What does a single implant really cost?
The range, the items behind it and the fixed allowance: what makes up the amount, why two quotations can be far apart, what is missing from a strikingly low price and how the comparison works out over the years.
A single tooth, with implant and crown, usually costs between about 1,250 and 3,000 euros in Germany – towards the lower end in the back of the mouth, towards the upper end at the front. Statutory health insurance pays a finding-related fixed allowance towards it. The reason the range is so wide is not the practices: that figure contains five to eight separate items, and which of them apply is decided by the clinical findings.
What the amount is made up of
Implant treatment is not one service but a chain. Every link has its own price, and every one of them may fall away or turn out dearer in an individual case.
- examination and planning: roughly 150 to 350 euros per jaw
- three-dimensional image where needed: roughly 120 to 250 euros
- placing the implant including the implant itself: roughly 650 to 1,500 euros
- consumables for the procedure: roughly 100 to 300 euros
- abutment between implant and crown: roughly 100 to 400 euros
- crown from the laboratory, depending on material: roughly 150 to 650 euros
- bone grafting if required: from about 150 euros, with a bone block up to about 1,000 euros
These figures are reference points from practice, not binding prices. The only binding document is the treatment and cost plan of the treating practice.
What statutory insurance pays
Since 2005 the German statutory health insurers have contributed a fixed allowance based on the standard restoration for the respective finding – for a single-tooth gap, the bridge. This allowance is also paid if you decide on an implant; the difference remains the patient's own share. A bonus booklet kept without gaps increases it: by twenty per cent after five years, by thirty after ten. In a few precisely described exceptional cases the insurer covers more than the fixed allowance.
Why two quotations can be so far apart
That one quotation is higher than another says nothing in itself. Four things explain most differences, and all four are in the treatment and cost plan – if you know where to look.
- Is bone grafting costed in, or not yet?
- Which implant system is used, and is the long-term supply of spare parts secure?
- What material is the crown, and where is it made?
- Is one plan the total and the other only the surgical part?
What is missing from a strikingly low price
Fixed prices from the internet should be read with care. Nobody can know what is needed without an examination – a price that is fixed before the examination can only be fixed because parts of the treatment are not in it. Frequently missing are the diagnostics, possible bone grafting, the abutment or the final crown. With little-used budget systems a second risk is added: if a part has to be replaced in ten years, that part still has to exist.
The comparison over the years
At the moment of the decision the bridge is cheaper. Over the years the picture shifts: comparative studies suggest that a single-tooth implant can be cheaper than a bridge after about seven years, because the maintenance costs are lower and the prepared neighbouring teeth of a bridge can themselves become a cost factor. That is no guarantee – but it is the argument missing from a cost comparison over two decades if only the first invoice is considered.
What several teeth cost
The more teeth are missing, the less the sum "price times number" helps. A bridge on two implants restores several teeth and usually costs between about 2,500 and 4,250 euros. A removable denture anchored on two implants starts at about 3,500 euros; with four implants it lies, depending on the design, between about 4,800 and 10,000 euros. A fixed restoration of a whole jaw starts at about 10,000 euros.
What to clarify before agreeing
A treatment and cost plan is not a price tag but a document you can talk about. Five questions bring out the essentials.
- Does the plan cover everything up to the finished crown, or is a step missing?
- Is bone grafting costed in, and what does it cost if it becomes necessary?
- Which implant system is used?
- How high is my insurer's fixed allowance for this finding?
- What is not in the plan and might be added later?
Who draws up a sound plan
A sum quoted without a clinical examination is an estimate. The directory on this portal lists practices with a focus on implantology – by location and qualification, without ranking and without rating.
Answered briefly