Somerset, UK -- (SBWIRE) -- 08/10/2009 -- According to Dr. Avik Dandapat, British dental patients are paying over the odds for dental implants. The problem is so severe and so widespread that many patients resort to traveling abroad to find treatments they can afford. Why should that be? Is there a solution? Dr. Dandapat thinks there is.

Dental implant costs to patients in the UK have traditionally been more expensive than in any other country in Europe, Asia or America. In many cases the cost for comparative treatment can be twice as much as other countries. For this reason over 10,000 UK patients a year travel as far as India and the USA to have dental implants and save money. Compared with our friends in the Euro zone just across the Channel, the UK is placing far fewer implant fixtures than any other European country.

The reason is simple: market forces have meant that the implant manufacturers have been able to get away with it. The vanity and relatively high standard of living of the British public, plus the associated higher laboratory costs, have kept prices high. But, according to Dr. Dandapat, the worm has turned. With the Internet breaking down global barriers and enabling the free exchange of information, the British public is now sufficiently well informed to know there is an alternative. As Britain emerges from the recent financial crisis, the problem for Britain’s dentists is likely to get worse unless action is taken.

Euro Crash

“Our currency has been through a rough patch over the past 12 months but the worst is over and sterling is now strengthening again,” he said. “As the Euro and US Dollar become cheaper once again, implant placements abroad become more attractive to our deal-seeking UK patients. The situation is compounded by the limited disposable income available to patients owing to the recession and general trend for implant companies to increase prices, whatever the economic weather.”

Dr. Dandapat believes it’s time for change. “Either the implant companies are going to support us through this recession or we’ll learn from our experiences and move on,” he said, adding that the UK price to a patient for a dental implant, abutment and crown varies from around £1,800 to £3,000 per tooth. In Europe the same treatment is available for approximately £1,100. “We can’t compete with that unless the implant manufacturers help us.”

“Either the implant companies are going to support us through this recession or we’ll learn from our experiences and move on!”

He explained that it’s necessary for dentists to be more proactive in attracting patients to consider a procedure that many would view as a luxury and, during a time when money is scarce, they can do without. He believes that the most effective way would be to reduce the cost of implants down to an affordable level in line with the current economic climate and closer to the prices that are enjoyed elsewhere in the world. “But how can we achieve this without sacrificing the profitability of our precious businesses?” he asked. He maintains that Britain can compete with Europe however, to ensure dental implants are accessible across all socio-economic groups whilst maintaining healthy businesses, Britain’s dentists will need to take a more enlightened approach. He believes that some of the more progressive practitioners are doing just that.

Union Jack

“Slowly practitioners are starting to react to the situation,” he said. “A handful of implant centres around the UK are now charging between £1,200 and £1,500 for a complete implant and crown. I can tell you that this approach works. These practitioners are very busy. To look at them, you wouldn't even know we were in a recession.”

So how have they done it? Many would say that they are just cowboys or are cutting corners. But Dr. Dandapat disagrees. “I can assure you they are not and have simply become wise to the oligopolistic practices of the controlling brands and distributors within the UK marketplace. I ask you, how can an eminent UK practitioner offer implants at £1,100, place over 1000 implants per year and cut corners? If that surgeon were doing anything even remotely inaccurate they would have been in front of the GDC by now.” He adds that this is not the case; there are no short cuts. These are simply forward thinking individuals with a determination to succeed.

“It is fair to say most dentists are in a comfort bubble surrounded by brands we've been using for years, often for decades. We can no longer afford to be consumed by manufacturer-driven marketing of large UK corporations offering us the world in return for which we are just paying for extravagant expenses, supporting freebies to corporates and lining the pockets of executives with generous bonuses. If we want to survive in these turbulent times and compete in the changing dental implant market, we have no option but to reduce our costs and pass this saving on to the patients. We need to cut through all the fluffy stuff and use systems that offer value for money without compromising on quality.”

For example, one implant manufacturer, DIO Implant of South Korea, is now operating in the UK. The company has been around for over 25 years and is one of the largest implant manufacturers in Asia. DIO has recently and correctly identified the gap in the UK market and is offering dental implants at prices less than half that of the most established of UK brands (e.g. DIO titanium RBM fixtures in the UK for under £98.00).

“From my conversations with peers, I feel practitioners generally think there must be some flaw to the system. I can tell you there isn’t! South Korea has one of the most developed manufacturing sectors in the world. This means that some of the best products in the world are also some of the cheapest.”

DIO itself has done comparisons with the competition. Taking an average of the prices of the most common UK brands (i.e. Noble Biocare, AstraTech, Ankylos, 3i and Straumann) and comparing the resultant component prices with the popular DIO SM implant, the figures are impressive. Including fixture, healing cap, angled abutment, impression cap, plastic coping and fixture analogue, the total average cost of UK brands works out at £481.42. The same shopping list from DIO is just £208.29 – a saving of over 56%. “So what would have otherwise cost the patient £1,800, is now more like £1,500,” said Dr. Dandapat. Significant savings such as these are probably sufficient to stop patients buying a ticket to Delhi, New York or Paris to have the work done – thereby keeping the business at home for British dentists.

However, cases are not just for a single tooth. Dr. Dandapat explained that the average was more like five implants for each patient giving a total saving approaching £1,400. “Now the figures start to make more sense. With fixed costs per case fairly static after the first implant, multiple implants become very cost effective. Significant savings can then pass on to the patient.” For dentists using 150 implants a year the total saving would be in excess of £40,000.

The implant manufacturers have had it their own way for too long now and Dr. Dandapat believes that it’s time for a reality check. The efforts of manufacturers such as DIO just might be enough to kick-start a more sensible approach based on realistic prices and patient care rather than corporate profit.

Dr. Avik Dandapat BDS (Birm), MFGDP(UK) RCS eng, Dip.Imp.Dent RCS (Eng)