Several dental implant financing options can take the enormous upfront costs and break them down into bite-size monthly payments spread over time.
However, the approval odds are poor because of the massive amounts at stake. A single-tooth replacement starts at $3,500, and a full-mouth restoration ranges to $50,000 or more.
A primer can get you started. Personal loans, “in-house options,” and payment plans all mean the same thing: financing provided by a third-party company.
The key to success is to begin early by requesting a loan rather than waiting until the last second. Then explore three tricks to lower monthly payments.
How to Finance Dental Implants
The secret to financing dental implants is to start the process early and present your credentials to as many lenders as possible. You risk rejection if you wait until the last second with an “in-house” program featuring only one or two lenders.
Line up your options ahead of time when borrowing gigantic sums of money – especially if you have bad credit.
Loans for Implants
Dental implant loans can provide the money needed to complete treatment. Present your credentials to a vast network of lenders by completing a single online form.
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Personal loans are installment contracts, which means that you retire the obligation with fixed monthly payments that expire at a designated time: three to five years. Patients with the best odds of approval share these characteristics.
- A credit score of 630 or higher to demonstrate dependability
- Sufficient income to handle the projected monthly payment
- Include employer name, address, and phone for verification
- Input bank account and routing number to set up autopay
Bad Credit
How do you pay for dental implants with bad credit history when you need to borrow $3,500 to $5,000 for a single tooth and $35,000 to $50,000 for a full-mouth restoration?
Lenders are unlikely to approve patients with adverse history appearing on their consumer reports for either of these amounts unless you find an alternative financing option or lower costs dramatically.
Single Tooth
Financing a single tooth dental implant with bad credit is feasible if you have access to a Flexible Spending Account (FSA) at work. An FSA is a tax-favored mechanism that can act as a loan to help all patients pay for qualified expenses.
A dental loan for bad credit enabled by your FSA works as follows.
- Elect to fund your FSA during your employer’s annual open enrollment
- $2,850 individual limit 2023
- $5,700 family maximum
- Schedule the first implant procedure step at the beginning of the plan year
- Your employer must reimburse qualifying expenses immediately
- You have up to 52 weeks to repay the loan via pre-tax payroll deductions
An FSA is ideal to finance single-tooth implants because the annual contribution limits cover most costs. Even patients with poor credit scores below 630 automatically qualify because, per IRS rules, employers must accept all participants.
Full-Mouth
Financing a full-mouth of dental implants with bad credit is out of reach for most patients because the average starting price of $35,000 is far more than any lender might approve – no matter how lenient the underwriting criteria.
Patients with adverse history on their consumer reports must find a way to lower full-mouth replacement costs. One option could help.
The cost of full-mouth dental implants with health insurance approaches zero when the procedure is medically necessary. In these rare cases, the insurance company pays most of the expenses, leaving the patient responsible for only the deductible and copayments.
Financing these much smaller unreimbursed expenses is far more feasible for patients with poor credit scores below 630.
In-House
“In-house” dental implant financing programs are not what they seem once you look behind the curtain. Would you go to your local bank branch and ask them for a permanent tooth replacement solution?
Of course, that would be silly. The banker would refer you to a dentist, limiting your choices for this last-second approach.
Likewise, the local prosthodontist offering an “in-house” option will refer you to a small handful of third-party patient financing companies that perform the credit underwriting, funding, billing, and collections functions.
Clear Choice
For instance, Clear Choice financing options include two “in-house” offerings that involve a third-party company that performs all the credit functions on their behalf.
- Lending Club offers personal loans with fixed monthly payments
- CareCredit offers revolving credit cards with flexible monthly payments
Clear Choice appears to operate a franchise arrangement with a corporate office in Denver, Colorado. Licensed providers own and operate the local Clear Choice offices sprinkled around the country, following corporate protocols.
G4 by Golpa
In a second example, G4 by Golpa financing options include three “in-house” offerings that involve a third-party company that performs all the credit functions on their behalf.
- Lendingtree
- Lending Club Patient Solutions
- Prosper Healthcare Financing
G4 by Golpa has three locations (Las Vegas, Dallas, and Tyson’s Corner, Virginia). They tout a full-mouth solution that is less expensive, leading to a monthly payment plan that could be more affordable.
All on 4
Finally, any All on Four dental implant in-house financing program will probably involve some of the same third-party companies. However, instead of a central office choosing the partner, each neighborhood prosthodontist decides where to refer patients.
All on 4 is a technique rather than a brand or franchise. Hence the decentralized decisions.
Cheap Dental Implant Payment Plans
Financing with low monthly installments is just another name for cheap dental implant payment plans. You have three levers to keep the amount owed for each period manageable.
- Minimize the amount financed
- Keep borrowing costs low
- Lengthen the repayment period
Low-Cost Treatment
Choosing the lowest-cost treatment option is the first way to achieve cheap dental implant payment plans. With this strategy, minimizing the amount you need to finance keeps the monthly installments small.
Low-cost dental implants do not mean that you have to sacrifice quality. Several strategies allow patients to keep prices manageable without cutting corners.
- Choosing in-network providers means you pay the tinier allowed amount negotiated by insurance companies with thousands of members
- Consolidating treatment into one calendar year maximizes the savings associated with tax-deductible medical and dental expenses
- Using a Health Savings Account (HSA) reduces the net costs most without the need to meet spending thresholds first
Interest-Free
Choosing the option with bargain-basement borrowing costs is the second way to realize cheap dental implant payment plans. This strategy has the tiniest interest charges and origination fees, leading to the lowest monthly installment.
An FSA works like a government grant for dental implants featuring interest-free financing, with no origination fees, while helping patients save money on four possible taxes.
- Employers cannot charge interest or impose origination fees when funding qualified expenses
- The use of pre-tax dollars to pay these eligible expenses reduces the income subject to four possible levies
- Federal income taxes (varies by income)
- FICA payroll taxes (7.65% is typical)
- State income taxes (varies by region)
- City taxes (Baltimore, Detroit, New York City, Philadelphia, and more)
Phased Billing
Phased billing for each treatment step is the third way to accomplish cheap dental implant payment plans. With this strategy, lengthening the financing term leads to lower monthly installments.
For instance, consider the principle-only monthly payments for $12,000 borrowed when repaid over one to five years.
| Term in Years | Monthly Payment |
|---|---|
| One | $1,000 |
| Two | $500 |
| Three | $333 |
| Four | $250 |
| Five | $200 |
Ask your provider to bill after completing each treatment step, making it easy to spread payments for the entire procedure over a lengthier period. The process does not happen in a single day and can take up to 24 months, with significant time built-in for healing between each step.
| Step | Months to Heal |
| Tooth Extractions | 1 to 4 |
| Bone Grafting | 4 to 12 |
| Body Placement | 4 to 6 |
| Abutment Insertion | 1 to 2 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Sift through these frequently asked questions to gain a better grasp of how dental implant financing enables monthly payment plans.