Implants, Learn Them Properly First ① Four Types of Implants, and There Are Specific Brands That Dentists Place Themselves

Hello,

I’m Kim Tae-hyung, the CEO and head dentist of Blanch Dental Clinic.

Because this is a clinic that specializes in implants, when I counsel patients about implants in the treatment room, there is one question I hear very often.

“Doctor, other places charge 800,000 won, so why is the price so different here?”

When you look into implants, the prices vary so much that it can be confusing.

In fact, when many patients hear the word “implant,” they usually think it is just one single thing.

Because advertisements say 790,000 won, they assume that is the standard price, and when they hear that another place charges more than 2 million won, they think that clinic must be expensive.

From the perspective of someone who has examined countless patients’ jawbone and placed implants over the years, that is only half true.

Actually, implants are made by different companies, and each company has different manufacturing methods and strengths. And those differences create price differences.

Today, I’ll explain why implant types are divided, why the prices differ so much, and how dentists choose different implants for different patient cases, and why. I’ll organize it in the same way I explain it in the treatment room.

Implants also have separate brands

First, we need to start with the most basic point. Implants are not made by just one company.

Just as cars have Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Hyundai, and Kia, implants also have four major global makers, and each company has different strengths.

If we organize the four companies most widely used in the global market, it looks like this.

Brand	Country of origin	Market position	Core strengths	Price range
Straumann	Switzerland	No. 1 in global sales	SLA surface treatment technology, 30 years of clinical data	2.3 million won
Osstem	Korea	No. 1 domestic market share	Optimized for Korean oral structure, stable clinical data	790,000 won
MegaGen	Korea	No. 1 in exports to Europe	Strong fixation, strong for cases with weak jawbone	790,000 won
Dentium	Korea	Major domestic maker	Reasonable price range, stable clinical data	Varies

There may be differences depending on the clinic, but at Blanch Dental Clinic, we are registered as an official clinical advisory clinic for all four companies. So depending on the patient’s case, we can choose the most suitable product from each company.

80 million won and 230 million won are not the same implant

Now let’s talk about the price issue, which is what patients find most confusing.

Just based on our clinic, MegaGen and Osstem are 790,000 won, while Straumann is 2.3 million won

(depending on the individual oral condition, it may vary).

Why is there such a price difference for what seems to be the same implant?

To understand this, we need to borrow the concept of surface treatment technology for a moment.

An implant is an artificial root placed into the jawbone. For this root to be used for life, it must bond well with the bone, and the speed and strength of that bonding depend on how the implant surface has been treated.

To use an analogy, glue does not stick well to smooth glass, but it adheres much better to a rough surface like sandpaper. The same is true for implant surfaces.

Straumann’s SLA surface treatment, made with Swiss precision engineering, is one of the most thoroughly validated technologies, backed by nearly 30 years of accumulated clinical data. That is why it is expensive.

On the other hand, Osstem and MegaGen are products with very high clinical satisfaction at a reasonable price range.

In other words, cheap does not mean bad, and expensive does not automatically mean better.

Dentists place different implants depending on the patient

There is one misunderstanding patients often have here: “Then isn’t the expensive one always better?”

To be honest, that is not the case. From my experience placing more than 30,000 implants, the most expensive implant is surprisingly not the right answer for every patient.

To decide which implant is best, we need to consider the patient’s jawbone condition, systemic diseases, whether they smoke, the placement site, and even the budget.

For example:

If the jawbone is sufficient and the patient wants to do it properly just once for life → I recommend Straumann based on its long-term data.

If the patient wants a stable choice suited to the oral structure of Koreans → Osstem is a good fit.

If the jawbone is weak or strong fixation is needed → MegaGen is what I recommend most often.

I am one of the dentists in Gangnam who places Straumann most often, but the brand most frequently placed at our clinic is actually MegaGen.

That is because it is one of the products with the highest patient satisfaction in terms of value for money. Choosing the most expensive one is not the doctor’s job; choosing what best fits the patient is.

One thing more important than the brand

Lastly, let me make one more point. In fact, the biggest variable that determines implant results is not the brand.

Even if the same Straumann is placed, the result after 5 years can be completely different depending on which doctor places it and how. Only when the jawbone condition is diagnosed accurately, the placement angle is set properly, and the prosthetic restoration is matched precisely can an implant last a lifetime.

Here is one tip: when looking into implants, it is better to check two things before the brand.

First, which of the four major manufacturers that clinic handles. A clinic that works with multiple brands according to the patient’s case is safer than one that insists on only one brand. Second, whether they examine the jawbone condition accurately with 3D CT before placement and provide enough explanation for each case. In fact, with one precise diagnosis, you can usually get a clear idea of which brand suits you.

More important than the brand itself, I want to say that meeting a doctor who chooses the right option for that patient is half of the implant process.

If you are first considering whether bone grafting is really necessary, reading this article as well may help.

And one more thing: what patients are most curious about is, in the end, the price. Why the prices differ so much from one clinic to another even for the same brand,

and what hidden pitfalls may exist at cheaper places — many of you will be looking into that too. There are several points we need to address there as well, so I’ll go over them in the next part.

If you are wondering which of the implant types I mentioned today is right for your case, feel free to leave a comment. I’ll give you the most honest answer, just as if I were looking at your X-ray directly in the treatment room.

This has been Gangnam Blanch Dental Clinic. Thank you.

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