WHY DOES IT MATTER WHERE YOU HAVE YOUR IMPLANTS PLACED?

For a straightforward single implant in a healthy patient, it may not matter much. For everything else, it decides what can be done and what cannot.

Implant surgery is classed in UK guidance as a procedure with a high risk of post-operative bleeding — the same category as a complex extraction. Add a heart condition, a blood thinner or poorly controlled diabetes, and the question is no longer "who is the dentist" but "what is standing behind the dentist".

Our dental centre is a registered medical unit of Private Florya Hospital. Cardiology, internal medicine, anaesthesiology, general surgery, radiology and a laboratory are in the same building, not on the end of a phone line.

Most patients will never need any of it. Some patients cannot be treated safely without it.
 

CAN I HAVE DENTAL IMPLANTS IF I HAVE DIABETES?

In most cases, yes. Well-controlled type 2 diabetes does not reduce implant survival. A 2025 systematic review found no statistical difference in implant failure between diabetic and non-diabetic patients (RR 1.00, 95% CI 0.96–1.04), with five-year survival in diabetic patients at 96.1%.

What matters is the control, not the diagnosis. HbA1c at or below 7% is considered well controlled and carries no meaningful penalty in implant survival. Above 8%, the risk to the gum and bone around the implant rises — not usually enough to rule treatment out, but enough that it changes how the case is planned and how closely it is followed.

Before we schedule surgery, your blood results and medication are reviewed by an internal medicine specialist in the hospital. If your control needs improving first, we will tell you that instead of booking you a flight.
 

CAN I HAVE IMPLANTS IF I TAKE BLOOD THINNERS?

Usually yes — and usually without stopping your medication.

Current UK guidance (SDCEP, 2nd edition) is explicit: warfarin should not be interrupted for dental surgery where the INR is below 4, and direct oral anticoagulants are managed by timing rather than by stopping the drug. Bleeding is controlled locally, with suturing and packing.

This matters because the advice patients are often given abroad is the opposite. Stopping an anticoagulant to make a dental procedure more convenient introduces a risk that has nothing to do with your teeth.

We follow your own country's guidance, and your case is reviewed by a hospital physician before we begin.

WHAT ABOUT A HEART CONDITION, OSTEOPOROSIS OR A HISTORY OF CANCER?

Cardiac conditions and high blood pressure are not a barrier in themselves. They change the anaesthetic plan, the monitoring and sometimes the length of each session. All three are easier to manage in a hospital than in a treatment room.

Osteoporosis does not significantly increase implant failure. A 2023 meta-analysis of 12 studies and 3,505 implants found no significant difference in failure (OR 1.78, 95% CI 0.86–3.70), though bone loss around the implant was slightly higher.

Oral bisphosphonates taken for osteoporosis carry a very low risk of medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw — 0.02% to 0.05% according to the AAOMS position paper. This is discussed with you and recorded in your consent, not glossed over.

Intravenous antiresorptive therapy for cancer is different. Here, current professional guidance advises against placing implants, and we will say so. There are treatments we decline, and this is one of them.

Radiotherapy to the jaws reduces implant survival — around 81.5% in irradiated bone against 94.6% in non-irradiated bone. It is not an automatic no, but it is a conversation that needs a radiotherapy record in front of us.

CAN I HAVE MY IMPLANTS PLACED UNDER SEDATION OR GENERAL ANESTESIA?

Yes. Sedation and general anaesthesia are given by hospital anaesthetists, in an operating theatre, with the monitoring and recovery facilities of a general hospital.

This is not only for people with complex medical histories. A large number of our patients are simply afraid of the dentist — often after a bad experience years ago — and have avoided treatment for so long that a full-arch case is now the only option left.

If that is you, you are not an unusual patient here. You are a typical one.

WHAT IF I DON'T HAVE ENOUGH BONE?

This is the most common reason patients are told implants are not possible, and it is usually wrong.

Implants placed into grafted bone survive as well as implants placed into your own bone. A 2025 review reported 99.18% survival in augmented bone against 98.00% in native bone — a difference that was not statistically significant (p = 0.228).

Where the upper jaw has lost height, a sinus lift raises the sinus floor to create room. Where the loss is severe, zygomatic implants anchor into the cheekbone instead of the jaw, with 96.1% cumulative success beyond five years across 3,627 patients. We place these ourselves; many clinics refer them elsewhere.

A CBCT scan tells us which of these you need. Being told "no" somewhere else does not mean the answer is no.

WHICH IMPLANTS DO YOU USE?

We work with two systems, and we tell you which one is going into your jaw before you agree to anything.

