Dental Implant Prices: Why So Expensive?

In my office and any upscale dental office payment upfront is expected for all procedures that we do.  This is only smart business.  This is why we offer no interest financing through both Care Credit and Springstone financial.  They are both great and approve you in just minutes.  This allows you to get the benefits of the treatment now without having to pay for everything all at once.  Good luck.

It is a common business practice, actually. Groceries must be paid in advance. Cars must be paid for before driving off the lot (Ford motor corp is not the same as Ford vehicle financing, although they have similar names). Movie tickets are paid before entering. Houses are financed by a bank, but the builder is paid up front (or the arrangements are set in stone before building).
Every dental office has its own policy. Some offices have relaxed options, some have zero flexibility. One thing to remember is that, unlike a car financier, dentists cannot send a repo man to repossess or reclaim work that is not paid for. The only leverage is prior to treatment.
This is why the relationship is so important. The patient must trust that the dentist is capable and caring, and the dentist must like the patient. Without that, dental care should not be delivered (yes, I have refused to treat people I didn't like).
If you feel you have found the office that is right for you, perhaps following their policies is worth it.

In our clinic, we charge for procedure received or done. We don't charge the whole treatment as it always has different stages. I don't find necessary to charge the whole thing right away but every Doctor has his own way of working.

Thank you for your great question.Sounds like you are talking about All-On-Four. If so, that's how long the whole treatment takes. I am sure you can negotiate paying first  part at the beginning and a second part before starting a phase II.Good luck.

If you go and buy a car the manufacturer gets paid when you pick up the car, the car payments are made with a third party financing company.  So there is an example of a business that requires up front payment.  In fact most businesses require upfront payments, the milk in the grocery store, the jeans in the mall, your car, your house... then why not life changing dental surgery??

Every dental office is different and sets its own policies. Most businesses however ask for payment up front. Did you ever try to leave a garage before paying for the car repair? Have you left a store with shoes and clothes without paying first? Or how about when buying a car? You sign your life away before driving off the lot and even if you leasing the dealer gets paid up front by the bank. Many dentists don't like to chase patients around for payment and have to deal at times with collections agencies which rarely collect anything, and if they do, it's usually a fraction of the amount owed. It's s hassle free way to do business. Such businesses are usually very successful and can afford to have such strong policies in place. Practices that aren't as successful typically do whatever they can to attract patients and have lenient policies to their own economic detriment because they have high receivables. So. If you want to go to a successful doctor, be prepared to wait and pay up front. 

. At our office, we mostly charge in parts for the dental implants. we charge for the first stage surgery at the time of implants placement and expect further payment at the time of second stage. In that case we can also modify our treatment plan if need be.

There are several factors that add to the cost of dental implant procedures. The dental implants and their associated parts themselves are quite costly to the surgeon placing them.  The doctor that is restoring the implants, whether it be a single crown, bridge, denture or full prosthesis has a lot of lab fees associated with the work.  All these fees alone add up into the thousands of dollars.  You should avoid any "Discount" Dental implant doctors because they are mostl likely using cut rate implants and possibly overseas labs.  Trust me, you get what you pay for.  If finances are an issue there are several fianace plans available to you which we use on a daily basis in our office ( Most of them are interest free to the patient, I pay the interest for the patient) Care Credit is a great example of this.  Patients love these options.  Paying up front for these procedures is the industry standard becasue the doctor is laying out thousands of dollars up front in his cost and overhead.  This is no different than purchasing your groceries or a car or a television.

The cost should be able to be broken down into stages

1. Stage 1 which is extraction, grafting, and implant placement should be charged in the beginning. The provisional should also be included if one is being made.

2. Stage 2 which is the final restoration, should be paid 6-9 months after the implants are placed

There are many financing companies like Care Credit that will help with the financial burden and the office should be able to assist you with the process. Paying for the final prosthesis before the implants are integrated is a bit premature because the possibility of further surgeries or plan changes may occur.

Placing expensive implants involves a lot of planning and expertise. The best implants are scientifically tested to be long-term solutions. Paying some money upfront is usually the norm, because once the implant has been inserted, then the implants are now part of your jawbone.

They cannot be removed in case of non-payment. The next steps would involve staged payments as well.

It would be more comfortable for the patient if the costs are staged and paid after or before each stage.

Sometimes the dentist cannot always progress to the next stage automatically.