Dentures & Full-Mouth Implants in China: Cost, Trips, Options (2026)

If you have lost most or all of your teeth, mainland China offers the same three routes as anywhere else: a removable denture, a denture that clips onto two to six implants (an overdenture), or a fixed full-arch bridge screwed onto four or more implants. In public hospitals each is priced from government-capped service fees plus materials sold at their purchase price — Beijing caps the fee for a complete denture at ¥5,200 per arch from June 2026, and Shanghai caps full-arch implant placement at ¥8,889 per arch^[4][7]. The harder limit is time: conventional dentures take four to six visits over one to two months, and a fixed full-arch bridge needs at least two trips several months apart. Choose the option that fits both your mouth and how often you can come back.

The three options at a glance

China's national clinical guideline for missing teeth lists three standard ways to restore a toothless jaw — complete dentures, implant overdentures and implant-supported fixed dentures — and says the choice should follow the patient's anatomy, wishes and budget^[12].

Option 1: removable dentures

A complete denture is an acrylic base carrying artificial teeth; it rests on the gums and stays in place through close fit and an edge seal. Partial dentures hook onto your remaining teeth, most often with a cast metal framework of cobalt-chromium or titanium alloy^[12].

Visits. The guideline's standard sequence is preliminary impressions, a custom tray, final impressions, bite (jaw-relation) records, tooth arrangement, a wax try-in and finally fitting with bite adjustment^[12]. A specialist at Yantai Stomatological Hospital told the local paper in 2026 that conventional complete dentures need at least four to six visits over one to two months, while a digital workflow can cut this to two or three visits^[13]. UK provider Bupa describes the same pattern — impressions, often a second set, a try-in, fitting — plus further adjustment appointments while you get used to the denture^[15].

After fitting. Sore spots, looseness, unclear speech, gagging and cheek biting are expected early problems, handled by adjusting the base, correcting the bite or relining^[12]. Dentures typically last five to eight years and need adjusting as the face changes; immediate dentures fitted on the day of extractions often loosen and need replacing after six to twelve months^[15].

What it costs in China. Since 2022 the National Healthcare Security Administration (NHSA) has told provinces to keep fixed and removable denture fees relatively stable while implant fees were cut, and to encourage hospitals to offer suitable tooth-replacement options^[1]. Its 2025 national dental pricing guideline bundles fees by what the patient receives rather than by each lab step, and extends the "one price" product approach first used for implant crowns to other custom-made appliances^[2][3]. Beijing's schedule under that guideline — maximum prices for public, non-profit and insurance-designated institutions from 27 June 2026 — is a useful benchmark^[4][5]:

The complete-denture fee covers impressions, fabrication, bite records, the wax try-in, fitting and adjustment; precious metal for frameworks is listed as a separately chargeable material^[4]. Hospitals may charge less than these caps but not more^[5], and each province sets its own levels under the national guideline^[2].

Trip fit: weak for a short holiday. Unless you can stay for most of that one-to-two-month window — or you spend part of each year in China — a denture made close to home, by someone who can adjust and reline it, is often more practical. If you do go, ask whether the hospital uses a digital workflow and an in-house lab.

Option 2: implant overdenture

An overdenture is still removable, but it clips onto implants through bars, telescopic crowns, snap-type or ball attachments, or magnets. The guideline says a lower overdenture can use as few as two implants, while an upper one usually needs at least four^[12]. It lists overdentures as suitable for people with heavily resorbed jaws, those disappointed by conventional dentures, those whose health or budget rules out complex surgery, and those whose ability to clean is limited or expected to decline; magnetic attachments suit older patients with poor hand dexterity^[12].

Visits and months. The implants go in first, with a review and stitch removal 10–14 days later^[12]. Healing commonly takes two to three months in the lower jaw and four to six in the upper^[19]. The denture is then made in steps similar to a complete denture, with extra framework try-ins for bar or telescopic designs^[12]. Bupa quotes four to seven months for the whole treatment^[16]. In practice that means a surgery trip of about two weeks and a second trip for the denture.

