Nikau from Tauranga — single Straumann dental implant for a tooth lost on a callout

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.

Nikau is 34, a Tauranga firefighter with a young family. He lost an upper tooth doing his job — a bad knock on a callout cracked it at the root, and what began as a sore jaw on shift ended a few weeks later with an extraction. The empty socket bothered him more than the extraction had: a gap near the front shows when you talk, and he spends his days talking to a crew and to the public.

A Tauranga private clinic had quoted him NZD 6,500 for a single Straumann implant and crown. Fair for the work, but a steep one-off hit on a single income, and ACC would not stretch to cover the lot. He sent us a panoramic X-ray from his referral and four photographs. We returned a written, itemised NZD quote within 24 hours: 1 Straumann implant at NZD 2,667 per unit = NZD 2,667.

The brand was the part that decided it

What tipped Nikau was not only the size of the saving — it was that the implant brand was identical. His Tauranga quote specified a Straumann implant; we quoted the same Straumann system for a fraction of the figure. He wanted to be sure he was comparing like for like, so we sent the Straumann manufacturer documentation in advance and explained the staged plan.

Because the missing tooth sat in good bone with no augmentation needed, his case suited the standard two-trip route: place the post, let it fuse with the jaw over a healing window, then return for the permanent crown. We were clear that osseointegration takes its own time and that outcomes vary — no shortcuts were promised.

The two trips

Trip 1 — placement (3 working days)

Healing window

Nikau flew home and went back on the roster. We sent a check-in at six weeks and again at three months. His Tauranga dentist looked over the site at a routine visit and was happy with it.

Trip 2 — crown (4 days)

What it cost end-to-end

Against the Tauranga quote of NZD 6,500, the all-in cost was about NZD 567 higher once two return flights were counted. On the clinical line alone, though, Nikau paid NZD 2,667 versus NZD 6,500 — a saving near NZD 3,833, about 59%. He chose Picasso for the identical Straumann hardware, the 10-year warranty, and the fact that the second trip became a genuine break with his partner.

The thing he didn’t expect

From his survey: “I’d braced for a production — language barriers, endless forms, feeling processed. What actually surprised me was how ordinary it felt. The appointments ran on time, the explanations were plain, and the longest wait I had all week was for a bowl of bun cha. I spent more nervous energy on my first day of fire training than on getting a tooth rebuilt overseas.”

What aftercare looked like back in Tauranga

Nikau had a routine check at his Tauranga dentist about eight weeks after the crown went in. We sent a written aftercare summary and the implant passport with the Straumann lot number and fixture type, which his dentist added to the file. A 12-month review came back clean, and a 24-month review is booked.

Nikau’s three pieces of advice

1. “Sort your ACC and quote paperwork before you book. Knowing exactly what’s covered at home makes the comparison real, and you’ll want copies of the X-rays anyway.”
2. “Build the trips around your roster, not the other way round. The placement visit is the short one — slot the crown visit into a longer block of leave so the airfare earns its keep twice.”
3. “Get the implant brand named in writing at both ends. Same Straumann hardware was the whole point for me. My Tauranga dentist asked for the passport at the first check-up, so take it home.”

See also

• Single-tooth dental implant guide — the protocol, brands, and NZD pricing.
• Implant aftercare — what Nikau was told for home maintenance.
• Tauranga 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.