Are dental bridges included on the NHS?

boatman

I recently went to the dentist with a upper front tooth that was replaced by a crown about 6 years ago, the root is now broken and will not hold the crown in place. I was told i could not get a bridge on the NHS and it would have to be private, what other choices do i have for this tooth??

welshdent

Well you CAN have a bridge on the NHS if its deemed clinically necessary. However you can also have a denture which is a suitable NHS option and achieves the basic goal of filling the gap. Your adjacent teeth may not be suitable to support a bridge - impossible to say one way or the other without seeing you. You would need to leave the space for a few months to heal before getting a fixed replacement so that may mean a period in a denture anyway. Other options for space filling are implants

brook2jack

On the NHS all you are entitled to is what secures oral health. It is very unlikely that most practices will offer anything other than a denture which is what you would have to wear anyway after having a tooth out to let the gum heal.

It may be possible to do a bridge on the NHS for the front tooth depending on the clinical situation but as a denture would fill the gap it is very unlikely you would get it done.

for this situation implants are not available on the NHS.

Privately it may be possibly to do a bridge (a few hundred pounds) but it depends on the health of the surrounding teeth or it may be possible to do an implant (circa £2000) again depending on quality of bone.

coldstreamalways

Realistically, a denture is your NHS option. As ^ and ^^ have said.

boatman

If you have implants how long do you have to wait before they can be fitted?

brook2jack

Implants come in three"bits"
A the implant itself which is the equivalent of a root. This might be fitted as the root comes out or after if there us infection. This is normally left to heal for a couple of months and you wear a temporary bridge or denture.

B the superstructure which is screwed into the implant a few months after , and a temporary crown fitted

C a permanent crown which is fitted when gum etc is satisfactory.

So it is normally a couple of months before all of the implant restoration is fitted.