What it costs in China. Public hospitals bill each implant placement, the overdenture fitting, and the implant systems separately. Shanghai caps implant placement at ¥2,023 per implant and the implant-retained removable prosthesis fitting at ¥8,000 per piece^[7]; Shandong's 2026 table sets ¥1,750 and ¥3,000^[8][9]. Implant systems come through national volume procurement at ¥548–1,855 per set (average just over ¥900)^[11], and public hospitals sell such materials at their purchase price without markup^[7].

Upkeep. Expect worn attachment parts to be replaced, retention to need adjusting, the base to need relining, and occasional repairs or a remake^[12].

Option 3: fixed full-arch bridge ("All-on-4" and similar)

Many people search for "All-on-4", which is one manufacturer's brand name for a protocol; the generic term is a fixed full-arch implant bridge (种植固定义齿, often called 全口种植). The guideline describes it as a full-arch fixed denture usually supported by four or more implants per arch — typically four to eight in the upper jaw and four to six in the lower — with tilted implants and shortened arches as options^[12]. It needs good bone, no marked facial collapse and a normal jaw relationship, and it is more complex and usually costlier than an overdenture^[12]. The guideline also says that people with poor hand coordination, declining eyesight or limited ability to clean should be cautious about fixed implant restorations — a point worth weighing for older travellers^[12].

Visits and months. With immediate loading, a fixed temporary bridge goes in on the surgery day or within a week; Chinese price rules define immediate restoration as within one week of implant placement^[7]. The temporary is usually replaced with permanent teeth three or four months later^[16], after the implants have integrated. Making the final bridge takes several more appointments — impressions, bite records, a framework or resin try-in, then the final bridge^[12]. Hospitals list this as routine work: at the Hospital of Stomatology, Sun Yat-sen University, many implant doctors name immediate restoration of edentulous jaws (无牙颌种植即刻修复) among their areas of practice^[20].

What it costs in China. The NHSA's 2022 notice allowed full-arch implant restoration, craniofacial implants and complex bone grafting to be priced above routine single implants^[1]. Published public-hospital caps for the two main service fees:

These caps exclude the implant systems (¥548–1,855 each through procurement)^[11], the abutments and the bridge itself — sold as products at purchase price — as well as extractions, bone grafts (Shanghai: ¥1,722–4,205 per tooth position), imaging and anaesthesia^[7]. No authority publishes an all-in full-arch price, so ask for an itemised quote.

Example (not a quote) — how a Shanghai public-hospital bill for one upper arch is assembled: placement fee (cap ¥8,889, plus any immediate or tilted-implant add-on) + four to six procured implant systems + abutments and the temporary bridge at product prices + 3D guide (cap ¥1,800) + fixed bridge fitting (cap ¥9,988) + the final bridge at its product price + CBCT, extractions and grafts as needed^[7][11].

Shanghai's and Shandong's rules require hospitals to guarantee the implants and prostheses they place and to repair or remake them free within the warranty^[7][9] — useful only if you can return, so get the warranty terms in writing. Implant items are self-pay under local insurance in Chongqing's table^[10], and visitors cannot use mainland insurance at all. VIP (特需) areas in Beijing's public hospitals may charge market prices for implant work only under set conditions and after filing with the bureau^[14]; private clinics price freely^[1]. See international departments explained.

What the same work costs abroad

• England (NHS): dentures fall under the Band 3 charge of £332.10; relining or rebasing a denture is Band 2, £76.60^[17].
• UK private (Bupa Dental Care): an acrylic complete denture averages £1,340 (typically £885–1,960) and a cobalt-chrome one £1,785 (£1,070–2,460)^[15]. Same-day full-arch implants are not available on the NHS, and Bupa prices them only after consultation^[26].
• United States (one dental school's published fees): the University of Maryland School of Dentistry lists a complete denture at $1,060–2,512 per arch across its clinics, each implant placement at $1,362–2,786, and a fixed implant-supported full-arch prosthesis at $13,422 per arch — before the implants and abutments^[18]. Private-practice fees vary.

