Dental Implants...Cheap???

littlerock

I appreciate UK dentists need to defend their own turf and justify their higher costs but I cannot believe they are all much better qualified and have greater expertise than dentists in countries like Hungary where the overall cost of living and expenses for a dentist are much lower.

A lot of the reason for more expensive dentistry in the UK is presumably fixed costs which the dentiss have little or no control over and these costs must be lower in some EU countries while the training and expertise of dentists is as good as the UK.

I think UK dentists need to recognise that some people who need implants simply cannot afford the £2000-£2500 an implant costs in the UK and do need to consider cheaper alternatives such as an EU country with lower living costs.

Undervalued

littlerock wrote: »

I think UK dentists need to recognise that some people who need implants simply cannot afford the £2000-£2500 an implant costs in the UK and do need to consider cheaper alternatives such as an EU country with lower living costs.

I agree but equally people have to accept that if you buy any product or service from abroad if is going to be far harder to get any redress in the event of a problem.

If all goes well you save money, maybe quite a lot of money, but if not you have the hassle, maybe a lot of hassle, of getting it fixed.

teddysmum

L.S.D. wrote: »

I know it's probably a piece of string question, but how long on average does it take to pull a top front tooth out? Just the pulling out part after the anaesthetic.

I had a lower back molar extracted and that only took seconds.

L.S.D.

I've had 4 or 5 back teeth out over the years, the last ones I seem to remember were only a couple of minutes. I had my front tooth out the other day & it took around 8 to 10 minutes. I was getting worried it wasn't going to come out. Now my thoughts are surely if a tooth is well & truly in it could or should have been possible to save it. I just don't understand why the infection could not have been cleared out.

brook2jack

How easy or difficult a tooth is to take out has nothing to do with how easy it is to save it.

The most difficult teeth to take out are the ones that are so rotten you cannot get hold of much as they keep breaking up into smaller and smaller pieces.

A root canal in a tooth is a space only hundredths of a millimetre in diameter. It may not be regularly shaped and indeed may have multiple accessory canals going off in all directions which are impossible to get an instrument down. All of this cleaning is done blind with only x Rays and apex locators to guide you. It is a miracle any root treatment works let alone the majority.

You had root treatment done, a possible apicectomy (you are not sure it if was the tooth next door) and were offered a specialist and hospital opinion. Once a tooth has been root treated once and particularly if it has been apicected as well there is very little chance of settling the infection.

L.S.D.

OK thanks, the tooth came out whole....finally.

Toothsmith

Plus - if the plan is to replace it with an implant, then you really want to take it out as carefully as you can in order to preserve as much bone as you can.

Carefully = slowly.

AbbieCadabra

a couple of questions for our resident experts if they don't mind

all-on-4 system, rough guide for UK price, £12k-£15k per jaw/arch?

would it be possible to combine say all-on-4 upper jaw & perhaps 2 or 3 implants lower holding an overdenture? i'm guessing combining 2 different methods may be unbalanced long term?

thank you

brook2jack

£9000 TO £15000 is about right for all on four.

Many people combine overdentures with other implants for a variety of reasons, not least because implant retained dentures are far cheaper starting at around £4000.

I personally am not a great fan of all on four because most people who have lost all their teeth have done so because of gum disease. Unless meticulous cleaning is carried out implants will fail quicker than your own teeth due to perimplantitis which is gum disease of implants.

All on fours do not come out so meticulous cleaning which can be quite fiddly needs to be maintained in a way which is far more difficult than looking after yourn own teeth.

implant retained dentures come out to clean , are easier to repair and replace , as well as cheaper, and are easier to maintain as one gets older and arthritis etc makes complex cleaning difficult.

L.S.D.

How good is a 'Maryland Bridge' compared to a 'normal Bridge'? Two people I know have said they have them & have had them 25 plus years, yet another friend said his normal Bridge fell out after less than that.