NHS Dental Work question

VonHelson

So I need to have a tooth taken out. I've just been put on the waiting list for the South West and I was wondering; If I needed a dental bridge but don't have the teeth to anchor it onto, would the NHS provide a dental implant?
I'm asking because the tooth I need out is the furthest back on my right which became really brittle after a root canal 4 years ago. I've already had out the two teeth next to that so this would leave a row of 3 empty teeth leaving me unable to chew any food on that side of my mouth. I'm already chewing all my food on the left hand side of my mouth which causes muscle strain and gives me really bad headaches if I eat anything particularly chewy. I really hate teeth! I look after them, floss and use mouthwash. All my teeth are healthy apart from the 5 I had fillings in when I was in my early teens. They're all falling apart.

System

possibly but it wouldn't be free .

sheramber

You can get a denture

welshdent

Highly highly unlikely you would get one on the NHS.

Firstly they are not provided on the nGDS contract which means they are explicitly NOT available on the NHS in general practice. You can not even go to a practice to insist on it because your average dentist is not implant trained. Normally implants are provided by specially trained dentists on a referral and private basis. Some hospitals provide implants but the budget is usually for cancer reconstruction and cases where a certain number of teeth are congenitally missing,.

shedman20

I have a few missing teeth too and have looked into this. Implants are not available on the NHS generally, privately they seem very expensive, around £1000 for one. You could get a denture (teeth fixed to a plate I think) on NHS, band three cost. My understanding is a denture plate does not need to be removed for cleaning whereas a full set of dentures does.

Toothsmith

I'm not sure what you mean by a 'denture plate' or how it differs from any other sort of denture.

Anything that could be called a denture though, does need removing for cleaning. Full dentures, partial dentures, plastic or metal based dentures and implant retained dentures are all taken out to clean.

Futtock13

How to find a dentist...thanks for a useful reminder. I went back to my usual practice and got a dentist who didn't do as I asked but did do as little as possible. Next time, I'll make enquiries about the individual dentists at the practice before I get the appt fixed.