Straumann (Switzerland) is one of the most extensively documented implant systems in the world, with distribution across the UK, Ireland and most of Europe. If it matters to you that a dentist at home can order components for your implant without difficulty, this is the system to choose.

NucleOSS (Turkey) is FDA-cleared and used across Europe and the Middle East. It performs well clinically and costs less, which is reflected in your price.

There is no meaningful published evidence that any one major implant brand outperforms another clinically. What differs is the depth of documentation and how easily components can be sourced years later, wherever you happen to live. That is the honest basis on which to choose, and we will give you our recommendation for your case.

HOW LONG DO DENTAL IMPLANTS LAST?

The honest answer has two parts, and most clinics only give you the first one.

The implant itself lasts a long time. Systematic review data puts ten-year survival at 96.4% (95% CI 95.2–97.5). When the same authors adjusted for patients lost to follow-up, the figure was 93.2% — we quote both, because the second is closer to real life.

The crown or bridge on top of it does not last as long. It is a working part. Long-term studies of full-arch prostheses report roughly 80% prosthesis survival at five years and 60% at ten, with most patients experiencing at least one minor complication — a loose screw, a chip, a worn tooth — along the way.

This distinction matters for your budget and for your expectations. An implant is close to permanent. The teeth attached to it will need servicing, and eventually replacing.

WHAT IS PERI IMPLANTITIS, AND WILL I GET IT?

Peri-implantitis is inflammation and bone loss around an implant. It is the leading cause of implants being lost years after they were placed, and it affects around one in five implant patients.

We would rather you read that number here than find it later.

The risk is not random. Smoking roughly doubles the odds of implant failure (OR 2.40, 95% CI 2.18–2.65). A history of gum disease, poor control of diabetes and irregular maintenance all raise it. Regular professional cleaning and review — every three to four months in the first year, then based on your own risk — brings it down.

Implants do not remove the need for dental care. They change what that care involves.

HOW MANY TRIPS TO TURKEY WILL I NEED, AND HOW LONG WILL THEY TAKE?

For most implant cases, two trips.

First trip: 4 days. Consultation, CBCT scan, any extractions, implant placement, bone graft or sinus lift if needed, and temporary teeth.

Three to six months at home. This is osseointegration — the bone growing onto the implant surface. It cannot be shortened by wanting it to be. Bone remodelling around an implant is still underway at eight weeks, and international consensus defines conventional loading as beginning after two months at the earliest.

Second trip: 5 to 7 days. Impressions, try-in, adjustments, and fitting of your final teeth.

Some cases can be completed with immediate loading — permanent-looking teeth fitted during the first visit. Survival with this approach is high, but published results range widely, which tells you that case selection is doing the work. We offer it when your bone and your general health allow it, and we say no when they do not.

Any clinic that promises a full-mouth rehabilitation finished in a single week, for anyone, is describing a sales process rather than a biological one.

WHAT DO I TAKE HOME WITH ME?

Three documents, and they are the point.

Your written five-year guarantee. A signed, dated contract in your name. If a complication arises from treatment we performed, we carry out the revision treatment at Casas Clinics in Istanbul free of charge, for five years from the date your treatment began.

Your implant record. The make, model and reference number of every implant placed, with batch details. If you ever need a dentist in the UK or Ireland to work on it, they will know exactly what is in your jaw. This is a routine request from dentists at home, and a common reason treatment abroad becomes difficult to maintain.

Your treatment record and aftercare instructions. What was done, what was used, what to watch for, and who to contact.

WHAT HAPPENS IF AN IMPLANT FAILS AFTER I HAVE GONE HOME?

You contact us, and we deal with it.

Send photographs and, if you have one, an X-ray. We will tell you what we believe has happened and what we propose to do. Where the complication is covered by your guarantee, we arrange your revision treatment in Istanbul at no charge for the dental work.

We also hold complication insurance, as Turkish law requires of every licensed health tourism provider. But insurance pays within its own limits and at an insurer's discretion, which is why our own guarantee sits on top of it rather than instead of it.

This section exists so that you can read it before you decide, not after.

WILL A DENTIST AT HOME LOOK AFTER IMPLANTS PLACED IN TURKEY?

This is one of the most common worries raised by international patients, and it deserves a straight answer rather than reassurance.

Some dentists are reluctant to take on work they did not carry out. The two things that make it easier are the two things patients are most often not given: a full record of what was placed, and a clinic that answers the phone afterwards.

You will have both. Your implant record identifies the system, the components and the batch. Our aftercare team remains your first point of contact, and we liaise directly with your dentist at home if they need information from us.

If long-term serviceability close to home is your priority, say so at the consultation. It is a reason to choose one implant system over another, and we will plan your case accordingly.

