I recently had a consult with a patient that asked this question, as well as another question: “Are your implants made in China from lead?”

I told him no, they are not made in China nor from lead, but from titanium 6 Alum 4 Vanadium alloy. This is the alloy almost all dental implants are made from today.

Then I posed a quick question to him. I asked him “does a Maserati last any longer than a Toyota?” He answered, “probably not, I figure.”

This additional cost is really perceived value and perception.

Dr. Dibling places Nova dental implants.  This implant is my “go to” and my everyday workhorse implant.  They are fabricated in Israel by a German company.  Many German products are well engineered and produced.  Nova has engineered dental implants and other medical devices by improving on existing design.  This allows them to significantly contain costs.

Dr. Dibling has spent former years with companies like U.S. surgical.  Since the 80’s all dental implant manufacturers have slowly changed their product lines as subtle characteristics in surface texture and thread design have improved clinical performance.  Nova dental implants incorporate all of these improvements from the start significantly allowing them to contain costs in product redesign.  This allows them and this doctor to offer a world class product at an affordable price.

The dental labs I use are all in the U.S. with lab technicians I know by first name.

I had a patient where I recently delivered a crown on an implant I had placed.  Previously, he had a local periodontist place an implant and another implant place the crown.

He actually plays tennis with the periodontist who vehemently stated “you can’t get it done for that fee, $1999.00.” Upon delivery, I gave the patient a hand mirror and he stated “hey, that looks really good. I don’t see any difference from the one I paid twice as much for.” I told him to go back to his tennis partner and to tell him not to be such a cynic.

I simply told him your first implant was just like the first big screen TV.  It works just as well – you just paid too much for it.

He laughed and said “with what I saved on your implant, I can upgrade to the new Samsung 88 that I was looking at at Sam’s Club.”

I said “great, go right now before the Superbowl.”  He then replied, “maybe I will, why not?”