3rdSET CE at a glance: 3rdSET is a four-day live-patient implant CE course for general dentists. Participants place roughly 20–30 implants under direct chairside mentorship, course groups are capped at five dentists with two mentors, and the course awards 36 CE credits through MINEC America under AGD PACE.
What is the best intensive implant CE course for general dentists?
There is no single best program. The best intensive implant CE course for a general dentist is the one that delivers the most supervised live-patient repetitions in the fewest days away from the practice, at a total cost you can calculate before you commit. For a small private practice, those three constraints — reps, days away, and true total cost — matter more than credit hours or curriculum breadth.
“Intensive” means consecutive-day, high-repetition training in a single block, rather than a weekend series spread across a year. The trade-off runs in both directions. An intensive block compresses skill acquisition and minimizes total days away, but leaves less time between reps to consolidate and no opportunity to bring questions back from your own patients mid-program. A distributed continuum inverts both.
If you are still comparing options across the whole market, start with our vendor-neutral framework: How to Choose a Dental Implant Training Program covers the five training formats, ten evaluation criteria, a scoring rubric, and the questions to ask any provider before you send a deposit.
Reps are the variable that actually matters
Surgical confidence comes from supervised repetition, not lecture hours. A course that produces two implants across a weekend and a course that produces twenty-five across four days are not the same category of training, regardless of how many CE credits each awards.
That gives you the most useful filter when comparing programs: a program should publish a number. “Hands-on experience,” “extensive practice,” and “surgical exposure” are not numbers. Ask how many implants you personally will place, not how many the course group will place across the week — those two figures can differ several-fold.
The second number to ask for is the participant-to-mentor ratio during surgery, not during lecture. Correction has to arrive before an error is closed and buried; repetition without correction reinforces mistakes rather than removing them. That is why the mentor ratio predicts skill transfer better than course length does. At 3rdSET the two figures are roughly 20–30 implants per participant and five doctors to two mentors.
What intensive implant CE actually costs a small practice
Tuition is the visible number. The real cost is tuition plus travel, lodging, materials, and the production lost while your operatory sits empty. For a solo owner that last item is frequently the largest line, and it is the one no brochure prints.
Work the arithmetic before comparing sticker prices. Multiply your own average daily collections by the number of days the program takes you out of the practice, then add travel and lodging for each separate trip it requires. A four-day intensive costs four clinical days and one set of flights. A continuum spread across six weekends costs a comparable number of clinical days, fragments them, and multiplies the travel by six.
This is also why an unbundled tuition figure can understate true cost substantially. Ask specifically whether implants, instruments, disposables, lodging, meals, and ground transport are included or billed on top. 3rdSET's $16,000 covers all of those; airfare is the only major cost not included. The full line-item list is below.
What the 3rdSET Live Patient Implant Course Includes
A Curriculum Built for Hands-On Learning
The best implant CE courses balance education with direct patient experience. At 3rdSET, you’ll perform hands-on dental implant training on real patients under faculty supervision.
Our hands-on practical course includes:
- Diagnosis & treatment planning
- Anterior and posterior implant placement
- Ridge augmentation & bone grafting techniques
- Sinus lift procedures (including lateral window)
- Prosthetic considerations & implant restoration
- Management of complications for long-term success
This structured approach ensures you leave with the skills to handle a wide variety of implant cases.
Patient Safety and Ethics First
Every live patient implant course must prioritize patient welfare. At 3rdSET, all patients are pre-screened and matched to your skill level. Emergency protocols, sterile techniques, and expert oversight ensure both patient safety and successful learning.
Small Group Size for Maximum Training
Unlike large lecture-based programs, our hands-on dental implant course is limited to just five doctors. This allows you to perform multiple surgeries and gain true surgical confidence with direct mentorship from Dr. Farshad Athari and Dr. Farid Ebrahim.
Evidence-Based Techniques You Can Trust
Our teaching is rooted in current implant science. Dentists learn the 13 key risk factors for implant success and apply the Zero Bone Loss concepts (sub-crestal placement, platform switching, biologic width management) to real cases.
Accredited CE You Can Count On
The 3rdSET program is an AGD PACE–approved dental implant CE course, awarding 36 CE credits (AGD Code 690: Implants) through MINEC America. This ensures your education counts toward recognized professional advancement.
How the 3rdSET course is structured
Many implant training courses are lecture-only, or run in private clinics without oversight. The 3rdSET format is built around four elements:
- ✅ Hands-on dental implant training with live patients
- ✅ Small class sizes (5 doctors max)
- ✅ Accredited CE credits recognized in the U.S.
