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Last updated on December 1st, 2024 at 05:55 pm
This is a story about Winston and how he made the cost of his dental implants affordable. We’ll explore what went into his decision making process to replace his partial dentures with dental implants, in spite of their much higher costs. In this article you’ll also learn how Winston’s implants helped to improve his quality of his life.
Who is Winston?
Winston is a 55-year-old second-generation landscaper. His father taught him everything he knows about the profession of making residential yards more attractive. Winston also learned from his father just how difficult it can be to live a life with dentures.
“Even as a young kid I’d watch my dad struggle to eat lunches my mom prepared for him,” recalled Winston.
“So, when it became too difficult for dad to eat things like ham or turkey sandwiches and apples with his dentures, my mom began packing dad’s lunch with more soups, mashed potatoes and canned fruit. It was much easier for him to chew and swallow soft foods.”
Note: Winston’s dad should be concerned with the high sodium content that canned soups often come with. Diets filled with processed starchy foods like pasta and mashed potatoes can lead to frequent blood sugar spikes. This is unfavorable to type-2 diabetes.
Now, Winston is middle aged. Fortunately, he has not lost all of his teeth like his dad. He does wear partial dentures in his lower and upper jaws to replace a total of ten missing teeth; six in the lower jaw and four in the upper jaw.
Winston’s Eight-Year-Old Partial Dentures Were Uncomfortable
Winston’s eight-year-old upper partial denture was becoming increasingly difficult to chew with, so he sought the advice of his dentist. The advice he received was to strongly consider replacing his partial dentures with implant supported teeth.
The dentist warned Winston that a new partial denture would only last about five or six years and would likely cause more wear and tear on his adjacent supporting natural teeth.
His dentist went on to explain that the wear caused to his remaining natural teeth, by the partials could lead to additional tooth loss and the eventual need for full denture plates, like the ones his dad wears.
Figure 1: Removable partial denture attaches to natural teeth and may cause teeth to become weaker.
“Having watched my dad struggle with his dentures, I knew that losing all of my teeth and ultimately having to wear full dentures was not an option.”
-Winston
Winston’s Dentist Gave Him a Dental Implants Treatment Plan
Winton’s dental office presented him with a dental implant treatment plan. Because of the areas of his missing teeth, in his lower jaw, three-unit bridges, supported by dental implants, could be used to replace six missing teeth. This is demonstrated in Figure 2.
Figure 2: Two dental implants supporting a bridge that replaces three missing teeth.
One three-unit bridge on the right side, and one three-unit bridge on the left side would be required to replace his lower partial denture.
For the upper jaw, four single dental implants would be required to replace each of the missing teeth. Winston had several questions for his dentist before he could accept the implant treatment plan.
One of Winston’s main questions was, “How long can I expect the dental implants to last?”
Winston’s dentist explained that dental implants could actually last him for the rest of his life.
He’d simply need to maintain his recommended twice per year dental cleanings, daily tooth brushing and water pick cleaning around his natural teeth and dental implants.
Note: “…few partial dentures survive more than six years.” Dental Implant Prosthetics – Dr. Carl Misch
An additional major benefit includes the fact that implants will not cause wear and tear to Winston’s remaining natural teeth like partial dentures can.
This increases the chances that Winston can keep his remaining natural teeth — that were quite healthy — for the rest of his life as well.
Cost of Winton’s Dental Implant Treatment Plan
Winston’s total treatment plan — including dental implants and gum treatment around his remaining natural teeth — would come with a total fee of $43,000. Initially, he experienced sticker shock to say the least.
This cost of dental implants made Winston seriously reconsider replacing his six-year-old broken down partials dentures with a new set of partials.
After all, the cost for two new partial dentures and gum treatment would be less than $5,000 total. And he could pay for a set of new partials with his cash savings.
When comparing the two expenses — $43,000 for implants, and $5,000 for two partial dentures — it would not be unusual to opt for the lower priced procedure.
But Winston kept thinking back to the regret his dad experienced with eventually losing all of his teeth and resorting to dentures.
And as the dental office explained it, continuing to attach a partial denture to his natural teeth for support will eventually cause problems with those teeth as well. This could result in additional extractions and ultimately lead to complete denture plates.
Note: Studies have shown that natural teeth (abutment teeth) that support partial dentures have high rates of complications and failure after five years.
Winston knew, in his mind, he had no choice but to find a way to make the dental implant option affordable.
Winston Gets Serious About Making His Dental Implant Cost Affordable
The pain and anguish that Winston watched his dad experience while chewing certain foods with his dentures was more than he could accept for himself.
As such, Winston thought long and hard on how he could possibly make the preferred dental implant treatment plan affordable.
Winston did not have dental insurance through his job. He thought about purchasing a dental insurance plan, but at minimum, he was already on his wife’s plan. His wife’s dental insurance came with a $1,500 annual maximum. Visit our Dental Insurance page to learn more about how dental insurance coverage applies to implant treatment.
