■ Recently, the National Medical Insurance Bureau officially issued the "Notice on Carrying out Special Treatment of Oral Implant Medical Service Fees and Consumables Prices (Draft for Comment)" (hereinafter referred to as "Opinions"), to carry out special treatment of oral implant-related expenses and establish a provincial government for dental implant consumables. International Purchasing Alliance.

　　■ Regarding the reasons for the "profiteering" of dental implants, one or two can be seen from medical institutions.

A doctor from a top-three dental hospital told the Red Star Capital Bureau that the hospital where the dental crown was made into a model and then found a factory for processing. The original ex-factory price of about 600 yuan, when it was sold to patients, the price had already increased seven or eight times to 4,000 yuan. and above.

　　■ But in fact, apart from the cost of some consumables such as abutments and crowns, the prices of medical services including public medical institutions are not transparent, which also causes the price of dental implants to be inflated but patients have no way of knowing.

　　■ In this regard, according to media reports, Jiang Changsong, assistant to the dean of the National Medical Security Research Institute of Capital Medical University, once said, "About one-third of dental implants are material costs, and two-thirds are labor and technical costs. Therefore, only consumables are made. It is difficult to reduce the cost of an implant in a comprehensive manner.”

　　The Medical Insurance Bureau released the news about the centralized procurement of dental implants

　　There have been many places to test the water and limit the price of dental implants

　　On the evening of August 18, the National Medical Insurance Bureau officially issued a document, in accordance with the requirements of the nine ministries and commissions jointly issued the "Key Points of Correcting Unhealthy Practices in the Field of Pharmaceutical Purchase and Sales and Medical Services in 2022", to carry out special treatment of dental implant medical service charges and consumable prices.

Combined with the previous investigation and soliciting opinions from the industry, the "Notice on Carrying out Special Treatment of Oral Implant Medical Service Fees and Consumables Prices (Draft for Comment)" was formed.

　　With the announcement of the "Opinions", the whole-process price regulation and centralized procurement of dental implants focusing on implants and crowns will also be put on the agenda.

In the future, the high prices of oral implant medical services in public medical institutions and the chaotic price system of oral implant in private medical institutions may soon be curbed.

　　The Red Star Capital Bureau noticed that as of now, many places including Sichuan Province, Ningbo City, and Bengbu City have explored the centralized procurement alliance and price limit measures for dental implant consumables.

Among them, Bengbu City also promotes the regulation of the charges for dental implant medical services, from the average price of about 10,000 yuan/piece to below 2,200 yuan/piece, with a maximum drop of more than 82%.

　　How expensive are dental implants?

　　The ex-factory price of dental crowns in the top three hospitals has doubled by 7 times, and the consumables and service fees are not transparent

　　"Implanting teeth" is not a simple action of three or two days, and the so-called dental implants of ordinary people actually mainly include three consumables: implants, abutments and crowns.

Among them, implants, as the most important part, are also the most expensive.

　　But in fact, except for the cost of some consumables such as abutments and crowns, the prices of medical services including public medical institutions are not transparent.

The most common one is to tie the most expensive implants and surgical fees together to quote the patient, but the specific proportion of consumables and service fees is unknown.

　　On August 18, a dentist from a tertiary dental hospital told the Red Star Capital Bureau that although the price of foreign implants will be doubled, they still occupy most of the market share.

Data show that in the domestic implant market, imported brands account for about 90%.

　　From the list of implant prices and full-process costs of various brands obtained by the dentist, Red Star Capital Bureau can see that the mid-to-high-end implants are represented by ITI in Switzerland, Bicon in the United States, and Astra in Sweden. The selling prices (including the current surgery fee) are about 15,000 yuan, 12,000 yuan, and 9,800 yuan respectively.

The low-end implants are mainly based on the Korean brand Dengteng, and the price of a single implant in domestic public medical institutions (including the current operation fee) is about 5,000~5,500 yuan.

　　Then there is the crown, from porcelain to imported all-porcelain, the price ranges from about 1,000 yuan to 5,000 yuan.

　　The above-mentioned dentist told the Red Star Capital Bureau that the top-three dental hospital where he is located generally makes a model of the dental crown according to the actual situation of the patient, and then finds the factory for processing, and then returns it to the hospital for sale to the patient.

In this process, the price of a single crown from the factory is about 600 yuan, but when it is sold to patients, the price has already risen seven or eight times to 4,000 yuan and above.

　　Taking the Swiss ITI brand dental implants as an example, the implants costing 15,000 yuan plus a supporting abutment worth about 2,000 yuan and a crown costing about 4,000 yuan in the later period cost more than 20,000 yuan for a tooth in the whole process.

And this does not include or will need the cost of thousands of yuan for lifting surgery in the maxillary sinus, bone grafting materials, etc. It can be seen that "a BMW with one tooth" is not a false statement.

　　It should be noted that, from implants, crowns and other consumables to the doctor's surgery fee, the quotations in different medical institutions and regions are different.

On August 18, a small clinic told the Red Star Capital Bureau that as long as you see a doctor, the above-mentioned Dengteng implants can be sold at a half discount of 2,688 yuan, and there is no need to pay additional fees for the whole process of dental implants thereafter.

　　Will the price of dental implants drop significantly after the collection?

　　Expert: It is difficult to reduce the overall price by only doing centralized procurement of consumables

　　It has become a consensus that the price of dental implants is high, but after adding dental implants to centralized procurement, will the overall price really be reduced?

　　According to CCTV news reports, Jiang Changsong, assistant to the dean of the National Medical Security Research Institute of Capital Medical University, once said, "About one-third of dental implants are material costs, and two-thirds are labor and technical costs. Therefore, only the amount of consumables is used. Purchasing is difficult to bring down the cost of an implant comprehensively.”

　　In fact, the part about the cost of medical services is also mentioned in the "Opinions".

For the implant placement fee, crown placement fee, and bone graft surgery fee, which are strongly reflected by the public and have a heavy cost burden, the lower priority is given.

　　For public medical institutions, in areas where government-guided price management is implemented, the medical security department re-formulates and announces government-guided prices while standardizing price items; for private medical institutions, it strengthens the supervision and guidance of the price of oral implants, and takes the initiative in obvious areas. Publicize the price level, and ensure the authenticity, timeliness, and integrity of the publicized information, and at the same time, it is not allowed to deceive and deceive patients by means of false subsidies or low-price publicity.

　　In addition, the Medical Insurance Bureau pointed out that the Sichuan Provincial Medical Security Bureau will lead the establishment of an inter-provincial procurement alliance for dental implant consumables. All provinces should participate. In addition to public medical institutions, private medical institutions should be mobilized to participate.

　　Chengdu Business Daily-Red Star News reporter Deng Lingyao