Cost is the biggest reason patients wait on implants, even when their teeth are failing and they know it's time. A full arch case is a real investment, and very few people have $25,000 sitting in a checking account. Almost nobody pays for treatment that way, and you don't need to either.
The number that matters: most of my patients finance treatment and pay somewhere between $350 and $700 per month. A longer term with a healthcare lender puts a single arch near the bottom of that range. Shorter terms run toward the top. When you think of it as a monthly payment instead of a sticker price, the decision gets a lot clearer.
Financing for dental procedures has come a long way in the past few years. Below is a rundown of the lenders I see my patients use, the one trap worth knowing about, and how people in Arkansas usually put the pieces together.
Proceed Finance, LendingClub Patient Solutions, and Cherry are the lenders my patients use most. All three offer installment plans built for larger medical and dental cases, with fixed or predictable payments and no surprises buried in the fine print.
Designed specifically for large dental treatment cases. Offers terms up to 84 months with fixed rates starting around 6.9% APR for well-qualified applicants. Generally better for patients who need a longer repayment window and want predictable monthly payments. No deferred interest traps.
Another option for larger treatment amounts. Fixed rates, no prepayment penalty, and terms up to 84 months. Approval rates tend to be strong for patients with moderate to good credit.
A good fit for patients who want a fast, simple approval and a shorter payment plan. Cherry runs a soft credit check that does not affect your score, and it works well for covering part of a case or bridging the gap alongside HSA or FSA funds. Best suited to smaller balances rather than a full two-arch case.
Some promotional financing offers look like "0% interest" but are really deferred interest products. The difference matters. With true 0% financing, no interest accrues during the promotional period. With deferred interest, interest accrues the entire time and is charged retroactively if you don't pay the full balance before the period ends.
Read the fine print on any promotional offer. If it says "0% if paid in full within 18 months," ask whether it's no-interest or deferred-interest. These are different products with very different outcomes if you carry a balance.
Dental implants qualify as a medical expense for HSA and FSA purposes. If you have money in either account, you can use it toward your treatment. HSA funds roll over indefinitely, so some patients contribute strategically over one to two years before proceeding with surgery.
If your employer offers an FSA and you're planning treatment, it's worth coordinating your FSA election with your treatment timeline. You can't always predict the exact date surgery will happen, but knowing your treatment plan is in place makes that planning more straightforward.
For patients with strong credit who prefer to work outside medical-specific lenders, a personal loan from a credit union or bank can offer competitive rates. Credit unions in Arkansas often have rates in the 7% to 12% range for qualified borrowers. The advantage is simplicity: one fixed monthly payment, no deferred interest, and you can often get the full amount upfront.
Most of my patients land on one of three approaches. Some use a healthcare lender like Proceed Finance on a longer fixed term and treat it like a car payment, which is where the lower end of that $350 to $700 per month range comes from. Some combine HSA savings with a shorter promotional offer to cover the gap. And some do one arch at a time, financing the first, finishing it, and planning the second arch 12 to 18 months later.
I don't push any particular path. I go over all the options at your consultation and help you figure out what makes sense for your situation.
One thing to avoid: Don't choose a lower-quality provider to save money if it means financing an inferior result. A failed case that needs revision costs more, not less. The goal is value, not just a low number on a quote.
I go over financing options at every consultation. Come in, get a real quote for your case, and I'll walk through what the monthly payments would look like on each path. I place full arch dental implants in Heber Springs, AR for patients from across Arkansas.
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