How to read an All-on-4® quote.

“A lower price is not automatically a bad treatment plan — but we need to make sure we’re comparing the same treatment.” That is the first thing Dr. Joe Mehranfar tells patients who arrive holding a quote from somewhere else. This is how to read one.

---

Advertised prices are usually starting prices

Many advertised full-arch prices are entry figures, designed to get someone through the door. The plan behind the number may not include everything needed to complete the case safely, or to deliver the final result the patient is picturing.

This is usually disclosed. It is just disclosed at the bottom of the page, in smaller type, after you have already anchored on the number at the top. One Phoenix implant provider marks its headline arch price with an asterisk that reads:

Nothing about that is hidden. But if you compare one clinic’s starting tier against another clinic’s finished total, you are not comparing the same thing — and the lower-looking option may not cost less at all.

What a quote may not tell you

When Dr. Joe reviews a treatment plan a patient has brought in, these are the items he looks for. Many quotes do not clearly identify whether the price includes:

• Necessary tooth extractions
• Bone grafting or bone reduction
• The complete anesthesia or sedation fee
• All implants and multi-unit abutments
• A fixed set of teeth on the day of surgery
• Replacement or refinement of the temporary teeth
• The final prosthesis
• Whether the final teeth are zirconia, acrylic or another material
• 3D imaging, digital planning and surgical guides
• Laboratory charges
• Follow-up visits and adjustments
• Hygiene and long-term implant maintenance
• Treatment for complications
• The warranty — and exactly what it covers

Ask about every line. Ask for the answers in writing. A practice that can answer all fourteen without hesitating has thought about your case.

Temporary teeth aren’t the problem

Worth being clear, because this gets muddled: a staged approach — a provisional set first, the final teeth later — is how full-arch treatment works. The question is never whether there is a temporary phase. It is whether the number you were quoted includes what comes after it.

At Aria, the great majority of patients leave surgery with fixed, 3D-printed temporary teeth the same day. A small number, for clinical reasons, heal with a removable denture instead — your scan and your anatomy determine which, and you will know before you commit.

That provisional set does real work. It lets your bite settle and your tissues heal while everything integrates, and your custom zirconia teeth follow once you have healed. This staged digital workflow was developed by Dr. Joe Mehranfar with Aria’s clinical, restorative and laboratory team, and he teaches it to other dentists as the Digital Workflow for All-on-4® treatment.

The gap between advertised and finished

In Dr. Joe’s words, the biggest issue is often the difference between the advertised price and the actual finished treatment:

You can see the size of that gap without asking anyone. One Phoenix clinic publishes both tiers on the same page: one price for an arch finished in acrylic, and a price roughly $6,000 higher for the same arch finished in zirconia. Same patient, same surgery. The difference is which set of teeth you end up wearing.

What a second opinion actually evaluates

Comparing prices is the smallest part of it. A second opinion should assess whether the proposed treatment is appropriate for your anatomy, your health and your long-term needs. Using a 3D CT scan and clinical examination, Dr. Joe evaluates:

• The amount and quality of available bone
• Implant number, position, angle and distribution
• Sinus and nerve anatomy
• Existing infection and periodontal disease
• The patient's bite and opposing teeth
• Smile line, lip support and facial appearance
• The space required to create strong, natural-looking teeth
• Grinding, clenching and other forces that may affect the implants
• Whether the proposed teeth will be cleansable and maintainable
• The patient's medical history and anesthesia needs
• Whether the case was planned around the final smile, or simply around where implants could be placed

Some plans are created before a complete diagnostic evaluation has been done. That is the difference between a case planned around your final smile and one planned around where implants could be placed.

Who is responsible for the whole case?

This question gets asked too rarely. In some arrangements the implants are placed by one clinician, the teeth are made by an outside laboratory, and follow-up care is handled by someone else again.

You should know who is accountable for the entire case — and who will be available if something does not go according to plan. At Aria the surgery, the final zirconia teeth and the follow-up care all sit with the same team, and the laboratory is in our own building.

Why we don’t quote a number over the phone

We would rather explain this than dodge it. There is no single price for full-arch treatment, because what your treatment involves depends on how many teeth need removing, how much bone you have, what anesthesia your case calls for, and which final teeth you choose. Those are not knowable from a phone call. They are knowable from a 3D CT scan.

So we do it the other way round. Your 3D CT scan and consultation are complimentary, and you leave with an itemized quote in writing covering the whole plan, including the final zirconia teeth. Take it home. Take it to another practice and compare it line by line. We would rather you did that than find out about an add-on after surgery.

Already holding a quote from somewhere else? Second opinions are complimentary too — bring the treatment plan and any imaging you have. Explore financing →

Questions before you commit? Call or text 602-877-0429.