With more than 200 dental implant manufacturers worldwide, how can dentists select a dependable dental implant system? After all, successful dental implant treatment depends as much on choosing a reliable implant brand as it does on choosing a skilled implant dentist. If you’re a dentist, selecting a high-quality dental implant system directly impacts the outcome of your treatments. If you’re a patient, it’s essential to know what type of implant system your dentist uses, and how reliable the implant product is. To solve these problems, we have created a rating system to compare different dental implant systems. We surveyed more than a hundred dentists to come up with a subjective rating system. We rank each implant manufacturer in several important categories to help dentists select a reliable implant system. Here’s a closer look at how the rating system works:
Implant Design
This may be the single most important category when it comes to choosing a dental implant system. The implant design rating is based on the shape and form of the dental implant fixture itself. This includes the thread design, depth of threads, spacing between the threads, and other critical features that distinguish a high-quality dental implant system.
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Excellent implant design
- ⭐⭐⭐ Mediocre implant design
- ⭐ Poor implant design
Materials
Most dental implants are made from either titanium alloy or zirconia oxide. However, the consistency of the metals used in each dental implant varies from company to company. We assign a grade to each manufacturer based on the quality of titanium, or zirconia, that they use when manufacturing their dental implant fixtures.
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Top-notch material
- ⭐⭐⭐ Mediocre material
- ⭐ Poor quality material
Research & Development
A high-quality dental implant system is backed by years of extensive research and development as well as clinical results. We grade each dental implant manufacturer based on the amount of research they produce to back their products. Generally, more established manufacturers tend to score higher than newer start-ups with less research and experience surrounding their products.
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Extensive research and development backing a reliable implant product
- ⭐⭐⭐ Mediocre research and development backing a semi-reliable implant product
- ⭐ Minimal research and development backing an unreliable implant product
Implant Selection
There are different dental implants for different circumstances. For instance, there are implants designed for soft bone vs. hard bone, tissue level implants vs. bone level implants, narrow implants for small ridges, short implants for high-risk anatomical regions, mini-implants for overdenture treatments, zygomatic implants for all-on-four treatments, etc. etc. We grade each manufacturer based on the variety of dental implants they offer for various treatment options.
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Wide selection of implants addressing multiple treatment conditions
- ⭐⭐⭐ Mediocre selection of implants addressing some but not all treatment conditions
- ⭐ Poor selection of implants addressing limited treatment conditions
Prosthetic Options
Offering a variety of dental implant fixtures is only half the equation. Reputable manufacturers must also offer corresponding prosthetic parts to restore these implants. This includes prosthetic parts for restoring crowns, overdentures, all-on-fours, angled abutments, UCLA, etc. We grade each manufacturer based on the variety of prosthetic parts they offer to restore their implant fixtures.
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Wide selection of prosthetic parts addressing numerous different restorative conditions
- ⭐⭐⭐ Mediocre selection of prosthetic parts addressing some but not all different restorative conditions
- ⭐ Poor selection of prosthetic parts addressing limited restorative conditions
Brand Reputation
Brand reputation is based on how well-known a manufacturer is within the dental community. Keep in mind that we only focus on the company’s reputation as a dental implant manufacturer and no other products. Therefore, a well-known company that is new to manufacturing dental implants may not obtain high ratings. On the other hand, a lesser known company that has been well established in the dental implant community will rank higher regardless of the brand’s overall reputation.
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Excellent brand reputation known for producing high-quality implant products
- ⭐⭐⭐ Mediocre brand reputation known for producing average-quality implant products
- ⭐ Poor brand reputation known for producing bargain-quality implant products
Affordability
The affordability ranking is solely based on the price of the dental implant fixture and prosthesis. Prices can range from as little as $30 to 40 USD all the way to $400 to $500 USD per dental implant fixture. A five-star ranking is generally associated with an extremely affordable implant. As the price of the dental implant goes up, the affordability rating goes down.
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Very affordable dental implant fixture typically in the $50 range
- ⭐⭐⭐ Average-priced dental implant fixture typically in the $125 to $175 range
- ⭐ Expensive dental implant fixture costing more than $300
Overall Rating
We consider all of the above factors and assign each dental implant manufacturer an overall rating. The most important factors in our overall rating are the implant design, materials, and research & development. The overall rating ranges from 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest possible score and 1 the lowest. Generally, overall ratings above 4.0 are considered excellent and top-notch implant manufacturers. Overall ratings between 3.5 to 3.9 are considered fairly decent manufacturers but not quite exceptional. Overall ratings below 3.4 are considered bargain implant manufacturers with less reliable products.