When it comes to dental implants, many people may first think of "expensive", a tooth is often tens of thousands of yuan, so that many patients are not under pressure. Good news came from the executive meeting of the State Council held on January 10, 2022, and the meeting decided to gradually expand the coverage of high-value medical consumables collection, and carry out collection and collection of dental implants that the masses are concerned about at the national and provincial levels. Is dental implant really going to cost less? On January 13, a Modern Express reporter visited several dental clinics in Nanjing and found that the high price of dental implants requires more than 20,000 yuan, which is mainly reflected in the cost of materials and treatment. For the collection of news, many people are looking forward to solving the pain point of "difficult to see teeth, expensive to see teeth".
△ Advertisement for dental implants in dental clinics on the market
Planting a tooth can range from thousands to tens of thousands of dollars
Dental implant refers to the implant (artificial tooth root) implanted into the alveolar bone, after a period of growth and combination, after reaching the standard, the matching artificial crown is installed on the top. This is the operation process of dental implants, the most important of which is the implant, which is the core material.
When it comes to dental implants, many people may think of "expensive", a tooth is often thousands of dollars. On January 13, a modern express reporter visited some dental clinics in Downtown Nanjing and found that the cost of implanting a tooth ranged from thousands to tens of thousands of yuan, and the materials used by some institutions were all imported, mainly Korean and European brands.
A staff member of a dental clinic in Qinhuai District, Nanjing City, told reporters that the cost of dental implants ranges from 6,000 yuan to 20,000 yuan, and the difference in price is mainly determined by materials, some are imported, and some are produced by joint ventures.
In another dental clinic, all the materials used for dental implants are imported, ranging from 4,000 to 1,000 to 120,000 yuan for one tooth. In the visit, there are also clinics that charge relatively cheap, such as a dental clinic with a South Korean imported dental implant of 2999 yuan, but it is also necessary for patients to come to the clinic in advance to observe the dental situation and finally formulate a plan.
"Last year I planted three teeth, which cost a total of 66,000 yuan, an average of more than 20,000 yuan per tooth." Mr. Zhou (pseudonym), a citizen, said that when he paid for money, he was very "fleshy pain". For the news of the collection, many netizens also expressed their expectations and hoped to alleviate the pain points of "difficult to see teeth and expensive teeth".
△ Group purchase information of dental implants, the price of a certain model is over 10,000
The high price of dental implants is mainly reflected in the cost of materials and treatment
Dr. Yan of a third-class stomatological hospital in Nanjing told the Modern Express that the high price of implants is mainly reflected in the cost of materials and treatment.
Some people are born with tooth deficiency, and dental implants are one of the solutions; some people choose dental implants because caries is not treated for a long time, suffers trauma, or the gums are long-term red and swollen, and there is periodontal disease that causes the teeth to naturally fall out. Dr. Yan said that the learning cost behind mature implant doctors has also pushed up the overall cost. Dr. Yan said that an excellent implant doctor, most of them must graduate with a master's degree or above, and the doctors of the top three hospitals must reach the level of attending doctor, and they must also carry out implant learning training for half a year to a year, even if this can only be simple teeth, and the requirements for complex teeth are higher. "Implant doctors need a lot of implant techniques, and the corresponding learning costs are also very high, which is ultimately reflected in the cost of treatment."
Dr. Yan estimates that the cost of implant materials accounts for about 50% of the total cost, and other costs include surgery fees, anesthesia costs, alveolar bone repair and even medication costs. Later costs will also be reflected in the overall expenses. For example, complications of dental implants, implant loss, and so on. If the tooth condition is not good, you also have to add bone meal and periosteum, which is also the cost. In public hospitals, planting a tooth with an all-porcelain crown costs between $11,000 and $12,000, and if it comes with the best crown, it costs nearly $30,000. Domestic dental implant materials are also cheap, but the number of brands is not much, most patients will still choose to import, such as Korean, Nordic and so on. The cost of domestic materials is indeed lower, but the comprehensive treatment cost, etc., the price of implanted domestic teeth is not much lower than that of The Korean system.
