Screwless dental implants: what the term means and what it costs
In most clinic guides, "screwless" implants means a crown cemented onto an abutment instead of screwed in place. The abutment is billed as its own line, and in the 4 state Medicaid fee schedules that price both routes, a crown on a separate abutment is priced 20% to 50% above a crown fixed directly to the implant.
Decode a quote below: pick a reference schedule and how the crown is supported on your quote, type your quoted total, and tick the codes printed on your written quote.
Screwless implant quote decoder
The billing lines of each route, priced with an official state Medicaid fee schedule, next to your own quote
Crown on a separate abutment (your quote)
| D6010 | Implant body | $2,001 |
| D6056 | Prefabricated (stock) abutment | $600 |
| D6058 | Crown on the abutment | $1,076 |
| Kentucky schedule total | $3,677 |
Crown directly on the implant (for comparison)
| D6010 | Implant body | $2,001 |
| D6065 | Crown on the implant | $1,401 |
| Kentucky schedule total | $3,402 |
Under the Kentucky schedule (effective 2026-01-01), the crown on a separate abutment totals $3,677, $275 more than the crown directly on the implant ($3,402).
Which codes are on your written quote?
No written quote yet? Ask the office for the CDT code of each line, and whether the crown will be cemented or screwed.
Fee schedules are the amounts a state Medicaid program prices for each code, archived by Real Dental Costs with their source and date. They are not quotes and do not mean a state covers implants for adults. Pricing research, not medical or dental advice.
Two different things are sold as "screwless"
1. A cement-retained crown (the usual meaning). An abutment, a separate connector part, is fixed to the implant, and the crown is bonded onto it with dental cement. The crown has no visible screw access hole, which clinic guides such as Lasting Smiles' present as the reason to choose it for front teeth. On a bill, the abutment is a line of its own (D6056 prefabricated or D6057 custom) and the crown on it is another (D6058 for porcelain/ceramic).
2. A locking-taper crown with neither screw nor cement. Bicon's Integrated Abutment Crown joins abutment and crown in one unit, connected to the implant by a locking taper. The technique was described in 2007 (Urdaneta and Marincola, Journal of Prosthodontics), and a 2008 retrospective study of 151 such crowns in 59 patients reported a Kaplan-Meier survival rate of 98.7%; nine upper front crowns came loose in five patients, and eight of them were put back and stayed in place for the rest of the study (Urdaneta et al., 2008). This is one manufacturer's system.
When an ad or a treatment plan says "screwless", ask which of the two it means. The answer changes the parts, the codes and the price.
What the codes record, and what they do not. The crown codes separate a crown on a separate abutment (D6058, "abutment supported") from a crown fixed directly to the implant (D6065, "implant supported"). They do not record whether the crown is cemented or screwed: the descriptor of D6065 says the crown "may be screw retained or cemented" (as quoted by a dental lab), and clinic guides describe screw-retained crowns that sit on an abutment too. If "screwless" matters to you, ask the office to write the retention method on the quote.
Are screwless implants cheaper? What official fee schedules price
A state Medicaid dental fee schedule lists what the program pays a dentist for each code. It is a public, dated, line-by-line price list that names both routes. Of the schedules Real Dental Costs has archived, 4 price both a crown on a separate abutment and a crown fixed directly to the implant:
| State schedule | Stock abutment + crown on it (D6056 + D6058) | Custom abutment + crown on it (D6057 + D6058) | Crown on the implant (D6065) | Abutment route (stock) vs crown on the implant | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kentuckyeffective 2026-01-01 | $1,676.40 | $1,806.06 | $1,400.93 | +19.7% | chfs.ky.gov |
| Michigan (implant codes: CSHCS only)effective 2026-03-11 | $1,438.44 | $1,577.94 | $1,055.14 | +36.3% | ada.org |
| New Yorkeffective 2026-01-01 | $1,212.00 | $1,212.00 | $808.00 | +50% | ada.org |
| Tennessee (children's schedule)downloaded 2026-09-03 | $1,074.44 | $1,211.09 | $771.93 | +39.2% | ada.org |
In all 4 of the 4 schedules, the abutment route is priced higher: from 19.7% more in Kentucky to 50% more in New York, with a stock abutment. The crown line is not the reason. Kentucky prices the crown on an abutment (D6058, $1,076.11) below the crown on the implant (D6065, $1,400.93), and New York prices both at $808.00. The gap is the abutment, a line of its own: $600.29 for a stock abutment in Kentucky, $450.44 in Michigan, $404.00 in New York. A custom abutment is priced higher than a stock one in 3 of the 4 schedules ($139.50 more in Michigan, $129.66 more in Kentucky); New York prices both at $404.00.
