Minh from Christchurch — 3 Neodent dental implants for three missing back teeth

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.

Minh is 49, a Christchurch restaurant owner who had spent close to three years chewing on one side of his mouth. Three lower right back teeth had gone, one after another, to old root canals that finally failed, and the kitchen never slowed down long enough for him to deal with it. The neighbouring teeth had begun to tilt into the gaps, and eating in front of staff and suppliers had become something he quietly managed rather than enjoyed.

A Christchurch private clinic quoted him NZD 18,000-21,000 to replace all three with implants and crowns. For a self-employed owner already carrying lease and wage costs, that midpoint of around NZD 19,500 was a wall. He sent us a recent panoramic X-ray (OPG) and four photographs. We returned a written, itemised NZD quote within 24 hours: 3 Neodent implants at NZD 2,000 per implant = NZD 6,000.

The brand and bone conversation

What Minh wanted was certainty about the parts going into his jaw, not just a cheaper bill. We talked him through where Neodent sits — a Swiss-owned (Straumann Group) system at a workhorse price tier — and the 5-year Picasso clinical warranty on the implant crowns. We were clear that the OPG suggested enough bone in all three sites but that nothing could be confirmed until CBCT imaging on arrival, and that if a graft were needed, the plan and timeline would change.

He also asked whether three implants could realistically be placed and crowned in one stay. The honest answer was: only if the bone cooperated. We booked him in with that condition stated plainly.

The trip — one two-week stay

He flew into Ho Chi Minh City and combined the treatment with a family visit, staying with his sister.

What it cost end-to-end

Against the Christchurch range of NZD 18,000-21,000, the clinical saving was roughly NZD 12,000-15,000. Even after airfares, meals, and insurance, Minh was still well over NZD 10,000 ahead. He noted that staying with his sister kept his costs lower than most patients’ — but said the gap would have been worth it from a hotel too.

The thing he didn’t expect

From his survey: “I assumed three implants at once would mean three times the recovery. It didn’t. The whole lower jaw was a bit tender for two days and then it just settled. What surprised me more was how fast my chewing rebalanced once the crowns went on — within a few weeks I’d stopped favouring the left side without thinking about it, and a dull ache in my jaw joint I’d blamed on stress quietly disappeared.”

What aftercare looked like back in Christchurch

We sent a written aftercare summary and the implant passport (Neodent brand, lot, and batch numbers) so his Christchurch dentist could add the three fixtures to his file. He had a routine check two months after the crowns went on; the occlusion was reviewed and everything had integrated cleanly. A 12-month review is scheduled.

Minh’s three pieces of advice

1. “Get a panoramic or CBCT image sorted before you write to any clinic. Sending a current scan up front was what turned a vague enquiry into a real plan with real numbers.”
2. “Plan the trip around the healing, not the other way around. Two weeks gave them room to place and crown all three without rushing the bite adjustment. I wouldn’t shave days off to save a little.”
3. “Tell your home dentist before you go, not after. I gave mine the plan in advance, so the follow-up check was straightforward and nobody was guessing about what had been done.”

See also

• Dental implants pillar — the protocol, brands, and NZD pricing.
• Implant aftercare — what Minh was told for home maintenance.
• Christchurch 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.