How to Pay for Full Mouth Dental Implants

Most people pay for full mouth dental implants with a combination of sources: dental insurance for the parts it covers, pre-tax HSA or FSA money, and patient financing such as CareCredit or a payment plan for the rest. Timing treatment across two insurance years and asking for a written, all-inclusive quote both help you plan.

Start with the real total

Before you work out how to pay, make sure you know what you are paying for. Full-arch treatment involves planning, possible extractions, surgery, temporary teeth and the final teeth, and some quotes leave parts of that out. Our article on what a full-arch quote should include gives you a checklist. At Shield Dental Care in Burke, VA, the full-arch fee is one price per arch; you can see our current full-arch pricing and what it covers.

Once you have one number, you can decide which of the options below to combine.

Dental insurance

Dental insurance rarely pays for most of a full-arch treatment, but it can still help. The main limit is the annual maximum: most plans cap how much they will pay in a calendar year, and that cap is small compared with the cost of full-arch treatment. Within that cap, plans may contribute to parts of the treatment, such as exams, X-rays, extractions or, on some plans, the implants or the replacement teeth.

Three things are worth checking with your plan:

• Whether implants are covered at all, or whether the plan pays only what it would pay for a denture.
• Waiting periods and missing-tooth clauses, which can exclude teeth that were lost before the plan started.
• How much of this year’s maximum is left. Full-arch treatment takes months, so the surgery and the final teeth can sometimes fall in different benefit years, letting you use two years of benefits.

Many insurers will give a pre-treatment estimate, so you know what they expect to pay before you start. Our team can help you with the paperwork. For more detail, see does dental insurance cover implants?

Medicare

Original Medicare does not cover implants in most cases. Medicare.gov states that, in most cases, Medicare does not cover dental services such as extractions, or items like dentures and implants. Some Medicare Advantage plans include dental benefits, which vary by plan, so check yours directly.

HSA and FSA funds

A health savings account (HSA) or flexible spending account (FSA) lets you pay for qualifying medical expenses with pre-tax money. IRS Publication 502, which defines medical expenses, includes amounts paid for artificial teeth and for the prevention and alleviation of dental disease. It generally excludes cosmetic procedures. Replacing failing or missing teeth to restore chewing is usually treated as dental care, not cosmetic surgery, but your plan administrator makes the final call.

• HSA: the balance rolls over from year to year, so some people build it up ahead of treatment.
• FSA: you choose your contribution during open enrollment, so if you plan treatment for next year, you can raise your election then. Check your plan’s rules for unused funds.
• Keep your itemized receipts in case your administrator asks for them.

If you and a spouse both have accounts through work, or you have both an HSA and a limited-purpose FSA, ask how they can be combined for one treatment. Ask your plan administrator or a tax professional before you rely on account funds.

Financing and payment plans

Shield Dental Care accepts CareCredit, a health care credit card that can be used for dental treatment, and offers payment plans. Financing spreads the cost into monthly payments, which is how many patients make full-arch treatment work.

Before you sign up for any financing, read the terms carefully:

• Promotional periods. Some offers charge no interest only if the balance is paid in full within the promotional period. If it is not, interest may be charged back to the purchase date. Know which kind of offer you have.
• The monthly payment needed to clear the balance in time, not just the minimum payment.
• The interest rate after any promotional period ends.

Ask us about the payment options available to you at your consultation.

Paying in stages

Because full-arch treatment happens in stages over several months, payments can often be spread out too. Ask how payments are scheduled, for example at the start of treatment, at surgery and when the final teeth are fitted, and how that fits with any financing or account funds. For a broader look at costs and insurance across all treatments, see our cost and insurance guide.

One caution: the cheapest path is not always the one with the lowest first payment. A plan that leaves out the temporary teeth or the final material can cost more by the time treatment is finished. Compare total costs, not monthly payments.

If you do not have dental insurance

Many full-arch patients do not have insurance, and it does not change the treatment. Combining HSA or FSA funds with financing is the most common approach. Our page for patients without dental insurance explains the other options we offer.

Putting it together

A practical order to work through:

• Get a written, all-inclusive quote for one arch or both.
• Ask your insurer for a pre-treatment estimate.
• Check your HSA or FSA balance and eligibility.
• Finance the remainder with a plan whose terms you understand.

If cost is pushing you toward treatment abroad, read our balanced look at full mouth implants abroad vs in the US first. To talk through your options with Dr. Pejman Ghorbani’s team in Burke, call (703) 250-5072 or request a consultation. You can also check how long our current full-arch fee applies.