In addition, Dr. Yan also mentioned that the process of dental implants is complicated, patients have more follow-up visits during dental implants, and it takes more than half a year to run five or six trips to the hospital, which is not low in labor costs.
△ Advertising of dental implants on the market
Dental implants are included in the collection, which is good for patients
Some netizens said that a mouthful of teeth is equivalent to buying "a car". The Modern Express reporter learned that in response to the problem of expensive implants, on September 22, 2021, the official website of the National Medical Insurance Bureau published the "Reply to Recommendation No. 5207 of the Fourth Session of the Thirteenth National People's Congress" (hereinafter referred to as the "Reply"), which replied to the "Proposal on Regulating the Cost of Implant Materials and Including the Cost of Treatment and Service In Medical Insurance".
According to the reply, at present, the exclusion method is adopted at the national level to manage the payment of consumables, and the items that are not paid and partially paid for basic medical insurance are stipulated. The medical insurance departments of each province (autonomous region and municipality) shall organize the formulation of the basic medical insurance consumables and the catalogue of diagnosis and treatment projects in their respective provinces according to the actual situation of medical technology development and the operation of medical insurance funds in their respective regions. Due to the different levels of economic development and medical technology in different places, there are also certain differences in the scope of specific projects and the level of payment included. According to the regulations, at present, all provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) are not included in the scope of basic medical insurance payment for glasses, dentures, prosthetics and other appliances. The reply also mentioned, "We will standardize the price items of oral medical services and integrate the items that are split too much and too fine." Control the medical service items and charging scale of public hospitals that independently set prices. Guide local governments to include implants in the scope of platform hanging nets, promote the price of various brands of implants to be transparent and squeeze out water. Promote the establishment and implementation of a credit appraisal system for pharmaceutical prices and procurement, including cases of pharmaceutical commercial bribery involving kickbacks for implants into the scope of credit appraisals, and employing binding measures. "
The Modern Express reporter learned that there are some measures for dental implants everywhere. For example, at the city's medical security work forum organized by the Ningbo Municipal Medical Insurance Bureau a few days ago, the reform of medical insurance payment for implants was included in the "ten major tasks" to be completed.
Squeezing out the water of dental implants, the good news came from the executive meeting of the State Council held on January 10, 2022, and the meeting decided to gradually expand the coverage of high-value medical consumables collection, and to collect orthopedic consumables, drug balloons, implants, etc. that are of concern to the masses at the national and provincial levels.
There are many high-value medical consumables such as dental implants, such as the drug-coated balloon in coronary intervention surgery, which is generally around 20,000 yuan, and several may be used in one operation, and the burden on related patients is still heavy. On November 19, 2021, the inter-provincial alliance procurement of drug-coated balloons was opened in Jiangsu, and the price of coronary drug-coated balloons dropped significantly, and the selected prices were all about 6300 yuan, with an average decrease of 70% and a maximum reduction of 77%. The price of the selected product bids farewell to the "ten thousand yuan" era in an all-round way.
A doctor who has been engaged in the oral medical industry for many years told reporters that once dental implants are included in the collection, there is bound to be a certain range of price reductions, which is a positive for patients and can reduce their burden, "Originally because dental implants are expensive, patients who are not willing to treat can go to treatment, which allows them to pay more attention to dental health." "
Professor Gu Hai, director of the Health Policy and Management Research Center of Nanjing University, said that for related enterprises, price reduction can obtain greater sales volume, reduce the expenditure of intermediate links, and then spend energy on research and development, and provide better quality products to more patients; for the people, there will be a very intuitive feeling, which can reduce medical expenditure and reduce burden.
Intern Zhang Na Modern Express + reporter Ma Zhuangzhuang Xu Suning Wen / Photo