EAGAN, Minn.--Delta Dental Plan of Minnesota (Delta Dental), a leading dental benefits provider, recently completed a study regarding the trends and costs comparisons associated with treating a severely damaged or lost tooth.
On March 10, Delta Dental presented its findings at the 35th Annual Meeting and Exhibition of the American Association for Dental Research (AADR) in Orlando, Fla.
The study revealed the average initial cost of implants with crowns and associated procedures was the most expensive ($3,255), followed by three-unit bridges and associated procedures ($2,410), and root canals with crowns and associated procedures ($1,591).
The study also uncovered a significant increase in the utilization of implants with crowns, a significant decrease in the utilization of three-unit bridges, and no significant change in the utilization of root canals with crowns.
"It is our understanding that this research is the first to explore these important issues," said Dr. Richard Hastreiter, co-author of the study.
"Because dental implants are a hot topic in dentistry today, these results generated significant interest from dentists and industry analysts when we recently presented our findings at the 35th annual AADR conference, because this kind of information simply hasn't been previously available."
Dr. Richard Hastreiter, dental director and vice president of oral health analytics at Delta Dental and Dr. Peilei Jiang, director of oral health analytics at Delta Dental, completed the study by utilizing data from dental claims submitted by Minnesota dentists for services provided to commercially insured patients from 1997 through 2004.
The study compared and analyzed trends and initial average costs associated with placement of implants with crowns in comparison to placement of three-unit bridges or root canals with crowns, and their respective associated surgical and/or restorative procedures.
To view the study results, visit www.deltadentalmn.org.
