Dentists - Dental Implant - Options

mither_2

Hello,

I wonder if anyone might have any advice on dentistry.

I had root canal surgery on my lateral incisor many years ago (this is a tooth adjacent to the two front teeth at top and is therefore highly visible). I was warned it would be weakened after this and it snapped off last week.

I've been to my local dentist and have been told the options are as follows:

1) Denture
£225 and can be completed within a week.
Looks OK from a distance and fastest and cheapest option. I may decide to go for an implant later.
Downside is that have to have a denture in my mouth and that it doesn't look particularly good.
Doubtful that I can eat anything tough with the denture.

2) Sticky bridge
£450 and will take a minimum of 2 weeks to be fitted
It will work well and can be very closely colour matched to my other teeth
May last 5 years but may just as easily fall out after 6 months and I'd then have to pay for it to be refitted.
Wouldn't be strong enough to bit in to a lot of things.

3) Dental implant
£2500 and would take 6 months at least and require more than one visit to the dentist.
The expense of this is a big problem. I could live with having a temporary tooth between the two pieces of work (implant into top of mouth and addition of the tooth)
The cost is more than I can afford (though I could get it done on interest free credit by the surgery apparently) and i have some important meetings and presentations coming up in less than two weeks for which it would be great not too have a gap.

My thinking is to have the denture for now as I require this treatment urgently and then have the implant at a later date.

I'm told that an implant should cost £2000 - £2500 but annoying ly after having the tooth reviewed mine would cost the top end at £2500. I have already paid £100 for the implant expert to provide this analysis but I'm still awaiting his full report.

Without having the treatment on the NHS it would cost £6000. Is there anything to be gained from getting prices from different NHS dentists? Could the price vary between one dentist and another?

My current plan is get the denture and then have the implant at a later date when I can afford it.

I have heard mixed reviews about having such work done in Hungary. I understand that it is much cheaper (?) there but there is also a risk involved as their standards may not be as high?

Does anyone have advice/experience of this situation?

If it really came down to it I could get the work done on interest free at the dentist but don't like this option as I still have to pay it back and it is a lot of money for me.

Any advice would be great. If you have any recommendations for dentists in the UK, Hungary or elsewhere that would be great too.

Many thanks

welshdent

Firstly I would strongly advise against going abroad. I have polish patients that are gobsmacked patients from here go there for work. You have little if any recourse if it goes wrong, I have seen some truly shocking treatments done but the practices shrugs its shoyulders at failing, unintegrated implants. Get it done right. If you have work done in this country you do not have to fund flights to another country to get it looked at. You can arrange the essential maintenance in terms of the cleaning needed and if anything goes spectacularly wrong there are many ways you can get redress. I personally will not be able to maintain an implant beyond a few x rays. I am not trained in them beyond the basics and I do not have the appropriate equipment to clean them. My patients that I refer for them see the placing practitioner for maintenance and follow ups.,

You would be very hard pressed to find a local dentist that is happy to look after implants placed abroad.

I am curious as to where the £6000 came from? You said that you were quoted £2500 ish ... how has that more than doubled?
Implants are not available on the NHS unless very strict criteria are met so I dont think seeing more NHS dentists is the answer for you. Few do them and those that do would only be able to place them privately. For a single implant £2500 is reasonably standard from what I see.
The only thing that a different dentist is likely to propose is a slightly cheaper bridge .... but thats not a guarantee. You could try getting treatment in Wales where the patient charges are lower than England ... Scotland could be an option if you can get there as they are still fee per item. But you are faced with the same problems.

As an aside and not directed at you OP .... It is a common misconception that we dentists are all rip off merchants in the UK. If you were to look at a pricing spread of costs from around the world for private care you would probably see we are actually quite low. I have a friend that lives in Australia. It was cheaper for them to fly back here, have their private root filling down at their parents dentist then fly back as opposed to having it done there. In the states I know of reports where someone had an accident and the emergency care for extraction and a denture cost £3000. The difference here is the artificial prices set by government with the NHS as a comparison to private fees.

Julie67

Hi Mither,

I've had 3 teeth removed between my incisor and my back teeth on the right hand side.
Long story short I have now been diagnosed with Trigeminal neuralgia and take regular medication which keeps it under control.
Obviously I now have a gap which I've had a small denture made for. It looks fantastic and you would never know it was there.
However it is impossible to eat with so I have to remove it whenever I am eating and as you can imagine this is not always convenient.
I am very self conscious of the gap and so feel I have to wear the dentures.
I would love the implants but cannot afford them. To me it is extortionate to have to pay £2500 per implant so unless I win the lottery I'm stuck with the dentures. £2500 may be reasonably standard but it is way beyond most ordinary peoples income.
Hope you get sorted one way or another Mither.

madget_2

I'm currently nearing the final stages of a dental implant procedure. It's being done privately and I required a bone graft in addition, so that there was enough bone to place the implant.


