How many trips to Portugal are needed to have implants placed?
Two. In the course described by the Instituto AreLuna, a single implant takes two to three appointments plus about three months of osseointegration, and that interval is spent at home, without appointments — which gives one trip for the surgery and another for the tooth. For a full arch, the total does not change, but the reason does. The number of trips for a given case depends on a prior individual assessment and diagnosis.
Counting trips is counting money
This is the first confusion to clear up, and the one that leads people to buy too many tickets. An implant course is measured in appointments, not in trips: two to three, according to the Instituto AreLuna's description. Several of them fit into a single stay, a few days apart. How many appointments, and therefore how many stays, depends on a prior individual assessment and diagnosis. What really obliges a return is something else.
It is the osseointegration interval — the time the bone takes to attach to the titanium. That time is shortened neither by availability nor by appointments: it is biology, and it takes place away from the practice. The durations cited here are those the Instituto AreLuna describes, and they remain subject to a prior individual assessment and diagnosis.
In Switzerland, this count has a direct consequence for the budget. Basic insurance does not cover dental care in practice, so no journey is cushioned by anything: one more flight from Geneva is one more expense, in full. Knowing how many trips the treatment requires is already part of the calculation.
One tooth: the surgery, then the tooth months later
In the Instituto AreLuna's terms, the treatment consists of replacing a lost tooth with a titanium implant and a zirconia crown, planned from a 3D X-ray. The course has two parts separated by a wait: first the implant goes into the bone; once the osseointegration time has elapsed, which it puts at about three months, the visible tooth arrives. These time references are indicative and depend on a prior individual assessment and diagnosis.
Between the one and the other, nothing is scheduled in Portugal. The description is explicit on this point: osseointegration takes place at home, without appointments.
That leaves the length of each stay. For the first, the one for the surgery, the Instituto AreLuna states a minimum of three days: one for the assessment, one for the surgery, which generally takes place the day after the diagnostic consultation, and at least one for recovery before flying home. This minimum does not fix the length of a given case, which depends on a prior individual assessment and diagnosis; and since the practice is closed at weekends, these are three working days. For the second trip, no length is published.
A whole arch: the same two trips, for a different reason
When what is being replaced is an entire arch, with a fixed prosthesis on four or six implants, the timetable changes shape but not count. The Instituto AreLuna describes the course as one surgery plus two to three follow-up appointments, and the protocol provides for a provisional fixed prosthesis within 24 to 72 hours when the CBCT assessment confirms the conditions for immediate loading. Nothing is settled until there has been a prior individual assessment and diagnosis.
Everything lies in the word provisional. The prosthesis that closes the gap in the first days is not the one that stays: the final one arrives three to four months later, according to the Instituto AreLuna's description, and it is because of that one that there is a second trip. There too, the timescale is indicative and depends on a prior individual assessment and diagnosis.
The two cases do not add up and do not mix: they are two different timetables, with the same number of trips for different reasons.
Two trips for someone who was travelling anyway
This count interests above all anyone who is not making the journey because of the treatment. Someone living in French-speaking Switzerland who visits family already has, in an ordinary year, more than two trips in mind. The practical question becomes whether the trips already planned fall, or not, within the interval the treatment requires.
That calculation closes only with concrete dates on the table and after the examination. It begins with a call to +351 220 430 090 and ends with an assessment consultation at Rua de Júlio Dinis, 194, 4050-327 Porto, the address where the Instituto AreLuna's dental care is provided. The Instituto AreLuna is registered with the Entidade Reguladora da Saúde, the Portuguese health regulator, under number 161637 and holds licence 21593.
Frequently asked questions
Is it always two trips?
Two is what emerges from the course described by the Instituto AreLuna, for a single implant as for a full arch. It is not a rule valid for everyone: the number of trips for a case depends on a prior individual assessment and diagnosis, and some plans include extra stages, such as a bone graft, that only the examination reveals.
Does the interval between the two trips require appointments in Portugal?
According to the Instituto AreLuna's description, no: osseointegration takes place at home, without appointments. What to do in case of discomfort during this period is not answered on a page written for everyone: it depends on the case and on the instructions of whoever operated.
How many days does each trip take?
For the surgery trip, at least three days, on weekdays: assessment, surgery, then at least one day of recovery before the return flight. For the second, no length is published. In both cases, the real length depends on a prior individual assessment and diagnosis.
Which airport does one leave from?
Connections exist from Geneva, Zurich and Basel to Porto. From French-speaking Switzerland, Geneva is the airport most often used. Dental care is provided in Porto, at Rua de Júlio Dinis, 194.