remainder. Attemped to do that with 3 doses, they had to administer a 4th a few hours in (so they tell me), and by the end of it the guy was basically ready to give up because I was fighting so much. Plan was to come back the following day to do the same on the top (plus sinus lift) but he flat refused to do it unless I was gonna do IV sedation. Which is fine, that's what I was planning on from the start anyway, and already saved about $15k in the process by having those first procedures done with the oral. But that also required scheduling the anesthesiologist so since then I've just had a few random teeth on the bottom and a bunch of screws placed, they didn't want to fit the BioTemps until they could do top & bottom at the same time.

So the IV session happens tomorrow, which will be extractions, sinus lift, bone stuff, screw placement, etc and placing BioTemps top & bottom. Go home and rest for a day, come by on Thursday for a followup where they'll do adjustments on the BioTemps to get the bite where it needs to be, then it's gonna be a few months before anything else happens (aside from maybe a checkup here & there).

Then go back in, yank the BioTemps off, yank the remaining original teeth out, place the screws for those, place the abutments on the screws before, temporary crowns on those, second set of BioTemps anchored there, etc. Wait a few more months.

Go back, yank that second set of BioTemps off, place remaining abutments, install the full actual set of crowns, smile and be happy

Or something like that. Will probably be $150,xxx by the end of the day. I believe all hardware is Zimmer.

Sound about like your typical day at the office? I think they're excited that I'm giving them full reign to do their best work with no compromises and it'll likely land me a spot as one of their front page testimonial/videos for their practice

For many, many reasons I am very glad that this is all occurring at a very highly rated office that happens to be down the street from me instead of a country that requires passport travel way far away.

Well I have some news for you. There seems like a lot of "stuff" going on there. I would have done a majority of that surgical work all in one day under IV sedation and kicked you out. The most I have ever charged a person in one day was 35k...

I'm not saying the work isn't good. I'm just not sure what all the extra steps are for along the way.

Edit: I am also the anesthesiologist for my office so I don't have to order anyone in. I can charge way less that way.

 

[OutlawRider]

Who all on here had close family in the dental field? I think a couple had wives in the field on here.

 

[Clemson13]

Well I have some news for you. There seems like a lot of "stuff" going on there. I would have done a majority of that surgical work all in one day under IV sedation and kicked you out. The most I have ever charged a person in one day was 35k...

I'm not saying the work isn't good. I'm just not sure what all the extra steps are for along the way.

Edit: I am also the anesthesiologist for my office so I don't have to order anyone in. I can charge way less that way.

Notes to go to OutlawRider for his dental tourism needs

 

[vetteboy79]

Well I have some news for you. There seems like a lot of "stuff" going on there. I would have done a majority of that surgical work all in one day under IV sedation and kicked you out. The most I have ever charged a person in one day was 35k...

I'm not saying the work isn't good. I'm just not sure what all the extra steps are for along the way.

Edit: I am also the anesthesiologist for my office so I don't have to order anyone in. I can charge way less that way.

Meant $150k for the entire thing start to finish over the course of 6+ months, not just the IV day. Outside anesthesiologist is about $5k for one session vs about $275 for the oral sedation which is why we were trying to break it up initially. Had we gone IV from the start then yes it would have been one or two days max for the surgical stuff.

edit: also that was me electing to do the two-stage BioTemp process, rather than place all the screws at the same time and have removable dentures.

 

[gt1guy]

Notes to go to OutlawRider for his dental tourism needs

Yes, I see he's just up the road a bunch of hours from me. I'm going to need a whole mouth full of teeth in the not too distant future.

 

[OutlawRider]

Meant $150k for the entire thing start to finish over the course of 6+ months, not just the IV day. Outside anesthesiologist is about $5k for one session vs about $275 for the oral sedation which is why we were trying to break it up initially. Had we gone IV from the start then yes it would have been one or two days max for the surgical stuff.

edit: also that was me electing to do the two-stage BioTemp process, rather than place all the screws at the same time and have removable dentures.

I don’t do the prosthetic side. So there is a good chunk of the fee as well. But typically if someone wants something done same day, depending on exactly what you want because there are ways to make it cost a little more. But you walk in with a denture in hand and teeth, I remove teeth that day, place implants, and secure denture to implants so you walk out with teeth. Then you go get finals from your regular dentist. That is for a fixed denture. And there is some fine print mixed in with that as I make it sound so easy and wonderful when in reality, there is more to it than that. But you don’t leave without knowing all of that up front.

I also don’t spend extra money on guides or any other fluff like that. I won’t say I never will, but I can free hand really well as I place so many each year. I have great lab people that come in to help and they are much cheaper than me doing the conversion so that helps. And my sedation cost is a fraction of that. I also live in a low cost of living area so that helps a lot and I actually drive in 30 minutes so I can live in a nice house that cost way less.

 

[bgaidan]

Yes. but sinus perforations are no bueno. I typically rebuild the floor with a type of membrane and then place the bone graft material. Some just YOLO and pray. I've only really had one that has ever been a true bear to deal with even after trying to fix it. At that point, I just go in through the side of the sinus and lift the whole thing and fix it for certain.

Breeching the sinuses is way worse than "a little bleh". Make sure you really trust this guy.

This will be my third procedure with him. Did 3 wisdom teeth early last year and was almost pain free and back on my feet that afternoon. Two extractions + attempted exposures a few months after that. Exposures didn't want to move so now they're coming out and implants going in.

These are two canines that never came in and are basically sideways along my top jaw. They're just close enough to the sinus that he's slighlyt concerned that he'll be really close to it when he pulls them. Gonna be a bitch either way, but hopefully he can not get in to them.

 

[OutlawRider]

Impacted canines don’t really bother me for exposure. They usually come out ok. It is the lone molar. They are dangerous.

 

[bgaidan]

Impacted canines don’t really bother me for exposure. They usually come out ok. It is the lone molar. They are dangerous.

Everyone was really optimistic about the exposures right up until a few days after and then it seemed to change to "these don't always work, especially at your age". Fuckers already had my money at that point.

Want me to send you pictures of my last scans for an IBB consult?

 

[OutlawRider]

Sure. I’ll take a look at them

 

[Tutystant]

I had a chipped tooth too and went through a similar situation, trying to fix more than I needed. After all the work, I ended up with some issues that I had to deal with later, which was super annoying.I’ve heard about dental tourism, but it makes me nervous, especially with the money involved. I went to Dentist Anesthesiologist Mobile Services in Los Angeles for some work, and they were awesome. They really listened to my concerns and helped me feel more comfortable with the whole process. If you’re considering traveling for dental work, maybe chat with them first.

 

[Boss]

I have a sudden urge to go brush my teeth.

 

[Gdogg]

I have a buddy who would spend the winter in the Philippines, he had all his dental work done there for basically peanuts compared to the cost here. He said the dental office had all the latest and greatest equipment and he was happy as can be. From what I could see his teeth did look great.