- Most implant treatment is paid with a combination: insurance or HSA/FSA money first, then a payment plan for the balance.
- Third-party lenders finance up to $75,000 (Proceed Finance) in our database, enough for full-arch cases; 7 of 12 providers we track pre-qualify with a soft credit check.
- 0% is not always 0%. A deferred-interest promotion charges all the interest back to day one if the balance is not cleared in time. A true 0% installment plan does not.
- The same $5,000 implant costs $208 a month at 0% for 24 months and $181 a month at 35.99% for 60 months, but the second plan costs $5,838 in interest.
An implant is one of the largest dental bills most people face, and a full arch costs as much as a car. Few patients pay it in one go. This guide sets out every realistic way to pay for implants, what each one costs you, and which lenders finance large cases. The last section is for practices that want to offer implant financing well.
The 9 ways to pay for dental implants
| Option | How it works | Best when | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Dental insurance | The plan pays part of the covered steps up to its annual maximum. | Your plan lists implants as covered. | Exclusions, waiting periods, missing-tooth clauses and the annual maximum. |
| 2. HSA or FSA | Pay with pre-tax money from a health savings or flexible spending account. | You can plan contributions before treatment. | FSA funds usually expire at year end; keep itemized receipts. |
| 3. Healthcare credit card | A card such as CareCredit with promotional no-interest periods. | You will clear the balance inside the promotion. | Deferred interest if any balance remains. |
| 4. Installment plan at the practice | A lender such as Cherry, Sunbit or Proceed Finance pays the practice; you repay in fixed monthly payments. | You want a fixed schedule and a soft credit check. | APR can reach 35.99% for weaker credit. |
| 5. In-house payment plan | The practice lets you pay over the months of treatment, often interest-free. | Treatment is staged over several months anyway. | Usually a large down payment and a short term. |
| 6. Dental membership plan | An annual fee to the practice buys a percentage discount on treatment. | You have no insurance. | It is a discount, not financing; you still need to pay the balance. |
| 7. Personal loan | A bank, credit union or online lender pays you; you pay the practice. | You have good credit and can get a lower fixed rate than point-of-sale lenders. | Origination fees; a hard credit inquiry. |
| 8. Dental school clinic | Supervised residents place implants at reduced fees. | You live near a dental school and have time. | Longer appointments and waiting lists. |
| 9. Staging treatment | Surgery in one benefit year, crown in the next. | You have insurance or an FSA that resets annually. | Only where clinically appropriate; your dentist decides. |
A sensible order: claim insurance and HSA/FSA money first, ask the practice about an in-house plan or membership discount, then finance only the remaining balance on the cheapest plan you qualify for.
What the monthly payment looks like
Illustrative payments for four treatment amounts on six typical plans. The rates shown are examples drawn from the published ranges of the lenders below; your offer depends on your credit.
| Plan | $3,000 | $5,000 | $12,000 | $25,000 | Interest on $5,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0% for 12 months | $250/mo | $417/mo | $1,000/mo | $2,083/mo | $0 |
| 0% for 24 months | $125/mo | $208/mo | $500/mo | $1,042/mo | $0 |
| 9.99% for 36 months | $97/mo | $161/mo | $387/mo | $807/mo | $807 |
| 17.90% for 24 months | $150/mo | $249/mo | $599/mo | $1,247/mo | $985 |
| 20.90% for 60 months | $81/mo | $135/mo | $324/mo | $675/mo | $3,099 |
| 35.99% for 60 months | $108/mo | $181/mo | $434/mo | $903/mo | $5,838 |
Two things stand out. A longer term lowers the payment but multiplies the interest: $5,000 at 35.99% over 60 months costs more in interest than the treatment itself. And the rate matters more than the lender’s name, so get pre-qualified with two lenders before you choose.
Dental implant lenders compared
Financing providers in our database, ordered by the maximum amount they advertise. A single implant fits almost any of them; full-arch and full-mouth cases need a high ceiling.
| Lender | Max amount | Credit check | Approval (claimed) | 0% promo | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proceed Finance | $75,000 | soft | 90% | — | |
| LendingClub Patient Solutions | $65,000 | soft | — | — | |
| PatientFi | $60,000 | soft | 80% | 12 mo | |
| Cherry | $50,000 | soft | 90% | — | Qualifying 0% APR plans; down payment at checkout; terms up to 60 months. |
| Sunbit | $20,000 | soft | 87% | 24 mo | Terms of 3–72 months; states no late fees or deferred interest. |
| Denefits | — | none | 98% | — | No credit check; payment plan managed for the practice. |
| CareCredit | — | soft | — | 24 mo | Credit card; short promotions are deferred interest. Limit set per cardholder. |
| Alphaeon Credit | — | soft | — | — |
“—” means the lender does not publish the figure. Approval rates are marketing claims and are not independently audited. You can only use a lender your dental practice has signed up with, so ask the office which ones it offers.
Detailed comparisons: CareCredit vs Cherry vs Sunbit and the full patient financing ranking.
Insurance, HSA and FSA
Dental insurance
Implant coverage varies widely. Some plans cover the implant, abutment and crown as a major service at a percentage; some cover only the crown; some exclude implants or apply a missing-tooth clause if the tooth was lost before the policy began. Whatever the percentage, the plan stops paying at its annual maximum, which is why insurance rarely covers more than a fraction of an implant.
Before treatment, ask the practice to send a pre-treatment estimate (pre-determination). The insurer replies in writing with what it will pay. If the accident or condition is medical in origin, ask whether your medical insurance covers part of the surgery.
HSA and FSA
The IRS treats dental treatment, including artificial teeth, as a qualifying medical expense, so implant treatment can generally be paid from a health savings account or flexible spending account. Because that money is pre-tax, the saving equals your marginal tax rate. An FSA must usually be spent within the plan year, which makes it a good match for staged treatment: fund the surgery from one year’s election and the crown from the next.
