Dental work

boydE

I havent reallylookedafter my teeth, theyre not disgusting and I have all my front ones and few back ones still.
The problem with my front ones are that i have 2 filings( in seperate teeth )
They are a different colour to the rest of my tooth.
I also have a prominent dot on one of them plus staining what the dentist cant get rid of, i normally have 2 cleans a year.
Im always gettin comments of the family and me makes me paranoid and i ill not smile in photos.

I am on the NHS dentist, my dentist does both NHS and private.

Fillings, crowns?

Toothsmith

Bit hard to say without the benefit of being able to see you.

Filling could do it, so could crowns, but can't say which would be the best without looking.

Best to ask your own dentist.

boydE

when would a dentist opt for a crown over a filling or could a patience insist on whichever he chooses and how many crowns/fillings could i get under 1 payment?

jugglebug

boydE wrote: »

when would a dentist opt for a crown over a filling or could a patience insist on whichever he chooses and how many crowns/fillings could i get under 1 payment?

If the work is for cosmetic reasons only the dentist is under no obligation to provide anything under the NHS as it is not clinically necessary, and the NHS contract aims to provide dental health, not good looks.

As for where you choose filling or crown, well the list of reasons is huge and impossible to go into on this sort of forum. Can you insist on one form of treatment over another? Simple answer is no. If the clinician gives you options then you can choose, but if they believe that option 1 is fine and option 2 is unnecessary you cant force them to go for option 2 as legally and ethically they have to stand by work they carry out. It is no defence against the powers that be to say "but the patient wanted it" as they are seen to be the folks with the specialist knowledge to know when something is inappropriate.

Toothsmith

You can get anything 'necessary' done under one payment.

Reasons for choosing one way of fixing a tooth over another are too complex to go into, but will depend on the state of the tooth and the surrounding teeth.

Patient should be told the pros/cons of the various ways that things can be done, and the final treatment plan should be an agreement between dentist and patient. It's pretty pointless 'insisting' on something if the dentist doesn't think it's the right thing to do. Chances are you'd just be told to go and find a different dentist more in tune with your own ideas.

boydE

ok guys, thanks for your input. I am not going to insist on things

another scenario

i go in as a private patient

and I insist that i want certain teeth sorted, are the fees much higher or are they capped like the NHS system?

Toothsmith

You're insisting again!!

Private fees aren't capped, but can vary a lot from practice to practice. I City Centre 'Cosmetic' practice is going to be a lot dearer than a private practice in a small country market town.

SandC

I had my two front teeth crowned for cosmetic reasons, they were crooked and one had a filling and around the filling the enamel had gone. They looked horrid and as if I hadn't looked after my teeth and I was stopping smiling never mind photos.

They are now wonderful, I had no idea it was just those two ruining my whole mouth but my new ones match the ones next to perfectly.

Anyway, I am an NHS customer with my dentist but this was cosmetic at my request so it was private work. It cost me £325 per tooth so £650 all in but the question of cost for private work is like asking how long a piece of string is. Some will charge £1000 per tooth. I'm not even sure what mine are made of but I don't think it's porcelain.

Your best bet is to ask him what your options are. I'm sure that something can be done within NHS to improve the look of them but if your funds won't reach to cosmetic private work you may be limited.

Best £650 I ever spent I can tell you.