What dental implants cost in Australia, and why nobody quotes you over the phone
A single implant runs about $4,000 to $6,000 all in. That range is real, and it is also the reason you keep getting a vague answer. Here is what sits inside the number, what moves it, and how to get your own figure in writing.
You have probably already rung two or three practices about this.
And you probably got the same answer each time, which is that it depends, and would you like to come in for a consultation.
That is a maddening thing to be told when all you want is a number. So here is the number first, and then the honest explanation of why nobody would give it to you on the phone.
A single dental implant in Australia typically costs about $4,000 to $6,000, all in.
That is a general industry guide rather than a quote. Read on and you will understand your own figure well enough to spot a bad one.
First, why the cheap ad is cheap
If you have been looking for a while, you have seen an implant advertised for a fraction of that. It is worth knowing exactly how that works, because it is not usually a lie. It is a partial answer.
An implant is not one thing. It is three.
- The post, a small titanium screw placed into the jawbone, which replaces the root of the tooth.
- The abutment, the connector that sits on top of the post.
- The crown, the visible tooth, made to match the ones either side of it.
A very low advertised price is usually pricing the post. The other two get added later, along with the scan, the surgery and the appointments. The number you were shown was real. It was just the first third of it.
So the useful question to ask anybody advertising a price, including us, is a simple one: does that include all three parts, the 3D scan, the surgery and the follow-up visits? If the answer takes more than a sentence, you have your answer.
What you are actually paying for
Set against that, here is what sits inside the $4,000 to $6,000.
The planning and the 3D scan. Before anything is placed, we need to see the bone in three dimensions, not just the surface. That scan determines whether an implant can go in at all, where exactly it should sit, and what has to happen first.
The surgery. Placing the post, and the appointments around it.
The healing period. The implant has to integrate with the bone around it. That is not chair time, it is calendar time, and it is the reason implant treatment takes months rather than weeks.
The crown. Ours are designed and made at Luminous Dental Ceramics, our own lab at the Southport clinic, where the team has more than 55 years of combined experience on the bench. That matters for cost because the lab work is inside the price rather than an add-on, and it matters for the result because the ceramicist can look at your actual teeth in the light of the room instead of matching a shade code posted interstate.
The follow-ups. Checking it has integrated, fitting the crown, adjusting the bite.
What moves your number
Four things, and this is the honest reason a phone quote is impossible.
Bone. Once a tooth has been gone a while, the bone that used to hold its root recedes. If there is not enough left, it needs building up first with a bone graft, or a sinus lift in the upper back jaw. This is common rather than unusual, it is solvable, and it adds both time and cost. Nobody can tell whether you need it without looking at a scan.
Whether a tooth still has to come out. If the tooth being replaced is still there and failing, removing it is its own step.
The crown material. There is more than one option, and they do not all cost the same or look the same.
How many you are having. One implant and four implants are not four times apart, because the planning and the scan are shared. A full arch is a different conversation again, covered on the dental implants page and in what All-on-4 costs.
The comparison that actually matters
Most people compare an implant against a bridge or a denture on the up-front price, where the implant loses.
Here is the fuller picture.
| Implant | Bridge | Denture | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Up-front cost | Higher | Medium | Lower |
| Touches the healthy teeth beside it? | No | Yes, they are ground down to take crowns | No |
| Holds the bone where the root was? | Yes | No | No |
| Typical lifespan | Decades with good care | Around 10 to 15 years | Needs relining or replacing |
Two lines in that table are the ones worth sitting with.
A bridge costs you two healthy teeth. To fit one, the teeth either side of the gap are permanently ground down so crowns can go over them. If those teeth are fine, you are damaging two good ones to solve a problem with a third. Bridges are a perfectly good treatment when the neighbours already need crowns. When they do not, that price comparison is leaving something out.
Only the implant keeps the bone busy. Your jaw maintains itself in response to load, and the load comes down through tooth roots. An implant puts a root back. A bridge spans the gap and a denture sits on top of it, so underneath both, the bone keeps receding.
There is a fuller comparison at implants vs dentures.
The part we cannot do from a webpage
We can tell you the range. We cannot tell you your number, and we are not going to pretend otherwise.
The two things that move the price most are the bone in your jaw and the state of the tooth being replaced. Both need to be seen. A figure given before that is a guess, and a guess that comes in low is worse for you than no figure at all, because you have now planned around it.
What we can do is make finding out cost nothing.
What the consult actually involves
The consult and the 3D scan are free. They are normally $347.
It starts with a short phone call so our team can answer your questions and book you in at whichever of our six clinics is nearest. Then you come in, we scan, and we go through what we can see: whether there is enough bone, whether anything needs doing first, and what your realistic options are.
You leave with an itemised written quote. Not a range. Not a starting-from. A list of what each part costs, so you can see exactly what you would be dropping if you chose to do less.
If the answer is that an implant is not the right treatment for you, we will say that too. That happens, and it is a better outcome than the alternative.
Making it affordable
Many health funds contribute under major dental, so check your annual limit and your waiting period early rather than late. We are an nib preferred provider and an HCF More for Teeth partner, and we claim on the spot with HICAPS.
Beyond that there are 0% interest payment plans, on approval: Bitesize, our own in-house plan, and DentiCare. Some people also qualify to use early release of super on medical grounds through SuperCare. Details are on our payment options page.
The thing nobody tells you about waiting
The gap is not stable.
The teeth either side of it slowly tip in. The tooth above or below drifts down because nothing is meeting it. The bone where the root used to be recedes, quietly, the whole time.
None of that hurts, which is exactly why it goes on for years. But every one of those changes makes the eventual fix bigger, longer and more expensive than it would have been. The people who end up needing a graft are very often the people who waited.
That is not a reason to rush into treatment. It is a reason not to put off finding out, which is the part that costs nothing.
So, two options
You can keep ringing around for a number that nobody can honestly give you over the phone, and keep comparing headline prices that may be measuring different things.
Or you can spend an hour finding out what your actual case needs, leave with an itemised quote in writing, and then decide with real figures in front of you.
Call 1800 833 844, or read more about the treatment itself on our dental implants page.
Read more: Five things about dental implants most people do not know
Dental implants FAQ
Why will nobody give me a price over the phone?
Because the two things that move the price most are the bone in your jaw and the state of the tooth being replaced, and neither can be assessed down a phone line. Any figure quoted before a scan is a guess, and a guess that turns out low is worse for you than no figure at all.
Are dental implants covered by Medicare?
Generally no. Medicare does not cover routine dental for adults, though eligible children may have limited cover under the Child Dental Benefits Schedule. Private health cover with extras often contributes under major dental, usually with an annual limit and a waiting period.
Why is the implant I saw advertised so much cheaper?
Usually because it is pricing one of the three parts. An implant is a post, an abutment and a crown, and a headline figure often covers the post alone, with the rest added later. Ask any advertised price whether it includes all three, plus the scan, the surgery and the follow-ups.
Is it cheaper to go overseas?
The treatment price often is. What it does not include is the follow-up, the adjustments, and what happens if something goes wrong twelve months later, all of which are difficult to manage from another country. We are happy to give you a local written quote to compare against honestly.
Can I pay it off?
Yes. There are 0% interest payment plans on approval through our own in-house Bitesize plan and through DentiCare, and some people qualify to use early release of super on medical grounds through SuperCare. We will show you the options alongside the quote rather than after it.
