Replacing missing Dental Implant

Gtachorley_2

Hi all just after some advice.

To give context when I was 16 I had my two front teeth knocked out with a scaffolding pole when working, a few years later my mum got sick of my clip on teeth and paid for me to have 2 implants (really expensive) at a private clinic.

They have been fine but now 16 years later one of them has disappeared, I noticed after breakfast that the tooth was gone leaving just the metal stump and a few shards of tooth which I have now picked off, I must have swallowed it I presume.

So now I need a new tooth, NHS emergency dentist won't see me as it's not causing an issue and recommend just going private, my own NHS dentist can only give me an appointment in 4 weeks (as I haven't been for years) and advise they don't deal with implants so will just refer me.

So my question is will the referral from my dentist be covered as an NHS treatment and use the NHS charges or will it be an expensive private treatment in which case I may as well ring an implant specialist dentist myself and pay for the treatment? I have just bought my first house and could really do without a £1000 dentist bill.

brook2jack

The NHS will not deal with implants. It sounds as if it is not the implant which has gone , just the substructure , ie the tooth part.

The good news is you will hopefully just have to pay for the crown part , which is less expensive, providing the rest of the implant is ok. The bad news is this will have to be done at an implantologist. Ask your dentist which implantologist they would refer to and you can make an appointment yourself. There will be charges for the consultation, x rays and the crown part which I would guess will be circa £500 to £600.

Implants are not fit and forget. They need care and maintainance . That will not be available on the NHS , but regular habits on cleaning and care at a NHS dentist will help your implants and a NHs dentist can take x rays etc that may give you some warning ,in future , of problems with your implants.

Toothsmith

As Brook said, with implants, you really do need to be going for regular check ups.

You have the Ferrari of dental treatment, you can't just be taking it to the place under the railway arch when it starts making a funny noise!

If the implant is that old, there is a fair chance the type of implant used may not be in general use any more, so the fitting to go on the top might need to be custom made. It might be a bit pricey - but not as much as starting from scratch.