WHO WE DO NOT TREAT

There are cases we turn down, and we would rather say so here than after you have booked a flight.

We decline patients on intravenous antiresorptive therapy for cancer. We decline cases where the treatment being requested would mean cutting healthy teeth that do not need it. We postpone treatment where diabetes is poorly controlled until it is brought under control, and we ask smokers to stop around the surgery.

A clinic that accepts everyone is not being generous. It is making a different kind of decision.

HOW MUCH DO DENTAL IMPLANTS COST IN TURKEY?

Every price we charge is published. The figure you are given before you travel is the figure you pay, and it is written into your treatment plan before you book a flight.

Implants are not routinely available on the NHS. NHS guidance states they are "usually only available privately and are expensive", with limited exceptions such as treatment after mouth cancer or an accident.

[ See our full price list → ]

DENTAL IMPLANTS : WHERE THE DIFFERENCE ACTUALLY LIES

                         Standard dental clinic - Casas Clinics - UK private practice

Setting: Treatment rooms - Registered unit of a general hospital - Dental practice

Anaesthesia team on site: Rarely - Yes - Rarely

Emergency care and ICU on site: No - Yes - No

Patients on anticoagulants: Often declined - Accepted after review - Accepted

General anaesthesia available: Forbidden - Yes - Occasionally

Zygomatic implants: Usually referred out - Placed in house - Referred to specialist

Written guarantee: Verbal or unspecified - 5 years, signed contract - Varies

Implant record given to patient: Rarely - Yes - Usually

Aftercare abroad: Rarely - 6 locations worldwide - N/A
 

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Is it safe to get dental implants in Turkey?
It depends entirely on where and by whom. Turkey has excellent implant dentistry and it also has clinics that should be avoided. The questions that separate them are practical ones: is the provider licensed for health tourism, who is the surgeon, what medical backup exists if something goes wrong, and what exactly are you given in writing before you leave.
 

Can I have dental implants in Turkey if I have diabetes?
Yes, in most cases. Well-controlled diabetes does not reduce implant survival. Your HbA1c and medication are reviewed by a hospital physician before surgery is scheduled.
 

Can I have implants if I take blood thinners?
Usually yes, and usually without stopping your medication, in line with current UK guidance. Bleeding is managed locally.
 

Can I be asleep for the procedure?
Yes. Sedation and general anaesthesia are given by hospital anaesthetists in an operating theatre.
 

Will a UK dentist treat implants that were placed in Turkey?
Many will, particularly when you can tell them exactly what was placed. You are given a full implant record. If serviceability at home is a priority for you, choosing a system with UK distribution makes it simpler, and we will advise you on that before treatment.
 

Are the implants used in Turkey different from the ones used in the UK?
We use Straumann, a Swiss system distributed throughout the UK and Ireland, and NucleOSS, an FDA-cleared Turkish system. Your record shows the make, model and reference of exactly what was placed.
 

What happens if my implant fails after I return home?
You contact us with photographs and an X-ray if available. Where the complication is covered by your five-year guarantee, the revision treatment is carried out in Istanbul at no charge for the dental work.
 

Can a lifetime guarantee on an implant be real?
We do not offer one. A guarantee is only meaningful if it is written down, limited in a way that can actually be honoured, and backed by a clinic that intends to be there. Ours is five years, in a signed contract you take home.
 

How many times do I need to visit Turkey?
Usually twice — four days for surgery, then five to seven days for your final teeth, with three to six months between the visits while the bone integrates.
 

Can a full mouth really be done in one week?
Teeth can be fitted in one week in selected cases. A full-mouth rehabilitation, from extraction to final prosthesis, cannot be completed in one week for most patients, and we will tell you which category you are in before you book.
 

What if I don't have enough bone?
Bone grafting, sinus lifting or zygomatic implants solve most cases. Implants in grafted bone survive as well as implants in natural bone.
 

How long do implants last?
Around 96% of implants are still in place at ten years. The crowns and bridges attached to them have a shorter working life and will need maintenance and eventual replacement.
 

Why are implants cheaper in Turkey than in the UK?
Lower clinical overheads, lower staff and property costs, and a favourable exchange rate. The implant systems are the same ones used internationally.
 

Will it hurt?
Implant placement is carried out under local anaesthetic, sedation or general anaesthesia. Most patients describe the recovery as comparable to an extraction.

How do I check whether a clinic in Turkey is legitimate?
Ask for the health tourism authorisation certificate and check the name on it matches the clinic. Ask who performs the surgery and what their qualification is. Ask what is provided in writing before you leave. Ask what happens if something goes wrong — and ask for that answer in a document.

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