The gap is largest for implant work; for a simple denture the saving is smaller and the number of visits matters more. Our cost comparison guide explains how to compare quotes like for like.

Planning the trips

These are examples to discuss with the hospital, not treatment plans.

• Example — complete dentures: one stay long enough for the hospital's visit schedule (four to six visits over one to two months conventionally, two or three with a digital workflow)^[13], plus a final check before you fly. Book a local dentist for adjustments and future relines.
• Example — lower implant overdenture: trip 1 of about two weeks (assessment, two implants, review and stitch removal at 10–14 days)^[12]; wear your existing or a temporary denture while healing; trip 2 after about two to three months for the overdenture^[19].
• Example — fixed full-arch bridge: trip 1 of about two weeks (CBCT, extractions, implants, temporary bridge, review); trip 2 after roughly three to six months for the final bridge, over several appointments — ask how many working days the lab needs^[12][16][19].

Check that your visa options cover two entries — see visa and entry — and read combining treatment with travel.

Where to go and what to ask

Large public stomatology hospitals run separate prosthodontics (修复科) and implant (种植科) departments. West China Hospital of Stomatology in Chengdu lists prosthodontics departments I and II alongside its implant department^[21]; Nanjing Stomatological Hospital lists a complex complete-denture clinic (复杂全口义齿门诊)^[22]; Peking University Hospital of Stomatology runs its own denture-processing centre^[23]. In Shanghai, the city government's English directory lists prosthodontics and dental implant surgery among the international-service departments of Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital (international service +86 21 5331 4069, Monday–Saturday) and prosthodontics for the Stomatology Hospital Affiliated to Tongji University (+86 21 6652 8783)^[24][25]. A department listing does not tell you how a multi-trip full-arch case is coordinated, so ask. See also West China Hospital of Stomatology, the Hospital of Stomatology, Sun Yat-sen University and finding a dentist in China.

Questions to ask in writing (the bilingual inquiry letter tool can draft them):

1. Which option do you recommend for my jaws, and why not the other two?
2. How many implants, which system, which abutments, and what bridge or denture material?
3. Can I have an itemised quote listing each price item and the cap that applies?
4. How many visits on each trip, and how many working days does the lab need between them?
5. When will the temporary teeth go in, and what can I eat with them?
6. What warranty applies, and how is it honoured if I live abroad?
7. Will I receive CBCT files, the implant passport (brand, model, lot numbers), abutment details and a treatment summary in English?

Risks, maintenance and follow-up at home

The guideline advises against implant surgery for people with uncontrolled diabetes, hypertension, heart disease or blood disorders, and asks for specialist assessment for anyone on intravenous bisphosphonates or steroids or with past radiotherapy or chemotherapy^[12]. Common later problems include inflammation around implants (peri-implant mucositis and peri-implantitis), loose or broken screws, chipped teeth on the bridge, and worn overdenture clips^[12]. Fixed bridges may need to be unscrewed every one to two years for professional cleaning if home cleaning is difficult, and people who grind their teeth may need a night guard; regular recalls, with a yearly X-ray where possible, are recommended for implants^[12].

All of this happens after you are home. Arrange a local dentist willing to maintain the work, and take every record with you — see medical records and follow-up and risks and complications. None of this is individual advice: only a dentist who has examined you and your CBCT can say which option is safe for you.

Next steps

• Browse hospitals with dental departments and hospitals offering implants.
• Read dental implants in China, dental tourism in China and finding a dentist in China.
• Draft your enquiry with the bilingual inquiry letter tool, then let the AI planner build a one- or two-trip plan around your dates.