A single dental implant starts around $1,700 with a dentist on Elena. Unlike veneers, implants need two separate trips, usually 3 to 4 months apart, because the jawbone has to heal around the implant before your dentist can attach the final tooth.
The first trip is the surgery: your dentist places a titanium post in the jawbone and you fly home to heal. The dentists on Elena use the same major implant systems used in the US, including Straumann, so the hardware in your jaw is the brand a dentist in Miami or Dallas would order. Elena checks the dentist’s license and the clinic’s registration before either trip; the four checks are on how Elena verifies doctors.
What does the $1,700 cover?
A single implant with its crown: the post, the abutment and the visible tooth, so it is the finished tooth and not just the surgery. Ask for a written, itemized breakdown before you book. The figure doesn’t include flights, hotels, a bone graft ($300 to $700), a sinus lift ($1,500) or extractions if your case needs them, or the CT scan (about $80 to $150, taken at an imaging center). The implant cost breakdown goes through each part and what raises the price.
Why implants need two trips
An implant has to fuse with the bone before it can hold a tooth. After the post is placed, bone grows around it over several months, a process called osseointegration. Only then can the crown go on safely. That’s why the dentists on Elena plan implants as two trips, 3 to 4 months apart, rather than one long stay.
What the process involves
Implants are made of titanium and other materials the body tolerates well. Your dentist places the post surgically, and you’ll eat soft and cold foods for a while as it heals. Health matters more than age here: uncontrolled diabetes can interfere with healing, and smoking slows it, so tell your dentist your full medical history before the first trip.
