Dental Implant Clinics - Anyone any recommendations?

sadie7

Hi,
I was wondering if anyone has any experience with / feedback for any of these dental implant clinics: Life Dental Implants, (Victoria, London) Watford Dental, or Brighton Implant Clinic?
They seem to be cheaper than the rest! Or maybe can anyone recommend any other clinic? I need two implants soon, and unfortunately money is an object..
Many thanks!!

Savvybunny2009

It may be advisable to speak to your dentist, they are likely to offer you treatment at a reasonable price or be able to recommend a good clinic.

Toothsmith

Dental implants need a lot of checking and good aftercare.

It's worth checking that your own dentist would be comfortable with this, and I would involve them in the decision making process of where you go to get them done as well.

There is nothing worse that a patient coming back to you for their regular check up and you find there is a whole load of new complicated treatment that has been carried out on them without you knowing they were planning it.

What's even worse is if the dentist finds that the work that's been done is - shall we say - probably not the best.

It puts that dentist in a very akward position.

welshdent

Also maintenance of them requires often additional equipment, much of which a GDP won't have so won't be able to maintain for you

motherofstudents

My dentist told me to go abroad for implants as it's cheaper but I'm not too keen on that. I didn't know that it might be difficult for a dentist to maintain them, mine certainly didn't say anything like that, he was quite enthusiastic and said they were better than a bridge or a mouthful of plastic. I've looked at those cheaper clinics and still undecided. It's a lot of money if they are not going to be fairly easy to look after...confused.

welshdent

The titanium is soft and can be damaged by conventional scaling instruments that we have access to. They must be de scaled by special instruments that are VERY expensive and there is no way I am paying for them - I tell any patients that have implants that they need to see the provider or a willing hygienist for any professional cleaning. If we damage the surface of the implant it can adversely affect the integration of the bone and may cause it to fail ... it would then be my fault and there is no way I am happy to accept that risk.

also they are not a screw in and forget solution. You must maintain them with excellent oral hygiene because they can get a form of gum disease called periimplantitis which basically causes them to be expelled from the body. If you have ANY problems with an implant while it is undergoing integration then your own dentist will not be able to help. You would need to see the provider. If that is someone abroad then it means hopping on a plane and that may be quite frequently. Its a pain when its in the UK. If you have problems and going back is not an option then more than likely you would have to see a UK based practitioner anyway and that would mean additional fees.

If anything were to go wrong it may be harder to get it dealt with as different countries have different registraion and indemnity approaches.

brook2jack

I find it incredible that a dentist would advise a patient to go abroad for a complex proceedure that takes many visits, over the course of months to do, that needs a patient to be close to treating dentist to deal with things that go wrong like loose temporaries and that requires maintainance on a regular basis.
Implants can be lost even easier than your own teeth and depending on why you lost your own teeth eg gum disease may need you to make radical changes in lifestyle and cleaning eg give up smoking , have 3 monthly hygiene visits etc.

There is a massive thread on implants abroad , have a read and also look at GDC advice(general dental council) on treatment abroad.

Toothsmith

welshdent wrote: »

The titanium is soft and can be damaged by conventional scaling instruments that we have access to. They must be de scaled by special instruments that are VERY expensive and there is no way I am paying for them

They just need plastic scaler tips, which aren't too bad expense wise, but they don't last more than 3 or 4 sessions.

That will mean the cost adds up, and I certainly wouldn't be able to fund it if my patients were expecting treatment on the NHS.

welshdent

Toothsmith wrote: »

They just need plastic scaler tips, which aren't too bad expense wise, but they don't last more than 3 or 4 sessions.

That will mean the cost adds up, and I certainly wouldn't be able to fund it if my patients were expecting treatment on the NHS.

I would still rather leave it to someone else who has training rather than botching a very expensive implant myself!

brook2jack

Problem is as soon as you touch an implant then you can become clinically partially liable for it. The advice from implant maintainance courses I've been on is xray , probe review but don't touch. If you spot perimplantitis refer back to person who placed implant to avoid the liability problem.