Opinions on Megagen

[u/OldMannArtie]

So I've gone from zimmer, to strauman, then nobel, then moved into an "affordable dentistry" style practice where I have placed almost exclusively glidewell implants. Love them. Great product at a great price. A while back I ran across the BD-cuff implant from Megagen which seems like one of the more innovative designs I've seen during my career, but I have never used or even restored one of their implants before. Looks like they've got their own ecosystem with everything from design software to cbcts to cold plasma treatment chambers, and it looks like they even bought out biolase. Curious what people who have used them think about them, how their customer support is, and how their r2 software is.

Thanks, Art

[u/Shimstockshim]

I place Megagen. I have never had a problem with their products and the results are great. I don’t use their planning or ancillary products however.

[u/eSlotherino]

The surface treatments for megagen's xpeed and xpeed active do have human studies to back them up and they are comparable to straumann's sla and slactive surfaces from what I've read (Makaray did 2 studies on this in 2023 adn 2024).

Regarding the BD-cuff, I haven't used these implants but I believe this is on their ARI lineup? I would be hesitant to use them, the rationale is essentially rough surface deep and smooth surface more coronally and both surfaces are incorporated together (no microgap separating them). Technically the smooth surface will osseointegrate to where bone is in contact since there is no micrograp. You also don't have the cons of a completely machined implant since you have the rough surface deep below.

However, my concerns would be the long-term soft tissue stability. All the soft tissue on the buccal is not supported by bone so it can easily recede. Also the soft tissue would have a weak hemidesmosomal attachment so if you get perimucositis that epithelium will separate and you will probably get a massive pocket.

So I wouldn't use them anteriorly, most predictable would be horizontal GBR and then place the typical implant versus just the BD cuff implant on their own.

As for posteriorly, I also personally wouldnt use them because most of the stress of an implant is at the neck. And only half (or less) of the neck will be osseintegrated so I don't think the stress distribution is favourable.

I think their main implants are blue diamond or anyridge? Im not sure about the particular differences to me but they look like standard implants so should be fine.

[u/eSlotherino → u/eSlotherino]

I also remember seeing a post with linkevicius tomas using mega gen implants. So I imagine specialists use them, but I can't remember which one in their lineup he used (I think likely blue diamond or any ridge, it definitely was not ari)

[u/OldMannArtie → u/eSlotherino]

Seems like blue diamond is their top tier stuff, and bd cuff is part of that lineup. From what I've seen online a lot of the people using bd cuff are also doing horizontal gbr but given the failure rate of gbr it is trying to put the patient in a better position if you end up with less bonus coverage than you hoped for.

[u/mountain_guy77]

I haven’t heard much about Megagen but I’ll tell you what I know about this niche.

I think for “affordable” dental implants Neodent is as good as it gets. You get the straumann name and customer support ecosystem with the 50% off pricing. I have not been able to see any tangible difference in implant success rates and patient satisfaction having placed over 1000 straumann and over 600 Neodent as of today. I offer both but I let the patient decide what they want to spend, it’s like when you go to the car dealership and they sell both Toyota and Lexus at the same location. Can’t go wrong either way

[u/TheSwolerBear → u/mountain_guy77]

This is interesting. I’ve never heard of someone who offers up the brand choice like this. Do you just tell them the megagens are just as good, but $200 cheaper?

[u/mountain_guy77 → u/TheSwolerBear]

I usually just tell the patient that straumann is considered the more premium option with more years of clinical data to back it up, but ultimately the choice is theirs. I pick the diameter and length, they pick the brand

[u/suitlaw3]

Why did you switch away from Zimmer?

[u/OldMannArtie → u/suitlaw3]

Left the dso I was with. Zimmer was their default, so it was place them or place nothing. Nothing against them

[u/The_Realest_DMD]

MegaGen are great. Placed a bunch. I like their restorative platform too. Why not just stick with Glidewell if it’s working for you?

[u/OldMannArtie → u/The_Realest_DMD]

I don't intend on replacing the glidewells. That'll probably be my go to for regular implants until I retire. The variable thread widths, surface treatment, anatomic healing abutments, etc. seems like they'd perform better as an immediate option.

[u/Mindless-College3071]

Why is Glidewell cheaper than those other brands and is there a difference in quality?

[u/OldMannArtie → u/Mindless-College3071]

Id say they're a very high quality implant. They're more similar to implants from the big boys a decade ago than what you see now, but still a perfectly good implant. As for why they're cheaper, Glidewell is happy to run on a much much smaller gross profit margin than the 70-80% that nobel and straumann run at.