Dental Implants With Low Monthly Payments

Dental implants are the industry standard for replacing missing teeth, providing a natural-looking, stable, and secure long-term replacement option, but they are often not covered by dental insurance policies. Depending on each patient’s individual treatment needs, dental implants usually cost between $1,500 and $3,000 per tooth, and this cost increases when additional procedures, like bone grafts or tissue restoration, are included in the overall dental implant treatment.

The overall process for placing dental implants can take some time, and it may require several different procedures. Dental implants are a durable, long-lasting and natural-looking way to replace one or more missing teeth. The reasons people lose their teeth, however, need to be addressed before a dental implant treatment can begin. Many people lose their teeth because of periodontal disease; periodontal disease is characterized by the formation of periodontal pockets, which are pockets between the gums and teeth that fill with infectious bacteria and lead to the degradation of the bone and soft tissue in the mouth. When left untreated, this eventually causes the teeth to fall out. Before placing dental implants, your dentist will treat your periodontal disease, if present, to ensure that your mouth is healthy before implants are placed. If periodontal disease has been left untreated for a long time, allowing the disease to advance, this treatment may require surgery to fully remove any infected tissue and to stimulate the growth of healthy gum tissue. Sometimes, when advanced periodontal disease has led to bone loss, implant dentists can modify treatment to use whatever healthy bone is available, but in many cases, they will recommend bone grafts to build up the amount of available bone and increase the stability and security of the implants and ensure their success. These additional procedures may or may not be covered by dental insurance and will increase the overall cost of the dental implant treatment.

While these costs may be daunting, the benefits of dental implants are multiple, and they should be considered an investment into the health of your mouth, as well as your overall health. Once the mouth is properly prepared to receive dental implants, the procedure itself necessitates considerable healing time. As the bone that supports your implants heals, it fuses with the implants, in a process called osseointegration. This process secures the implants in place, allowing them to serve as a solid anchor for dental restorations, in much the same way that a tooth’s root supports a tooth. Dental implants stimulate the growth of healthy bone and allow patients to enjoy a varied diet, improving the health of the mouth and the total health of the patient, and their benefits should not be overlooked simply due to cost. Dental implants also provide a natural-looking, comfortable, and convenient solution to missing teeth, which can help restore a patient’s self-confidence and self-esteem.

Even for patients who have dental insurance, it is not uncommon for insurance to cover only part of the cost of dental implant treatment. This means that patients who undergo the dental implant procedure often have to cover at least a portion of the cost out-of-pocket, and, especially when periodontal treatment or additional surgeries like bone grafts are required, these costs can add up. Dentists don’t want to refuse care, but it’s impossible for a dental practice to sustain itself if it offers discounted or free procedures. At your initial consultation, you and your dentist will discuss the various dental restoration options that will work for you, and you can talk about the possible costs of these replacement options. If you require additional procedures to support dental implants, you and your dentist will also discuss these treatments and their costs. If dental implants are the recommended treatment but are cost-prohibitive for you, ask your dentist about financing options that may be available to you. The cost of dental implants should not be the factor that stands between you and your oral health and self-confidence.

Thankfully, there are financing options available for people who need dental implants but cannot afford to pay a lump sum on their own. Many of these financing options require a good credit score, however, which results in a number of people who are unable to take advantage of these options. There are some options for people with lower credit scores, though, and one of these options may help facilitate your dental implant treatment.

Typically, standard lenders like CareCredit require a minimum credit score of 640 in order to approve a standard medical loan. Sub-prime lenders, on the other hand, determine a potential borrower’s risk by evaluating the person’s income history and employment history, in addition to other financial information that is available, when determining whether a person is eligible for a medical loan. Sub-prime lenders may charge high interest rates and origination fees, however, which can increase a borrower’s financial burden overall.

Secured or unsecured personal loans may also be available to people with lower credit scores. Secured loans require collateral, which might be real estate, stocks or bonds, or a motor vehicle; this collateral helps to increase the loan amount and increases the chance of loan approval, but, if the account is delinquent, the lender will repossess the collateral. Unsecured loans don’t require collateral, and delinquent loans are sent to a collection agency. It can be harder to qualify for an unsecured loan if you have bad credit, as the lender’s risk is increased.

A third option that will work for patients regardless of credit score is using a pay-over-time lender like Healthcare Finance Direct. Only some dentistry and medical providers partner with lenders like Healthcare Finance Direct, but those that do are able to provide care to a wider range of patients. These lenders use an underwriting process that evaluates data gathered from thousands of patients when determining the terms of a loan and the amount necessary for a down payment, and they also use this data to set their interest rates. Many pay-over-time lenders also offer a direct-debit payment option, which makes the repayment process occur more smoothly and conveniently. Working with an implant dentist who partners with one of these third-party financing organization may provide you with a reasonable solution that allows you to improve your quality of life and your health with dental implants.