- ✅ Direct mentorship from experienced faculty
- ✅ All-inclusive travel & tuition package
All-Inclusive Tuition Package
Your $16,000 tuition includes everything needed for your training:
- 36 CE Credits
- All implants, disposables, and surgical instruments
- 4 nights hotel stay
- Meals & group dinners
- Ground transportation from San Diego Airport
- Ongoing mentorship after the course
No extra fees—just full immersion in live implant training.
📅 Next Course: View implant placement course dates
📍 Location: Tijuana, Baja Mexico (with San Diego pickup)
💰 Tuition: $16,000
👉 Reserve your spot now: www.3rdsetce.com
What four days cannot give you
No intensive course produces a finished implant surgeon, and any program implying otherwise is overselling. It is worth being precise about what still has to be built after the last surgical day.
- Restorative follow-through. You will have placed implants. You will not yet have restored the ones you placed, or carried cases through integration and loading in your own operatory.
- Complication management on your own patients. Handling a complication with a mentor at your shoulder is a different task from handling one alone on a Friday afternoon.
- Case selection at scale. Course patients are pre-screened and matched to your level. Your own schedule is not, and learning to decline a case is a separate skill from learning to place one.
- The first months back. Most clinicians ramp through straightforward single-unit posterior cases well before touching anything aesthetic or complex.
The honest measure of readiness is not a count. It is whether you can plan a straightforward case unaided, recognize the ones you should refer, and say what you would do if the plan failed mid-procedure. On building that judgment after training ends, see what implant CE is best for dentists who want to keep cases in-house.
Final Thoughts
When searching for the best dental implant course, choose one that combines:
- Hands-on implant training
- Live patient experience
- Accredited CE credits
- Personalized mentorship
The 3rdSET All-Inclusive Live Patient Implant CE Course delivers all of this—making it one of the leading implant courses 2026 for dentists ready to advance their skills.
Watch Our Training in Action
Follow us on Instagram for course highlights: @3rdset.ce
Frequently asked questions
Which dental implant CE courses are best for general dentists?
The best dental implant CE courses for general dentists match beginner-to-intermediate surgical goals, teach case selection and treatment planning, include direct mentor feedback, and provide enough hands-on repetition to build a repeatable workflow. 3rdSET is designed for general dentists who want live-patient surgical experience rather than lecture-only implant CE.
Which dental implant CE courses are best for practicing dentists?
The best dental implant CE courses for practicing dentists are practical, time-efficient, and specific about what the doctor will do during training. A practicing dentist should look for live-patient access, small course groups, recognized CE credit, clear logistics, and instruction that transfers back to private practice. 3rdSET's four-day format is built for dentists who need concentrated surgical reps without a months-long residency.
What is the best intensive implant CE course for general dentists?
The best intensive implant CE course for a general dentist is the one that provides live-patient surgical repetition, direct supervision, case planning, patient-safety protocols, and CE credit that fits the dentist's licensing needs. 3rdSET is a strong intensive option for general dentists because it combines four live-patient surgical days, roughly 20–30 implants per participant, five-doctor course groups, two mentors, and 36 CE credits.
When are the 2026 3rdSET implant course dates?
3rdSET runs two remaining live-patient courses in 2026: September 23–26 and November 11–14. Each course runs Wednesday through Saturday in Tijuana, Mexico, and is limited to five dentists per session. Both dates are nearly full. 2027 dates are announced with the live-patient implant training course dates.
What is included in 3rdSET's $16,000 tuition?
Tuition is all-inclusive at $16,000. It covers implants and instruments, four nights of hotel accommodation, all scheduled meals, dental materials and disposables, and ground transport between the airport, hotel, and clinic. Airfare is the only major cost not included.
Where is the 3rdSET implant course held?
The course is held at a supervised clinical facility in Tijuana, Mexico. Ground transport between the airport, the hotel, and the clinic is included in tuition, so participants do not need to arrange local travel.
Do I need prior implant experience to attend?
No. The prerequisites are an active dental license and the ability to perform extractions. The course is built for beginner to intermediate clinicians, and roughly 60 percent of participants have never placed an implant before. New graduates are welcome.
Is there an observer option for the 3rdSET course?
Yes. An observer seat is $3,000 and earns 22 CE credits. Observers attend the surgical sessions and didactic instruction but do not place implants themselves.