Questions about Dental crowns

System

Toothsmith wrote:

Up until April 1st 2006. After that it will only cost you £183.

Bear in mind though that after April 1st, a dentist won't be paid any more for doing a crown than doing a filling, so the chances of persuading him to do all of them at the same time will be zilch.

Especially as the dentist will have to pay for the construction of the crown(s).

Thats a bit tough on the ole dentist i think. I didnt mind forking out £300 - £400 for a set of 5 as long as it was a good job - which would have been far cheaper than i imagined.

I expect for that price, the workmanship on the crowns will suffer. Another thing? How do i know they will need replacing? Especially if the dentist is reluctant to replace them because of the price/cost.

Toothsmith

You need to be able to trust your dentist's judgement.

I personally think that will be much impaired by the new NHS contract.

(Both the trust, and the judgement.)

Davidboy

Well thank you all very much for starting this thread!!! After I had made my comments last week, I broke a tooth, the whole side came away. Managed to get the see the dentist today and yes I got to have another flippen crown, going to cost £215 and two appointments...lovely!!

Not so much moneysaving, but costing me, Should have kept my mouth shut!!


D

Voyager2002

After waiting for years I finally have an NHS dentist near to me. But in the meantime the treatment costs have escalated! I have just been told that I need a crown, and this puts me in the top bracket for treatment costs -- virtually 200 pounds!

So, is it likely that a private dentist would charge less for this particular piece of work? Do I have to ring round getting quotes, as if they were plumbers? Has anyone here ever had any success haggling with private dentists, any tips?

Teerah

Its unlikely to cost less than this, however it may not cost much more either and you may find that the private practitioner is able to spend more time with you.

Toothsmith

Is price the most important thing to you, or does the quality of the finished product come into the equation?

A decent crown should last you 10+ years, where the + can be anything up to another 20 or more!

The thing is, you can't really look at it as just the crown.

If something going wrong with the crown is spotted very early, a little repair would keep it going for a good while longer. If something going wrong isn't spotted until it is too late, then you've lost the tooth.

Now, in what situation are you likely to have something spotted early?

1. Where the dentist spends 15-20 minutes each time you have a routine check-up, takes x-rays routinely every couple of years, monitors not only the condition of the teeth, but looks at the health of the supporting structures as well, and generally has a GOOD look round, or

2. Where you spend 2 mins in the chair, of which 20 sec is going down and 20 sec is going up again, dentist flashes round with a mirror doesn't ask you a single question, and says "Seems OK - NEXT!"

Choosing a dentist should be a long term relationship, with someone you trust to look after your interests.

Price is obviously important - it's no good if you can't afford it, but you should be looking for the best care you can afford.

This isn't always the most expensive, but it is rarely the cheapest.

Do not 'phone round' for quotes, but visit practices. Only by doing this do you get a feel for whether the service justifies the price.

The service may be expensive, but it should ALWAYS feel like you're getting value for money.

TurnaroundSue

Toothsmith - are you a dentist? Maybe you could answer my question - I had a crown and 5 veneers 6 years ago and since then one has split in half, one has discoloured, one has fallen off altogether and the crown has now got a ridge going along 2/3 way down the tooth. If they are meant to last as long as 10 years+, do you think I should go back to my original dentist and see what he can do?

At the moment I am between dentists - not much faith in my old one, and trying to find a good private dentist. I also had all my fillings replaced at the same time as my veneers and because of this I cannot use an NHS dentist. It is my biggest regret having my veneers done as it changed my smile completely (now more 'horsey' looking as only front top 6 teeth done) and now cannot afford to have the veneers/crown sorted now as it is too darned expensive. At the time it was £125 per veneer, but now I believe it is somewhere in the region of £500 :eek: :eek:

Any advice would be gratefully received - thank you

Toothsmith

Yes - I am.

Have you seen the original dentist since the crown & veneer were done?

If not, he's not really obliged to do anything about it, as you've not let him look after them and review them.

I would never guarantee anything for more than 5 years, although I would hope that stuff I did would last 10 + years.

There are just too many variables in the mouth. (People eat many different things in many different ways with hugely different bite forces)

There was an elderly lady I made a couple of veneers for a few years ago. It was only after the second one broke that I discovered she liked nothing better than knawing the meat of her chops off the bone!!

If people ask me for veneers the first thing I look at is their fingernails. People who bite their fingernails have no chance of successfully having veneers.

There was also a young lady several years ago who I had problems with cracking veneers, and she was grinding her teeth at night - which I didn't pick up on before I made them (I normally do!!!)

So - If I had a patient and we encountered problems with a treatment I'd done, then I would fix it, but only providing they came back to me regularly and allowed me to monitor things. (These are the only 2 problems I can think of over the past years - but I do spend a lot of time looking for potential problems before I committ to the treatment)

If I had a patient who came back after several years with problems, I'd not be inclined to do anything, unless there were circumstances that had made it impossible for them to come regularly for check ups with me.

The bit about not being able to have an NHS dentist is wrong, everybody is entitled to an NHS dentist (Ha Ha!!) If you mean that you had your fillings changed to white, and this won't be available on the NHS, then that is corect.

The final bit about the cost of new veneers is a bit innacurate.

You could probably find a dentist who will do veneers for £125.

The thing you have to think of though is that it isn't the 'veneer' you're paying for - it's the time you're in the chair.

If you have been unhappy with these veneers it's probably because the dentist didn't spend enough time with you looking for the potential problems and discussing just how you wanted them to look.

Some of the - what you might call - expensive places even have a 'try in' stage to the veneer where it is cemented on temporarily prior to final fixing.

To do this though can push the cost over £1000 per veneer. It's chair time, not the bit of porcelain that really costs the money. (I don't do try ins for veneers, but I do try to get a result the patient is happy with and that won't fall to bits quickley.)

TurnaroundSue

Wow thanks Toothsmith for spending the time and giving me such a comprehensive reply :T

I did go back to my dentist for a few years after on a regular 6 monthly basis, but I just didn't feel comfortable with him and so haven't been for a couple of years now. I did mention quite early on about one of my veneers becoming discoloured and he said that it was because the back of my tooth was badly stained and it was the staining that was showing through - then he had that it might have been better if he had stuck a crown in in the first place :mad: I never did anything about it though as that meant more money :eek:

So basically if I find a dentist who charges, say, £125 then the final result will not be as good as one who charges more and I will not have spent enough 'chair time' so to speak - is this correct?

I did speak to a dental student once and he said that I could phone up the local university and arrange for a student to do the work (which of course would be overlooked by his tutor) - have you ever heard of this? Would this be a good option?

Many thanks once again - all your advice is truely appreciated :beer:

Toothsmith

TurnaroundSue wrote:

So basically if I find a dentist who charges, say, £125 then the final result will not be as good as one who charges more and I will not have spent enough 'chair time' so to speak - is this correct?

Sort of.

If it's straight forward, and there aren't any complicating factors to look out for, then you'd get away with someone who didn't spend a lot of time looking for complications!

From what you say though, things haven't lasted as well as they should have done, so you really need to find out why and make sure it doesn't happen again.

As well as that, you could do with getting them done in a way that you are happy with this time.

TurnaroundSue wrote:

I did speak to a dental student once and he said that I could phone up the local university and arrange for a student to do the work (which of course would be overlooked by his tutor) - have you ever heard of this? Would this be a good option?

If you can get a dental student to do the work, you will get an awful lot of time! It takes ages as every stage has to be checked by the tutor.

On the plus side it won't cost you anything.

If he can get you in and do it (And you trust him!!) it may be a good option.