The cost has been nowhere near £6000 - that sounds pretty shockingly high for a single implant, I think. Mine is a front tooth, but on the lower jaw.


There's no way I'd want to have it done abroad. As welshdent pointed out, what would happen in the event of a problem or complication?


I'd go to at least a couple of more dental implant specialists before making your decision. Because I went privately (due to some horrendous experiences on the NHS in the last few years), I did have to pay for a consultation beforehand. I tried 2 different dentists and went with the one with the longest experience with implants, best accredited and in whom I had the most faith. It helped considerably that friends and neighbours rate him very highly. So try to get a recommendation if at all possible.


This can be an expensive and is a specialised procedure, so it's worth doing plenty of research and doing your utmost to pick the right dental specialist.

Reams

mither wrote: »

Hello,

I wonder if anyone might have any advice on dentistry.

I had root canal surgery on my lateral incisor many years ago (this is a tooth adjacent to the two front teeth at top and is therefore highly visible). I was warned it would be weakened after this and it snapped off last week.

I've been to my local dentist and have been told the options are as follows:

1) Denture
£225 and can be completed within a week.
Looks OK from a distance and fastest and cheapest option. I may decide to go for an implant later.
Downside is that have to have a denture in my mouth and that it doesn't look particularly good.
Doubtful that I can eat anything tough with the denture.

2) Sticky bridge
£450 and will take a minimum of 2 weeks to be fitted
It will work well and can be very closely colour matched to my other teeth
May last 5 years but may just as easily fall out after 6 months and I'd then have to pay for it to be refitted.
Wouldn't be strong enough to bit in to a lot of things.

3) Dental implant
£2500 and would take 6 months at least and require more than one visit to the dentist.
The expense of this is a big problem. I could live with having a temporary tooth between the two pieces of work (implant into top of mouth and addition of the tooth)
The cost is more than I can afford (though I could get it done on interest free credit by the surgery apparently) and i have some important meetings and presentations coming up in less than two weeks for which it would be great not too have a gap.

My thinking is to have the denture for now as I require this treatment urgently and then have the implant at a later date.

I'm told that an implant should cost £2000 - £2500 but annoying ly after having the tooth reviewed mine would cost the top end at £2500. I have already paid £100 for the implant expert to provide this analysis but I'm still awaiting his full report.

Without having the treatment on the NHS it would cost £6000. Is there anything to be gained from getting prices from different NHS dentists? Could the price vary between one dentist and another?

My current plan is get the denture and then have the implant at a later date when I can afford it.

I have heard mixed reviews about having such work done in Hungary. I understand that it is much cheaper (?) there but there is also a risk involved as their standards may not be as high?

Does anyone have advice/experience of this situation?

If it really came down to it I could get the work done on interest free at the dentist but don't like this option as I still have to pay it back and it is a lot of money for me.

Any advice would be great. If you have any recommendations for dentists in the UK, Hungary or elsewhere that would be great too.

Many thanks

I'm just a patient not a Dentist. The tooth that "snapped off", is that completely or a part of? I ask because you mention important meetings. Part of, could be dealt with as a very temporary measure with composite.


More confusion when you say "If not on the NHS". There is no implant available on the NHS, unless in exceptional circumstances.


I think that £2500.00 is over priced, my own dentist quoted the same. Even a top Dentist in central London doesn't charge that. My Dentist was going to do it himself but many have a specialist visit the practice for the procedure. So the specialist fee plus the time of the Dentist plus his practice fees I suppose add up.


Look, you go to an Orthodontist or Periodontist apart from your regular Dentist so go to those who implant all the time.


After loads of research I went to one who has three branches doing implants and is about to open a fourth. They do general dentistry but are really for implants. I paid £2280.00 for two upper back teeth. Upper teeth are more difficult due to the Sinus and the further back the more difficult, though not sure why?
During the procedure, many Xrays were taken to guide the implants.
Had no pain in my jaw during or after, the pain in my back from two hours lying prostrate was something else. Absolute bloomin agony.
Seven hour journey there due to accident on motorway was hateful as well.

brook2jack

£2000 to £2500 is about average for an implant. As said previously implants are not , generally, available on the nhs.

