Questions about Dental crowns

anniewoo

Toothsmith-you say that crowns last 10+ years,well I am getting a bit worried now.

I have crowns on 4 of my front teeth and I have had them for at least 25 years.There have been no problems with them during that time and I have regular 6 monthly check-ups,but now I am a bit concerned that they are all at the end of their lives and I could lose them at any time.I have always been careful when biting into hard or crunchy food in case I break one.

I am with an NHS dentist and I really can't afford to replace 4 crowns at the moment.Can you give me any reassurance on this?

Toothsmith

No!!

10 yrs is an average. To get that average, there are those that last shorter, and those that last longer.

If you have the regular check-ups, then any early signs of failure will be spotted, and so far you've been fine.

Sometimes, the cement can fail, and then the crown just falls off, but it can easily and cheaply be recemented.

Sorry about the bluntness at the start, but S*ds law applies all the time in dentistry, and if I say it will probably last for ages, you can guarantee it will fall off tomorrow!!!

alared

Is there any difference in the quality of a NHS crown compared to a "private" one?

Opinions please.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=445491&in_page_id=1770

domdent

NHS crowns are provided within a fixed budget
This means thaey are the cheapest available

Private crowns are provided with no limit to cost apart from what the pateint will pay this should mean better crowns.

The quality and look of a porcelain crown is determined by the quality of the materials and the time spent making them.

Standard NHS crown costs from £17.00 to £35 to be made

Private crown £70.00 to £200 to be made.

The quality of the fit is determined by how good the dentist is and how long he spends on the preparation and impressions . I like to have a 1 hour for a single tooth preparation, we use a microscope to check the preparation and use the latest impression material

Toothsmith

There really isn't any such thing as an 'NHS' crown.

Dentists work within the budgets they have to provide treatment.

NHS budgets are cut to the bear minimum, and then cut a little bit more.

If a dentist working within the NHS has to provide a crown for a patient, he has to find a lab that will provide it within the budget he has, or make a loss on it.

If the patient is paying much more for it themselves (Privately) then he has much more flexibility over the technicians and materials he can use.

Some NHS dentists have opted to get lab work done abroad. Some have just cut down drastically on the number of items of lab work they provide for patients.

Either way, it is having a drastic impact on local dental laboratories, which is where the article has come from.

So - is there a difference between an NHS crown and a private one?

If the private dentist is doing his job correctly, there certainly should be!

mda99das

or the other way of looking at it now is we have EU dentists, why dont we push the boat out and get EU technicains. They wont have language probs...

I know one person that is working for £4.90 a UDA

amateur_saver

I would suggest getting a 'private' one done..... it was only £30 difference and was a really splendid job. I think that I felt better thinking that it will last me a life time and as there wasn't much difference I have a lovely porcelain one which is superb. Personal choice I know but I think for the sake of a few quid I would never scrimp on my health.

A_S xx

nibs

domdent wrote: »

NHS crowns are provided within a fixed budget
This means thaey are the cheapest available

Private crowns are provided with no limit to cost apart from what the pateint will pay this should mean better crowns.

The quality and look of a porcelain crown is determined by the quality of the materials and the time spent making them.

Standard NHS crown costs from £17.00 to £35 to be made

Private crown £70.00 to £200 to be made.

The quality of the fit is determined by how good the dentist is and how long he spends on the preparation and impressions . I like to have a 1 hour for a single tooth preparation, we use a microscope to check the preparation and use the latest impression material

Thats interesting as I have been told that my nhs crown will cost £190

I had two crowns done 25 years ago, one private and one nhs.
The private one is a deeper gold colour, the nhs one looks more silver than gold. But as for quality, the private one developed a hole in it recently but the nhs one is still going strong.
Both have lasted longer than I was told they would.

Toothsmith

The cost to you of NHS treatment now bears no relationship to how much money the dentist is being paid for NHS work.

A bit like prescription charges. Where you can pay £6.90 for something like antibiotics which cost pence.

As for the 25 year old crowns. - 25 years ago, you could still get a decent job on the NHS! If only funding had kept pace over those years, there wouldn't be the problems there are now.

Teerah

amateur_saver wrote: »

I would suggest getting a 'private' one done..... it was only £30 difference and was a really splendid job. I think that I felt better thinking that it will last me a life time and as there wasn't much difference I have a lovely porcelain one which is superb. Personal choice I know but I think for the sake of a few quid I would never scrimp on my health.

A_S xx

I hope you weren't misled into thinking your private crown would last a lifetime?! If it was carefully prepared, expertly crafted and correctly fitted allowing for your own individual "bite" and if you take great care to keep it clean etc etc then it should certainly last a long time but nothing in dentistry is guaranteed to last a lifetime except for your own teeth with good care.