Dental Implants, Porcelain Crowns, or Dentures: How to Choose? A Detailed Cost Comparison

10,000 yuan for one dental implant! And you say it's not expensive! You must be really rich

Most people's first reaction when they hear about dental implants!

But, dear

Have you done the math?

Compared with traditional dentures and porcelain crowns, dental implants do seem, at first glance, to cost many times more, and almost all dental clinics quote roughly the same price. But strangely, more and more patients with missing teeth are choosing implant restoration. Why is that?

It is said that the world's first dental implant served its patient for nearly 40 years, from the day it was placed until the patient passed away. If we calculate over 30 years, that is 10,950 days of use, averaging out to only about 0.9 yuan a day, not even one yuan, which means for less than the price of a bottle of mineral water, one less cigarette, or one less piece of candy, you can get a good tooth!

Now look at porcelain crowns. Their lifespan is 5 years, each one costs nearly a thousand yuan, averaging 0.55 yuan per day. But when restoring with a porcelain crown, the two adjacent teeth on either side must be ground down to serve as a "bridge," which means you pay for three teeth to restore one tooth, and the daily average rises to 1.65 yuan, not to mention the irreversible damage to the teeth.

"Dental implants can be called humanity's third set of teeth. They are by far the best way to restore missing teeth, comparable to natural teeth, and they do not damage the adjacent teeth. Removable dentures feel strongly like foreign objects, and over time they easily loosen the two teeth they hook onto, causing cavities again and creating a vicious cycle," said Wang Shen, former implant specialist at Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital and current director of the implantology department at Shanghai Shengbei Dental. Most importantly, the nearly perfect chewing function of dental implants is better for your health and for the absorption of nutrients, lightens the burden on the stomach and intestines, delays aging, and reduces the occurrence of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. On the surface, dental implants cost much more than removable dentures, but the results are worlds apart. The former solves the stubborn problem of missing teeth, while the latter keeps you on the road of endless dental treatment. From the long-term cost perspective, dental implants are still the better deal!

If you have already had dental implants, don't forget to come back once a year for dental maintenance!