Megan from Wellington — single Straumann dental implant

Real patient story, shared with permission. This patient has consented to Picasso Dental Clinic publishing their experience to help other New Zealand patients. Treatment, material, NZD price, and timeline are accurate to the case archive. Reviewed by Dr. Tran Thanh Phong, Head of Implantology.

Megan is a Wellington lawyer in her late forties who spends most of her working week across a table from other people — clients, opposing counsel, the occasional judge. An old root canal in an upper front tooth had finally given out, leaving a gap she noticed every time she opened her mouth to speak. A Wellington private clinic had quoted her around NZD 6,500 for a single implant. We returned a written, itemised NZD quote within 24 hours: 1 Straumann implant at NZD 2,667 per unit = NZD 2,667.

The concern — brand tier and a visible gap

Megan is methodical by training, so she treated the decision like a brief. Two things had to be settled before she would book. First, the brand: she had been quoted a premium fixture at home and was not willing to drop a tier to save money. We confirmed her quote was for the same Straumann system, at NZD 2,667 for the fixture, abutment, and crown — and sent the manufacturer warranty documentation in advance.

Second, and more pressing for her, was the gap. Replacing a front tooth meant months of integration, and the thought of being seen with a hole in her smile in front of a client was a genuine worry. We explained that a temporary tooth would be shaped at the time of placement so the gap would never be on show. She sent through an OPG and four photographs; Dr. Tran Thanh Phong reviewed them and flagged that a CBCT on arrival would confirm there was enough bone to place immediately — which there was.

The two trips

Trip 1 — placement (5 days)

Integration window (about 4 months)

Megan flew home and carried on as normal, the temporary tooth keeping the gap covered the whole time. We sent a 6-week and a 3-month remote check-in, and her Wellington dentist confirmed the gum was settling cleanly.

Trip 2 — final crown (4 days)

What it cost end-to-end

Against the Wellington quote of around NZD 6,500 for the implant alone, the clinical saving was roughly NZD 3,800 — about 59 percent. With two return flights folded in, the trip total sat a little above the bare local quote, but Megan kept the same Straumann fixture she had been quoted at home and turned the integration window into a genuine reason to take leave she had been putting off.

The thing she didn’t expect

From her survey: “I had braced myself for the placement day to be the hard part. It honestly wasn’t — a quiet afternoon of tenderness and I was walking the lake by the next evening. What caught me off guard was how natural the temporary tooth looked. I’d assumed I’d be hiding my mouth for months. Nobody at home had told me that was even an option.”

We now make a point of explaining the temporary-tooth option up front for any patient replacing a tooth in the smile line.

What aftercare looked like back in Wellington

Megan had a routine check at her Wellington dentist about eight weeks after the final crown. We sent a written aftercare summary and the implant passport (Straumann lot number, batch, fixture type), which her dentist added to her file. The Straumann implant crown carries a 10-year warranty. Her 12-month review came back clean, with the next check scheduled at 24 months.

Megan’s three pieces of advice

1. “Treat it like due diligence. I checked the brand, the clinician’s credentials, and the warranty before I committed. Doing the homework made the whole thing feel obvious rather than risky.”
2. “Ask about a temporary tooth before you book. For anyone who talks for a living, knowing you’ll never be seen with a gap takes away the one fear that actually matters.”
3. “Use the healing gap as an excuse to come back. The wait between visits isn’t dead time — it gave me a reason for a second short trip to a city I’d grown fond of.”

See also

• Single-tooth dental implants pillar — the protocol, brands, and NZD pricing.
• Implant aftercare — what Megan was told for home maintenance.
• Wellington to Vietnam dental travel page — local benchmark and route logistics.

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About this page

Medically reviewed by

Dr. Tran Thanh Phong

Head of Implantology, Picasso Dental Clinic

DDS · 25+ years in practice · 15,000+ implants placed · 1,000+ All-on-4 cases

Clinical focus: Implantology · All-on-4 · Zygomatic implants

Dr. Tran Thanh Phong has practised since 2001 and leads implantology across the Picasso group. He was the first Vietnamese dentist to perform All-on-4 immediate loading (2010), placed over 15,000 implants across his career at roughly 600 per year, and has completed 400+ zygomatic implant cases since 2017. Loma Linda University-trained (2010). Clinical representative for Nobel Biocare in Vietnam since 2007.

Last clinically reviewed

28 May 2026

Published by

Picasso Dental Clinic

Review policy

Every medical procedure page on this site is reviewed by a named Picasso clinician before publication and re-checked when pricing, materials, or protocols change. Source documents are linked at the bottom of each page.