Implant financing with bad credit
- Soft-check lenders. 7 providers we track pre-qualify with a soft pull that does not affect your score: Sunbit, CareCredit, LendingClub Patient Solutions, Proceed Finance, Cherry, PatientFi, Alphaeon Credit. Applying costs you nothing, so try more than one.
- No credit check. Denefits advertises plans with no credit check. Approval is broad, but read the interest rate and the late-payment terms.
- A larger down payment. Lenders approve smaller balances more readily. Paying the surgical phase yourself and financing the restoration can turn a decline into an approval.
- A co-signer. Some lenders allow a co-applicant with stronger credit.
- In-house plans and dental schools. Neither depends on your credit score.
More detail in no-credit-check dental financing.
Four traps to avoid
- Deferred interest. “No interest if paid in full in 12 months” means interest is waived only if the whole balance is gone by the deadline. Divide the balance by the number of months and pay at least that, not the minimum payment on the statement.
- Financing before the estimate. Get the full written treatment plan first: extraction, graft, implant, abutment, crown, imaging and sedation. Financing a partial figure means a second loan later.
- Choosing by monthly payment alone. Ask for the total of all payments. The table above shows how a low payment can hide a very high cost.
- Paying in full before treatment starts. When a lender pays the practice up front, you owe the lender even if treatment stalls. Ask how refunds work if the plan changes.
For practices: how to offer implant financing well
Implant and full-arch cases are where financing decides case acceptance, and where a poorly explained plan does the most damage.
- Carry a lender with a high ceiling. Check the maximum amount in the table above against your largest case fee. For full-arch work you need lenders that finance well beyond everyday treatment amounts.
- Pair prime and second-look. One low-fee lender for strong credit and one high-approval lender for everyone else. Our data: Denefits claims 98%, Proceed Finance claims 90%, Cherry claims 90%.
- Know your merchant fee per promotion. Long 0% promotions cost the practice the most. Decide which promotion you offer at which case value instead of defaulting to the longest.
- Quote the monthly payment with the fee. Put both on the treatment plan. Patients decide on the monthly number.
- Explain the terms in plain words. State the payoff date on any deferred-interest promotion. Regulators have criticized providers for offering medical credit products that patients did not understand.
- Add a membership plan for the uninsured. It lowers the fee and keeps the patient in the practice. Tools we track include DentalHQ, Careington, BoomCloud, Bento Dental, Clerri.
Compare providers in the patient financing ranking and membership plan software ranking.
Questions to ask before you sign
- What is the APR, and is the 0% period true 0% or deferred interest?
- What is the total of all payments?
- Is there a down payment, an origination fee or a late fee?
- Was this a soft or a hard credit inquiry?
- Can I pay early without a penalty?
- What happens to the loan if my treatment plan changes or I stop treatment?
FAQ
What are the financing options for dental implants?
The main options are: dental insurance (usually a partial contribution), HSA or FSA funds, a healthcare credit card such as CareCredit, a point-of-sale installment plan such as Cherry, Sunbit or Proceed Finance, an in-house payment plan from the practice, a dental membership plan discount, a personal loan, treatment at a dental school clinic, and staging treatment over two benefit years.
Can I finance dental implants with bad credit?
Yes, options exist. Denefits advertises financing with no credit check, and several lenders approve applicants with low scores using a soft credit check. Expect a higher APR or a down payment. An in-house payment plan or treatment at a dental school are alternatives that do not depend on credit. See our no-credit-check financing guide.
Does dental insurance cover implants?
Some plans cover part of implant treatment, many exclude it or cover only the crown. Even when covered, the annual maximum limits what the plan pays in a year, so insurance usually pays a fraction of the total. Ask your insurer for a pre-treatment estimate before you start.
Can I use my HSA or FSA for dental implants?
Generally yes. IRS Publication 502 lists dental treatment and artificial teeth as qualifying medical expenses, while purely cosmetic procedures such as whitening do not qualify. Check your plan’s rules and keep the itemized treatment plan and receipts.
What is the monthly payment on a dental implant?
It depends on the amount, rate and term. For $5,000: about $208 a month at 0% over 24 months, $249 at 17.90% over 24 months, or $135 at 20.90% over 60 months.
Is CareCredit good for dental implants?
It can be, if you will clear the balance inside the promotional period or choose a fixed-payment reduced-APR plan (24 to 60 months at 17.90% to 20.90% APR for larger purchases). The short promotions are deferred interest: if any balance remains at the end, interest is charged from the purchase date at the standard APR. See CareCredit vs Cherry vs Sunbit.
How do dental practices offer implant financing?
Practices sign up with one or more third-party lenders. The patient applies on a phone in the office, the lender pays the practice within days (minus a merchant fee) and collects from the patient. Most practices pair a prime lender with a second-look lender so more patients are approved.
Method & sources
Lender terms come from our database of patient financing providers, where each figure links to the provider page it was taken from; approval rates are the lenders’ own claims. Monthly payments are calculated with the standard amortization formula and are illustrations, not offers. This page is general information, not financial or tax advice.
Product facts come from the Denture-ID database, where every field links to the vendor page or document it was taken from — open any product profile to see them. Rankings use the Data Index; vendors cannot pay to change a position. Found an error? Tell us.
- IRS Publication 502: Medical and Dental Expenses — dental treatment and artificial teeth as qualifying expenses; whitening excluded
- CareCredit: Understanding promotional financing — promotion lengths and reduced-APR plans
- Cherry: patient terms
- Sunbit for dental
- CFPB: report on medical credit cards and financing plans (May 2023)