Two of these schedules are not general adult schedules: Michigan's schedule marks its implant codes "covered benefit for CSHCS only" (Children's Special Health Care Services), and the Tennessee file is the children's schedule. Kentucky and New York are the general schedules in the comparison. Two more archived schedules price only the abutment route: Iowa prices $1,247.22 for a stock abutment and the crown on it, and the District of Columbia $652.46; neither prices D6065, so they cannot be compared like for like.
Read these amounts as a yardstick, not as a quote. Private offices set their own prices, which are not tied to these schedules, and a code on a schedule does not mean the state covers implants for adults: see whether Medicaid covers dental implants. The same archived files feed our 2026 Medicaid dental fee index.
What the research says about cemented and screw-retained crowns
The choice of design is clinical and belongs to your dentist. What published reviews report, in their own figures:
- Survival is similar. A 2014 systematic review of 73 studies found five-year survival of 96.03% for cemented and 95.55% for screw-retained reconstructions (P = .69), and no difference for single crowns. Screw-retained reconstructions showed fewer technical and biologic complications overall (Wittneben, Millen and Brägger, 2014).
- Bone loss is similar. A 2025 AO/AAP systematic review and meta-analysis found no significant difference in marginal bone loss between screw-retained and cement-retained prostheses (six articles, p = 0.51) (Lin et al., Journal of Periodontology, 2025).
- Leftover cement is the known risk of the cemented design. In a study of 39 patients with signs of peri-implant disease, excess cement was found at 34 of 42 affected implants and at none of 20 healthy controls; 30 days after the cement was removed, 25 of 33 treated sites showed no sign of inflammation (Wilson, Journal of Periodontology, 2009).
- Full arches lean screw-retained. A 2020 review of 29 studies found more biological complications with cemented full-arch prostheses and more screw problems with screw-retained ones, and preferred screw-retained designs because they are easier to remove and repair (Gaddale, Mishra and Chowdhary, 2020).
Questions to ask before you sign a "screwless" quote
- Which codes are on the quote? D6058 with an abutment line means a crown on a separate abutment; D6065 means a crown on the implant. The decoder above checks the combination for you.
- Cemented or screwed? The codes do not say. Ask for the retention method in writing.
- Stock or custom abutment? D6056 or D6057. On most of the schedules above a custom abutment is priced higher; ask whether the abutment is in the price you were given.
- Is the implant itself included? The implant placed in the bone (D6010) is a separate line from the crown and abutment.
- If the crown breaks or the gum needs treatment, can it be removed without cutting it off? Retrievability is the main practical difference the reviews above point to.
- How will excess cement be removed and checked? It is the risk documented in the 2009 study above.
For a full treatment plan, our dental quote checker reads every line, and the CDT code guide explains the codes.
How we built this page
- Fee schedules. Amounts for D6010, D6056, D6057, D6058 and D6065 are read by code from the state Medicaid dental fee schedules archived in our repository, each with its source URL, effective date, download date and SHA-256 checksum: Kentucky (chfs.ky.gov, effective 2026-01-01); Michigan (ada.org, effective 2026-03-11); New York (ada.org, effective 2026-01-01); Tennessee (ada.org); Iowa (secureapp.dhs.state.ia.us, effective 2026-01-01); District of Columbia (ada.org, effective 2026-07-04). Several of these files are the copies published by the American Dental Association's state fee schedule index. No amount on this page is typed by hand: the table, the chart and the decoder all read the same files.
- Which schedules. A schedule enters the comparison only when it prices D6058, an abutment line and D6065 with a positive amount. Codes listed at $0 or left blank are treated as not priced. Program limits printed in a schedule are shown next to its name (Michigan: CSHCS only; Tennessee: children's schedule).
- Computation. Abutment route = D6056 + D6058 (stock) or D6057 + D6058 (custom); crown on the implant = D6065; difference = (abutment route − D6065) ÷ D6065, one decimal.
- Studies. Every study figure was read in the PubMed abstract linked next to it on November 11, 2026.
- Meaning of "screwless". Taken from the Google results for the term read on November 10 and 11, 2026: clinic guides (Lasting Smiles, Aspen Dental), Bicon's locking-taper technique, and Google's own summary, which calls them "cement-retained or friction-fit".
- AI assistance. AI coding tools helped write the code and draft this text; every figure was checked against its source file or abstract.
Frequently asked questions
Are screwless dental implants cheaper?
How do screwless dental implants work?
Do screwless implants last as long as screw-retained ones?
Can you get screwless implants for a full mouth?
Related guides
- Dental implant costs by state
- Types of dental implants
- Does Medicaid cover dental implants?
- State Medicaid dental fee index 2026
Methodology note. Fee schedule amounts are what each state Medicaid program prices per CDT code in the archived file named above; they are not cash prices, quotes or coverage decisions. Study results are quoted from published abstracts and are not advice for any individual case. Pricing and market research, not medical or dental advice.
Independent dental pricing research — every series carries a named source, and corrections are logged publicly. Not medical advice.