Connie Stevens once said, “Nothing you wear is more important than your smile.” She was right! A smile is something you can wear that takes almost no effort and can brighten someone’s day.
But how do you feel about your pearly whites? I was fortunate that my parents had great dental insurance. I got braces at a young age, and I still have great dental coverage now. Yet I am still insecure about parts of my smile.
One of my teeth has a small chip in the bottom and another one has small hole towards the top. Insecurities about one’s teeth can make smiling difficult for some. However, dental care can get expensive these days, especially given the state of healthcare insurance.
But what if I told you that you could get dental implants for FREE!?! There is something called free dental implants clinical trials that could help you get new teeth at no cost to you!
What Are Free Dental Implants Clinical Trials?
Clinical trials are a great way to save money when it comes to medical care. They are also a wonderful way to help contribute to science. If you don’t want to spend your money or can’t afford dental care, you may be able to apply for dental implant clinical trials for free.
The purpose of clinical trials is to find new ways and methods of treating diseases and improving
the quality of life of patients.Â
Clinical trials are conducted when researchers want to test a new drug for side effects, compare new and old medical treatments, explore how changes in diet benefit improvement of patients’ condition, or look for ways of making the lives of people with chronic diseases easier.
How Do Dental Implant Clinical Trials Work?
Before any clinical trial is started, you must be informed about the risks involved and the procedures that will be performed. Volunteers must sign an informed consent form, but it doesn’t stop them from stopping and exiting the trial at any time they want.
Sometimes you can apply for the clinical trial even if you don’t have the condition related to the study because researchers are often searching for healthy volunteers as well
Schools of dentistry and other medical research institutions organize clinical trials to investigate new methods and techniques used for improving dental health. You can find clinical trials related to oral surgery, dental hygiene, orthodontics, and most importantly restorative and prosthetic dentistry like dental implants.
What Are the Benefits of Participating in Dental Implant Clinical Trials?
Medical care can cost an arm and a leg (pun intended). Dental care is no different. If you want to have an amazing smile, you may need to spend fortunes on your teeth depending on the condition of your canines.
If you are looking to reduce the costs of dental implants, you can apply for a dental clinical trial. One of the major benefits of dental implant clinical trials is that you might get some interventions for free or even get paid for being a part of the study. Besides saving your own money, you may also be helping other people and science by volunteering in clinical research.
If you need dental implants, and you can’t afford them you can always find a study where you can get them for free. It is important to remember that each clinical study bears some risks. Another benefit to dental implant clinical trials is that by gathering all the necessary information about the study you want to apply to, you become more well informed on dental health.
Another major benefit is walking out of the clinical trial with a good-looking smile and a functional set of teeth. Your self confidence will get a boost, as will your ability to chew your food. Plus dental implants are a one-time thing that require much less upkeep.
Are Dental Implant Clinical Trials Safe?
An Institutional Review Board (IRB) has to review and approve clinical trials to ensure the safety and privacy of participants. The research process of clinical trials is divided into different phases and follows a special protocol.Â
Once a study is approved by the IRB, the organizers of the study must follow this strict protocol. You as a participant will know this protocol and will have time to review it before you decide to opt in or out of the study.
You will also always be monitored for any possible side effects of the study. It is also important to note that you may quit a clinical trial at any time if you no longer feel up to participating. If the study is causing your harm or a side effect is too much to handle, you can stop the trial.
Once you have been informed, you will have to sign an informed consent document agreeing to participate in the study (or giving your consent). The informed consent form is another safety measure that all participants much sign saying that they were given all the information about the study, including the possible risks.
It is also not uncommon for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to oversee clinical trials, especially when they involved studies in the medical field. Because dental schools fall under the healthcare blanket, the FDA will certainly be involved in governing these types of clinical trials.
Overall, due to these protocols, forms, and general governance, clinical trials for dental implants are considered very safe.
Where Can You Find Free Dental Implant Clinical Trials?
There are many places you can find free dental implant clinical trials. There are always many research institutions running clinical trials. Some of the best colleges and universities to search for these studies are listed below, but you can always start your search at local Schools of Dentistry that might have pro bono dental implants.
University of Texas Health San Antonio School of Dentistry
The government can also a good place to look for clinical trials. The government tends to always run a large amount of clinical healthcare trials and the area of dentistry is no stranger to these studies.
ClinicalTrials.gov -> This resource is one of my favourite. Here’s an example of a dental implant study that is active now:
National Institute of Health Clinical Center
Last, but certainly not least, you can check the websites and apps. There are several websites and apps that specialize in clinical trials, and because of that, they offer several options for dental implants. Below are links to three of the best websites and apps.
Overall, if you have issues with your teeth and you think dental implants are the route you would like to take, but you can’t afford it, consider free dental implant clinical trials. Again, not only can you get these expensive implants for free, but you may also even get paid to participate.
Flash us that smile and leave a comment if you have ever participated in free dental implant clinical trials. For more information on opportunities just like this one, join The Newsletter so you never miss another big article again.
Dr F Scott Feil is a husband, a father, a physical therapist (PT, DPT, EdD, Cert-APHPT), a professor, and most recently an Amazon best-selling author. F Scott is  also a business coach and mentor. He is one of the creators and co-hosts of the Healthcare Education Transformation Podcast which aims to break down the silos between healthcare professions in an attempt to find best practices in teaching and learning throughout healthcare academia. He also hosts the Professors of Profit Podcast where he interviews healthcare professionals about their side gigs and side hustles. His goal is to help at least 222 professors and clinicians pay off their student loans quicker and/or more efficiently by using multiple revenue streams. He is also the owner of PTEducator.com , FGI Consulting, and Epic Therapy and Wellness.
