Ruka from Gisborne — one Osstem single 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.

Ruka is in his late forties, a driver based in Gisborne who spends most of his working week behind the wheel. He had been missing a lower tooth for a couple of years — long enough that he had stopped noticing the gap and started chewing on one side out of habit. A Gisborne private clinic had quoted him around NZD 6,500 for a single implant. For one tooth, that number kept him sitting on the decision far longer than he meant to.

What finally moved him was a passenger on his run who mentioned a crown done in Da Nang, almost in passing. Ruka asked him twice to repeat the price. He sent us an OPG X-ray from his GP referral and three phone photos of the gap. We returned a written, itemised NZD quote within 24 hours: 1 Osstem implant at NZD 1,667 per implant = NZD 1,667. That single figure covered the fixture, abutment, and crown.

Was a cheaper brand a corner cut?

Ruka’s main worry was blunt: if it costs a quarter of the home price, what is being skipped? He asked whether Osstem was a real, trackable brand or a no-name fixture. We explained that Osstem is one of the most widely placed implant systems in the world, with a long clinical record, and that the price gap reflects Vietnam’s lower clinic overheads — not a downgrade in the part going into his jaw. Dr. Tran Thanh Phong reviewed the OPG and confirmed there was enough bone height at the site for a straightforward placement, with no graft needed. We sent the Osstem manufacturer documentation ahead of time so Ruka could read it himself before committing.

The two trips

Trip 1 — placement (5 days)

Healing window

Ruka returned to Gisborne and went back to his normal roster within a few days. We sent a remote check-in at six weeks. His local dentist confirmed the site was settling well before he booked the second trip.

Trip 2 — final crown (4 days)

What it cost end-to-end

Against the Gisborne quote of around NZD 6,500 for the implant alone, Ruka’s entire end-to-end cost — two return flights, nine nights, food, and insurance included — still came in slightly below the price he would have paid at home for the clinical work by itself. The clinical saving on its own was just over NZD 4,800.

The thing he didn’t expect

From his survey: “I’d braced for a rough day after the placement — figured I’d lose the afternoon and have a sore night. It just didn’t happen. By dinner I was eating soft stuff and walking the beachfront. The dull ache was gone by the next morning. The bigger surprise was the second trip having nothing to do but wait between two appointments. I haven’t sat still that long in years.”

What aftercare looked like back in Gisborne

Ruka took the implant passport — Osstem lot number, fixture type, and brand — to his Gisborne dentist, who added the implant to his file and checked the bite. We sent a written aftercare summary covering cleaning around the implant and what to watch for. His 12-month check with the local dentist came back clean, and the crown is something he says he no longer thinks about when he eats.

Ruka’s three pieces of advice

1. “Don’t let one tooth turn into a two-year debate like I did. A single gap is cheaper and simpler to fix before the teeth either side start shifting into it.”
2. “Send your questions in writing and read the answers before you book a flight. The clinic that explains the brand and the bone properly tells you more than the price ever will.”
3. “Keep every bit of paper — the scans, the receipts, the implant passport. My dentist back home asked for the passport at the first check, and I was glad I had it on me.”

See also

• Single-tooth dental implants — the protocol, brands, and NZD pricing.
• Implant aftercare — what Ruka was told for home maintenance.
• Gisborne 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.