By Dr. Gregg Barry · Published 21 July 2026
Search “best dentist for implants in Dublin” and you’ll get a wall of confident claims. Award badges. Branded protocols with trademark symbols. Prices that seem impossibly low next to prices that seem impossibly high. Almost none of it tells you the thing you actually need to know: who is going to do the surgery, what they’re putting in your jaw, and who’s looking after it in ten years’ time.
Look, we know how uncomfortable this decision is. An implant is a surgical procedure and a long-term investment, and most people making the choice have no clinical background to judge it with. So here’s the honest answer to what separates good implant care from marketing — written by the people who do it, with our own numbers on the table.
What actually makes someone the best dentist for implants in Dublin?
The credentials that predict a good implant outcome in Dublin are surgical specialism, a well-researched implant system, 3D planning before surgery, and a restorative dentist who plans the crown from the start.
Notice what isn’t on that list. Not the size of the practice. Not a celebrity patient. Not a trademarked name for a technique that has a perfectly ordinary clinical description underneath it. We really do believe the boring stuff is the stuff that matters — because it’s the boring stuff that’s still holding up a decade later.
Who should actually be placing your implant?
Implant placement is oral surgery, and for Docklands Dental patients it is carried out at ISCD by a specialist oral surgeon — not a general dentist who has completed a short implant course.
This is the single question we’d ask if we were the patient. In Ireland, any registered dentist can place an implant. That’s legal. Whether it’s wise depends entirely on how many they place, how they handle the case that doesn’t go to plan, and whether they’ve had formal surgical training.
Our patients’ implants are placed by Dr. Marie O’Neill, a specialist oral surgeon, at the Institute of Specialist and Cosmetic Dentistry (ISCD), through our multidisciplinary work together. She does this every week. Gregg (BDS, UCC 2008) handles the restorative side — the crown, the bite, the way it looks when you smile. Two people, each doing the part they’re best at. It’s not the cheapest way to run implant treatment, and we’ve never pretended otherwise.
Does the implant system you’re given really matter?
Yes — we use Straumann and ZimVie (formerly 3i) implants, among the most extensively researched systems available, with decades of published clinical data behind them.
Here’s why this isn’t a detail you can wave away. An implant is meant to be in you for the rest of your life, and at some point in twenty years someone may need to replace a component on it. If your implant came from a system with thin research behind it, or one that has since left the market, finding that part becomes a genuine problem. We’ve seen it. It’s miserable for the patient and entirely avoidable.
Ask any clinic which system they use and why. If the answer is vague, that tells you something.
Why does the person restoring the implant matter as much as the surgeon?
An implant placed a few millimetres off ideal position can still integrate perfectly and still look wrong — which is why the crown should be planned before the surgery, not after.
This is the failure mode nobody markets against. The implant works. The bone healed beautifully. And the tooth on top sits at a slightly odd angle, or the gum sits a fraction too high, and every time you see a photo of yourself you notice it.
We plan backwards. We decide where the tooth needs to be first, then the implant is placed to serve that. It sounds obvious. It isn’t universal.
What should the planning look like before anyone touches your jaw?
Proper implant planning in Dublin means a 3D CBCT scan, digital impressions and a restoration designed on-screen before surgery — never a decision made from a single 2D X-ray.
A flat X-ray tells you almost nothing about the width of bone available, or where the nerve is running, or how close the sinus sits. A 3D scan tells you all three. We’d rather find the awkward anatomy on a screen than halfway through a procedure.
Some cases come back from that scan needing a bone graft or a sinus lift before an implant is viable. That’s not upselling — it’s the scan doing its job. And we’d far rather tell you that on day one than discover it later.
What do the survival numbers actually say?
A 2024 meta-analysis in Clinical Oral Investigations found dental implant survival exceeds 90% at ten years, with roughly four out of five implants still functioning at twenty years.
The research backs the general picture up from more than one direction — a 2019 systematic review in the Journal of Dentistry reported ten-year survival between 93% and 96%. Those are genuinely excellent numbers for any surgical procedure.
But read them properly. Those figures come from implants placed with good case selection, adequate bone, and maintained afterwards. They are not a promise that any implant, placed by anyone, on anyone, will last twenty years. We’re wary of clinics quoting “95% success” as though it were a warranty. It’s a population average, not a personal guarantee — and if we thought your case sat at the riskier end of it, we’d tell you so before you spent a cent. Some of what makes the difference is in your hands too, which is why we wrote honestly about how implants fail and what prevents it.
