Who Should Place Your Dental Implant in Washington, DC?

Practice clinician: Gerald M. Marlin, DMD, MSD, prosthodontist, Elite Prosthetic Dentistry, Friendship Heights, Washington, DC. Last updated October 30, 2026.

Dental implant placement can be performed by clinicians with different training backgrounds: oral and maxillofacial surgeons, periodontists, prosthodontists with surgical training, and general dentists with implant coursework. The appropriate choice depends on the planned restoration, the anatomy, the patient’s medical needs and the individual clinician’s surgical experience. A prosthodontic qualification establishes specialty training in the restoration and replacement of teeth; the clinician’s implant surgical preparation and case experience should be verified in addition to the title.

Patients in Washington, DC usually meet this question in one of two ways. A general dentist recommends an implant and refers out for the surgery, and the patient wants to know who should do it. Or the patient has been researching on their own, sees practices described as surgeons, periodontists, implant centers and prosthodontists, and cannot tell which description fits their situation. This guide explains what each training path prepares a clinician to do, why the final tooth should decide the surgery, and what to ask the person who will actually hold the handpiece.

Three Specialties, and the Individual Behind the Title

• Oral and maxillofacial surgeons complete a hospital-based surgical residency. Their training covers extractions, bone grafting, sinus procedures, implant placement, anesthesia and management of medically complex patients. Most do not design or make the final teeth; a restorative dentist does that.
• Periodontists specialize in the gums and the bone that support teeth and implants. Their training covers implant placement, grafting, soft-tissue procedures and the treatment of disease around implants. Like surgeons, most periodontists refer the restoration to another dentist.
• Prosthodontists specialize in the replacement and restoration of teeth: crowns, bridges, dentures, implant restorations and full-mouth reconstruction. The residency is restorative in focus. Some prosthodontists also place implants, having added surgical training and experience to the specialty; many do not.
• General dentists may place implants after continuing-education courses. Experience varies widely from one practice to another.

The title tells you what the residency covered. It does not tell you how many implants that particular person has placed in bone like yours, in a position like yours, or how they handle the case when the bone is thinner than the scan suggested. Those are questions for the individual.

The Restoration Comes Before the Operation

An implant is a root for a tooth that does not exist yet. Its position, depth and angle decide whether the final crown can look like a tooth, whether the gum will sit where it should, whether the area can be cleaned, and how bite forces will load it. For that reason, the plan should begin with the final restoration and work backward to the surgery, not the other way around.

This is the practical reason the surgical and restorative roles need to be connected. When one office places and another restores, the connection has to be built deliberately: a shared CBCT plan, an agreed implant position, a surgical guide where the anatomy calls for one, and a clear understanding of what happens if the surgeon has to deviate from the plan. When the same practice does both, that coordination is structural, but it still has to be done well. Neither model guarantees a good result; both can produce one.

Anatomy and Medical Complexity

Some situations weigh toward a surgeon or a hospital setting regardless of who will restore the implant: extensive grafting, procedures near the nerve or the sinus that require advanced surgical management, patients with significant medical conditions, and cases that need general anesthesia rather than sedation. Other situations, such as an implant in the visible front of the mouth where a few degrees of angulation decide how the tooth looks, weigh toward restorative control of the position, whoever performs the surgery. A good evaluation says which of these applies to you.

One Practice, or a Coordinated Team

Both arrangements work. What matters is a single plan that someone is accountable for. In a team arrangement, ask which office owns the plan, how the surgeon receives the restorative design, and who you call if the crown does not fit. In an arrangement where one practice places and restores, ask the same questions about what the practice does when a case needs a procedure outside its scope.

Questions to Ask the Person Who Will Operate

1. Who is placing the implant, and what training and experience support that?
2. How was the implant position decided, and by whom? Was it planned from the final tooth?
3. Was a CBCT scan taken, and will a surgical guide be used? Why or why not?
4. What alternatives were considered: keeping the tooth, a bridge, a different number of implants?
5. If the bone is not what the scan suggested, what changes, and who decides?
6. Who restores the implant, and have the surgeon and restoring dentist agreed on the plan?
7. What is the maintenance plan after the final tooth, and who is responsible if a component loosens?

How Elite Prosthetic Dentistry Approaches It

Elite Prosthetic Dentistry is a prosthodontic specialty practice in Friendship Heights, Washington, DC. Dr. Gerald M. Marlin plans, surgically places and restores dental implants in the practice. He has placed more than 3,900 dental implants, holds 9 U.S. patents in dental implant restoration methodology, and works with the practice’s in-house dental laboratory, operating since 1985, on the final restoration. Every implant case is planned on a CBCT scan, with surgical guides where the anatomy, esthetics or nerve and sinus proximity call for them. The surgical position and the final restoration are planned together, so the implant is placed where the tooth needs it.

The practice tends to be a strong fit when the implant must coordinate with existing crowns, bridges or a bite that needs rebuilding; when the implant sits in a visible area; when a previous implant has failed and the cause has to be understood before anything is placed again; and when the patient wants the planning, surgery and restoration under one accountable plan.

When Another Setting Fits Better

A straightforward single implant in a patient with a trusted general dentist and a reliable surgical colleague is often well served by that team. Major surgical or anesthesia needs may favor an oral-surgical or hospital setting. Active periodontal disease may require a periodontist’s treatment before any implant is considered. Elite Prosthetic Dentistry does not handle every circumstance internally, and the evaluation will say so when another setting is the better choice.

Documented Cases That Show the Decision

• A front tooth lost to childhood trauma rebuilt with bone grafting and a single implant, where the crown design determined the implant position.
• A surgical plan carried out with minimal trauma, illustrating how planning before surgery shapes the operation itself.
• Failing lateral incisor implants replaced with custom zirconia bridges, a case where another implant was not the chosen answer.

More cases are collected in the implant reconstruction success story hub.

Related Decision Guides

• Dental Implants and Your Medical History
• What Determines the Cost, and How to Compare Two Quotes
• What does “dental implant specialist” mean, and how do you verify it?
• How to choose a dental implant provider for a complex case
• Split-site implant care vs. integrated surgical-restorative planning
• What kind of dentist should fix a failing dental implant?

Request an Implant Evaluation

If you would like an evaluation that begins with the tooth you need and works back to the surgery, request an appointment or call (202) 244-2101. Bring any existing scans, X-rays or treatment plans; they are part of the evaluation.