Since the insurance was previously billed $200 for his examination and x-rays, Winston had $1,300 of his annual maximum available. This portion could be applied to his dental implant crowns.
Assuming Winston would be able to apply the remaining available $1,300 from his insurance coverage to the cost of his dental implants, this would still leave him with a balance of $41,700.
Using Treatment Finance for Dental Implants
After speaking with his wife, they both agreed that it was worth it to move forward. The best approach would be to apply $5,000 cash from their savings, and to finance the difference. The amount needed to finance his treatment now would drop to $36,700.
His dental office had previously told him about a dental financing company called Proceed Finance. Winston applied. Since Proceed Finance uses a soft credit check method, Winston wasn’t concerned with his credit score being negatively effected by this credit inquiry.
Winston was approved for the amount he needed. Moving forward with treatment would allow him to fix his missing teeth problem, now, before it got worse and cost more to repair in the future. This would also make his implant procedure affordable as long as they could pay for it over time.
Let’s summarize the strategy that Winston and his wife devised to make his preferred treatment plan affordable in the following table:
| Payment Method | Funding Amount | |
| 1. | Dental insurance | $1,300 |
| 2. | Personal cash savings | $5,000 |
| 3. | Proceed Finance loan | $36,700 (@ $535.76 per mo.) |
| Total | $43,000 |
As you can see, Winston and his wife were able to devise a reasonable strategy to cover the cost of his eight dental implants.
Following the $1,300 being paid by dental insurance, and $5,000 from personal savings, Winston was left with a difference of $36,700. He chose to finance this difference through Proceed Finance.
At 8.9% interest, over an eight-year period, this would leave Winston with an affordable monthly payment of about $535.
Winston and his wife were convinced that if they could just keep the payments close to the amount of what a typical car note looks like, it would be a no-brainer to make the investment in his health.
Of course, the option is always available to pay above the minimum amount due each month if he desires to pay off the loan early. He could also refinance the procedure in the future for a lower interest rate, if he chooses to.
Choosing the Right Provider Led To a Happy Ending for Winston!
After consulting with three implant offices, he accepted the implant treatment plan presented by the second dentist. Winston completed his dental implant therapy.
Ironically, the first and third treatment plans were both less expensive than the second. Receiving treatment from an experienced and advanced implant provider is rarely the cheapest option.
But as a landscaper who takes great pride in his craftsmanship, Winston understands that not all service professionals are equal.
He set out to locate a quality implant dentist who could perform the treatment to his satisfaction, the first time.
As planned, Winston received his dental implant supported bridges on his lower jaw. Individual implant supported crowns were performed for his upper jaw.
No one is happier than Winston that he chose dental implants. “My dental implants feel just like my [natural] teeth,” claims Winston. “In fact, I’m not sure I could tell you which teeth are regular and which teeth are implants. I never felt this way about my partial dentures.”
Winston says now he can eat anything he wants, with no limits. “I would tell anyone that dental implants are worth their weight in gold! I wish my dad would have been given this option before he got his dentures.”
Summary
Winston’s eight dental implants, two implant supported bridges and four individual implant crowns have fully restored his ability to make food choices without compromise.
Winston has zero regret for choosing the higher priced dental implant procedure over another set of cheaper removable partial dentures.
He knows that his implants can last him a life time which made it worth the investment. And he and his wife found a way to make his dental implants affordable.
“For the first time since I can remember, I can eat whatever I choose, without always having to chew my food on my front teeth,” said Winston.
Food choices include some of his favorites like steak, toasted bagels, and apple cranberry & walnut salad. He also enjoys eating mango fruit again.
Winston is over the moon with his teeth. He is glad he made the investment to stave-off ever having to suffer through wearing dentures.
Article Takeaways
- Loose dentures may force you to eat soft foods that are easy to chew but may be high in sodium content or starchy foods. A diet filled with high sodium and processed starchy food can negatively affect overall health.
- Long term anchoring of a partial denture to natural teeth can cause natural teeth to be weakened, decayed and ultimately lead to tooth failure.
- With proper routine professional cleanings and daily homecare cleansing, dental implants can last a lifetime.
- Financing dental implant treatment can make a much needed large dollar procedure affordable.
- Dental implants look, feel and function much closer to natural teeth compared to partial dentures.
References
- Verywell Health, Starch From Food: Which Types Are Good and Bad? Accessed 8/1/2024.
- National Library of Medicine, Long term clinical performance of 10,871 dental implants with up to 22 years of follow-up. Accessed 8/1/2024.
- Dental Implant Prosthetics book, by Dr. Carl E. Misch, pg. 12.
- National Library of Medicine, Complications and failures in removable partial dentures, Accessed 8/1/2024.
[…] Finance loan can make paying for your dental implant procedure very affordable. You can read Winston’s dental implant story to learn how he benefited from a Proceed Finance loan to make his dental implant treatment […]