Choose the right implant dentist.....or else!! By Dr. Travis Watson on May 08, 2024

Over the past 10 years, I have performed hundreds of implant surgeries. Many of these surgeries have been what I call “Arch Surgeries.” I’ve heard these called many things by people who are shopping around and looking at advertisements online…. “All-on-4, Hybrids, TeethExpress, Teeth-in-a-Day, TeethNow, RestoreIn24, and many others.” The truth to all of these, whatever the dentist chooses to call it, is that the premise is the same, which is to place enough implants that the patient can keep their teeth inside their mouth 24 hours a day and to restore their teeth to full function and esthetics. 20 years ago, most people, including most dentists, would have thought this was not even possible. But now in 2024, this is not an uncommon approach to restoring a failing dentition or a mouth without any existing teeth. It is important to know that the skills, experience, and tedious approach of the surgeon are important considerations when “shopping around.”

Lots has happened in the last 20 years. We now have franchises with locations all over the US performing this type of treatment. As a matter of fact, some of these franchises refuse to do anything else other than pull all your teeth and put in implants to hold artificial appliances. There are both good and bad aspects to the exponential growth of “arch surgeries.” The good: the public is more aware of this amazing transformative process. The bad: there are way too many of these being done when there may be better treatment options, AND there are way too many dentists doing these incorrectly.

Don’t get me wrong, as a consumer, I like to save money and I am always doing due diligence to make smart purchases. It always feels good when you spend less and get exactly what you want! I recently changed barbers and am paying ½ of what I was before, and I get an even better haircut! That’s a win! However, when it comes to investments into your overall health (and having irreversible things done to your mouth affects your overall health!), there are factors other than price that probably should be considered. This is especially true with implant surgeries! This is not a TV, a car, or even a haircut! This is your mouth, which allows you to digest food, taste, smile, be intimate, and feel like a human being! If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.

If you had to have knee replacement surgery, what other factors would you consider other than the price? Maybe it’s the experience of the surgeon? Maybe it’s the amount of time you have to wait to get started? Maybe it’s the technology that assists that surgeon to just do it better or with less trauma? What happens if knee surgery goes wrong, or falls short of your expected result? Hopefully, you see where I’m going with this! In some of the offices that offer “a deal” and an overnight result the patient is mostly interacting with a sales representative. Doctor/ patient time is very minimal so they can treat as many patients as possible. I don’t know about you, but an assembly line is not what I want to experience when it comes to my health.

Arch surgeries, or “All-on-4’s” are done in many different ways, so the patient is not getting the same thing from office to office. I’ve seen these performed in a very invasive fashion and when there are complications or failures, it’s important to understand what happens next. I say this because I’ve repaired and “re-did” cases where patients came to me miserable in dealing with complications from procedures done elsewhere. Many times, these patients just chose the least expensive option because they overlooked factors other than price, and then they find out later that the costs to fix the less-than-satisfactory result is far beyond the costs of their other options. Also, in some extreme cases no amount of money can “Fix what was broken”. As with any other life altering decision, read the fine print!