Why is a cheap implant quote usually the most expensive one?
A headline implant price in Dublin often covers the fixture alone — the abutment, the crown, the 3D scan and any grafting are quoted separately, which is where a €1,500 implant becomes €3,000.
We’re not going to name clinics and we’re not going to sneer at anyone’s pricing. But we will tell you what to ask: is the crown included? Is the abutment included? Is the CBCT scan included? Who is doing the surgery, and what are their qualifications? Four questions. Any clinic worth choosing will answer all four without hesitating.
The same logic applies to implant treatment abroad. The surgery may well be competent. The problem is the follow-up — when a screw loosens two years later, you’re on a flight, or you’re sitting in a Dublin practice that didn’t place it, holding a system nobody here stocks.
What does implant treatment actually cost at Docklands Dental?
A single dental implant at Docklands Dental runs from €3,000 to €3,500, which covers the implant, the abutment and the porcelain crown — a full-arch All-on-4 runs from €12,000 to €18,000 per arch.
Broken down, so you can compare like with like:
- Single implant (implant + abutment + crown) — from €3,000 to €3,500
- Surgical placement on its own — €1,650
- Porcelain implant crown — €1,350 (€1,700 for a complex front tooth)
- Bone graft, if needed — from €500 to €1,500
- Sinus lift, if needed — from €800 to €2,500
- All-on-4 full arch — from €12,000 to €18,000
- Specialist consultation — €150
We don’t do discounts or limited-time offers on surgery. We’d rather put the real numbers up front and let you decide. There’s a fuller breakdown in our guide to dental implant costs in Dublin and on our price list.
What happens after the implant is in?
Implants don’t decay, but the bone around them can be lost to peri-implantitis — which is why long-term maintenance matters more to survival than the day of surgery does.
An implant needs looking after like any other tooth, arguably more. We’ll see you for reviews, our hygiene team will clean around it properly, and if something’s changing we’d rather catch it at millimetre one than millimetre four.
This is the part that’s genuinely hard to judge from a website, and we know that. The best proxy we can offer: ask whether the person placing your implant will still be the person you see about it in five years.
Frequently asked questions
Is a specialist better than a general dentist for implants?
For the surgical placement, yes — that’s our clear view. Implant placement is oral surgery. Our patients’ implants are placed at ISCD by a specialist oral surgeon, while the restorative work is done here at Docklands Dental. Some general dentists place implants very well, but the training pathway is not equivalent and you’re entitled to ask which one you’re getting.
How long do dental implants last?
Published survival is over 90% at ten years and around four in five at twenty years. In practice, longevity depends on bone quality, your general health, smoking, and how well the implant is maintained afterwards.
What’s included in your €3,000 single implant price?
The implant fixture, the abutment and the porcelain crown. Your CBCT scan is included in the consultation fee rather than charged on its own; any grafting is additional and quoted before we begin, never mid-treatment.
Should I get implants abroad if it’s cheaper?
We’d be cautious. The surgery may be perfectly good, but aftercare, warranty and component availability are the real issues. If a problem appears two years later, you need someone locally who can access that system’s parts.
Come and talk to us
If you’re weighing up implants and trying to work out who to trust, come in and ask us the four questions above. We’ll show you the scan, tell you honestly whether an implant is the right call for your situation, and if it isn’t, we’ll say so.
No pressure, no hard sell, just a conversation.
Docklands Dental
1 Forbes Street, Grand Canal Dock, Dublin 2, D02 FN53
Phone: 01 636 0192
Email: hello@docklandsdental.ie
Dental Implants at Docklands Dental
Further reading: All-on-4 full arch implants explained · What makes a cosmetic dentist worth it · Dental implant costs across Ireland
Considering an implant? You can book an appointment online and we will arrange an implant assessment with one of our dentists.
Frequently asked questions
What is included in a €3,000 single dental implant in Dublin?
At Docklands Dental, a single dental implant from €3,000 to €3,500 includes the implant fixture, the abutment and the porcelain crown. The 3D CBCT scan is included in the consultation fee rather than charged on its own. Any bone graft (from €500 to €1,500) or sinus lift (from €800 to €2,500) is additional and quoted before treatment begins, never mid-treatment.
Should I get dental implants abroad if it is cheaper?
We would be cautious. The surgery itself may be competent, but aftercare, warranty and component availability are the real issues. If a screw loosens or a component fails two years later, you need a clinician locally who can access that implant system’s parts. We use Straumann and ZimVie (formerly 3i) for that reason.