The things to be asking are

What training does the implantologist have
How many have they placed
What is their success rates
What system do they use (well known brands will be more easily maintained as the bits for them will still be available in years to come. Many cheaper systems eg Israeli, etc have not been around so long so may not have the bits readily available)

As has been said implants require a few visits over the course of months and need careful maintainence afterwards. If you go abroad and something goes wrong eg a healing cap or crown comes off etc you will have to return abroad to get it sorted as a UK dentist will not touch a foreign implant as if something goes wrong it's much easier to sue a UK dentist than a foreign one.

Choose an implantologist on recommendation not cheapest price.

AnubhavSharma

Very long but informative post because it is very useful for all people.

tece

Hubby had years of problems with his front teeth following root canal work and we have paid more money than I care to think about on crowns that never lasted that long.
He then tried a denture which snapped after about four months plus he had to take this out to eat.
Finally around 2-3 years ago he opted for an implant with http://www.dentale.co.uk/ and has not looked back and said it is the best thing he has ever done in terms of his teeth.
The initial work was a bit brutal and he did look like he had been in the boxing rink but the end result he could not be more pleased with.

Ophelia-Jane

I had probs with curved roots, had a root canal done twice, now looking at possibility of having tooth extracted and cannot afford implant. NOT keen on a plate!

mither_2

many thanks to everyine who has replied. You advice is much appreciated.

My local dentist has since removed some of the tooth that remained after the tooth snapped and measured (not correct medical term I know) the space up for a denture which will be completed in about 7 - 10 days. I have ensured that this has been done in such a way so as to not make it any more difficult for an implant.

I need a filling on the canine tooth and one at the back. The cost of all of this is £230 on the NHS. With the incisor not being there a dark mark is now visible on the canine which this filling should rectify so make sense to get this all done on the NHS.

The Harley Street Dental Implant Centre

http://harleystreetdentalimplantcentre.co.uk/

I found an ad for them online for implants at £1200 via group on. This is less than half of what my dentist quoted.

I rang them and had a long discussion as to how they could do it so much cheaper. From my discussions and reviewing their website it seems that it is because its a specialist and this is their main line of work. They also seem to use exclusively overseas trained dentists (could this help reduce the price?) mostly from Hungary it seems.

From what I'm told all the work will be done at their practice in Harley street, London.. This is very close to where i live and so convenient.

There is an appointment available on August 12th. Assuming that all the work goes well i should be able to complete the work by November/December time.

I already have the report from another implant specialist telling me that the root is still good so this gives me confidence. I would need to pay the full £1200 upfront rather than in stages and if they can't complete it by the end of the year (24/12/14) then the voucher will expire and I'd likely have to pay the full price of £2600 (roughly what my local implant specialist quoted me) to complete the work. If, after the first consultation, they tell me that they can't complete it in the required timescales I am able to get my cashback but if the start and then find a problem that would push me beyond 24/12 then I'm stuck.

I've decided I'm going to have the impant. I'm early 30s and so will be using it for many years to come and am told that when younger the implant has a better chance of success. On this basis it is going to cost me c£2500 anyway (ap previously quoted by dentist) so i'm inclined to take the chance and get started. I see it as less of a gamble - more of an upside if I can get it done in this time.

I'm not wealthy but do have the spare cash to pay for this and see the value in it. I want the denture to be a quick fix and a short term measure.

The £1200 offer clearly has this catch but its useful that its been explained to me. Before committing any cash I will be doing alot more research and reading any terms and conditions that i can get out of them.

But does anyone know about this place? I've found it very hard to get many reviews. There are testimonials on their website but not much beyond that.

Anyone with personal experience of them?

https://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20130215140146AA9OJDo

Does anybody know any alternatives to this centre where i can get similar prices and good service?

I'm prepared to travel but would prefer somewhere in the south east or London.




http://harleystreetdentalimplantcentre.co.uk/

https://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20130215140146AA9OJDo


Any thoughts/suggestions would be much appreciated.

walpurgis

I wonder whether welshdent (or someone else) could comment on something I was told by an implantologist at a recent consultation.

A few months ago, I had an upper molar removed and my dentist referred me to the implantologist. He said that because of the thinness of the bone in that part of the jaw, I would need a sinus lift, with the total cost coming to well over £3,000.

He also warned me that if I didn't have the procedure, the teeth on either side of the gap would start moving towards the gap and, in due course, I could lose them too. Is this correct or is it simply scaremongering? If it is true, on what timescale would this happen (I am in my 60s)?

At the moment, the gap doesn't bother me and is barely visible. So I would be happy to avoid the costly procedure and its risks. (To complicate matters, I have a bad gagging reaction which could make it particularly unpleasant.) But, if there is a real risk that I will start to lose other teeth if I do not have the implant, I will need to consider it seriously.

Any advice or information would be welcome.

Thanks.