Time off work for All-on-6: counting the days

Most cost guides stop at the treatment price and the flights. If you are retired, that is fine. If you are still working, especially for yourself, the days away are a cost too, sometimes a bigger one than the hotel. This article helps you count them and plan them so they cost as little as possible.

How the time breaks down

The Oral Health Foundation says implant healing usually takes around four months. During that time you live and work normally, with some care over what you eat, so the time off is concentrated in the two trips and the days after the first.

Counting the cost

If you have paid leave

The cost is the leave itself. Two trips of around a week each, plus a few days after the first, can use a large share of a year's holiday. Some people spread the trips across two leave years, which the four-month gap often allows. If you have to take unpaid leave for part of it, count that as money.

If you are self-employed

Count the earnings you lose for each day you cannot work, including travel days and recovery days. For some people this is the largest single item after the treatment itself. Put it in the calculator's "other travel costs" line so it is part of your true total.

If you are paid by the shift or hour

Count the shifts you will miss. If you can swap shifts around the trips, the cost may be small.

Recovery after the first trip

How you feel after implant surgery varies. Some people are back at a desk within a day or two of getting home; others want most of a week, particularly after extractions and surgery on both jaws. Physical jobs, heavy lifting or a lot of talking, such as teaching or customer-facing work, may need more time. Your dentist can tell you what to expect for your case.

A sensible plan is to fly home a day or two before you need to be back at work, rather than the evening before. The cost of one more day of leave is usually less than the cost of returning to work too soon.

Comparing with treatment in the UK

Treatment near home needs less time away per appointment, but usually more appointments spread over the treatment. If your UK dentist is local, each visit may cost only a few hours. When you compare a UK quote with one from abroad, add the time cost to both: travel days and recovery for treatment abroad; the hours for each appointment for treatment at home. For self-employed people, this can narrow the gap more than they expect. The calculator lets you add the time cost to the overseas side.

Planning your dates

1. Ask the clinic for the length of each trip for your case, in writing.
2. Book the first trip before a quieter period at work, so the days after it are easier.
3. Pencil in the second trip about four months later as soon as the clinic gives a date. Booking early often makes flights cheaper too.
4. Avoid tight connections with work. A spare day at the end of each trip absorbs delays.
5. Keep a little flexibility in case healing takes longer or the dentist wants one more check before you fly.

An example

A self-employed person earning, say, £150 a day takes six working days for the first trip including travel, three days' recovery and five working days for the second trip. That is fourteen working days, or about £2,100 of lost earnings. Added to the treatment and travel, it is a large number, and one that belongs in the comparison with a UK quote. Someone with paid leave, by contrast, might count the same days as holiday and spend nothing extra.

Illustrative figures only. Your days and earnings will differ.

Sick leave

If you might need time off sick after surgery, check your employer's sickness policy before you go, and ask your employer what evidence it would want for an absence following treatment abroad. Ask the clinic for a written note of the dates and treatment, which you can show if needed.

Reducing the time away

• Travel on a day that is not a working day where possible.
• Send X-rays in advance so the plan can be prepared before you arrive.
• Ask whether any appointments can be grouped to shorten the trip.
• Choose flights that arrive early enough to start the same day, if the clinic allows.

Do not try to shorten the clinical side. The time between steps, especially before the final teeth, exists for good reasons.

Working from home and phone-based jobs

If you work at a computer, you may be able to work for part of the trip, or soon after returning. Bear in mind that for a few days after surgery your speech may be affected by swelling and the new temporary teeth, which matters for jobs that involve a lot of talking. Plan calls and meetings for later in the week after you get home, and keep the first day or two light if you can. Speech usually adapts as you get used to the teeth.

What to tell your employer

You do not need to share details of your treatment. What helps is giving clear dates for both trips well in advance, a realistic return date after the first trip with a small buffer, and an idea of whether you will be reachable. If the second-trip date moves, let them know early.

Questions to ask the clinic about timing

• How many days will each trip take for my case?
• When is the earliest I can fly home after surgery?
• How many days should I allow before returning to work?
• How far ahead can you confirm the date of the second trip?

The bottom line

For working people, All-on-6 abroad usually costs two trips' worth of days plus a few days of recovery. If those days are paid leave, plan them carefully; if they are lost earnings, count them in your total. Either way, add them to the calculator next to flights and hotel, so the comparison with a UK quote is fair. For the healing months between trips, see costs between your two trips, and for travel in general, travel costs.

Common questions

How many days off do I need for All-on-6?

Plan for the length of each trip plus travel days, and a few days' recovery at home after the first trip. Your dentist can tell you what to expect for your case.

Can I go back to work straight after the first trip?

Some people do, especially in desk jobs. Others prefer a few days, as swelling and tiredness can last. Ask your dentist and plan a buffer if you can.

Is the second trip easier to fit around work?

Usually. It involves fittings rather than surgery, so most people return to work straight afterwards.

Should I tell my employer why I am away?

That is your choice. If you may need sick leave after surgery, check your employer's policy and what evidence it needs before you go.

Sources

1. Oral Health Foundation — Dental implants
2. NHS — Treatment abroad checklist
3. Precious Dental — All-on-4 and All-on-6

Checked October 2026. Where we give our own view as a clinic, we say so.