Request dental xray result+Dental implants abroad?

[Deleted User]

Hi All,

I'd be grateful for some advice.

A little background information: My aunt, aged only 46, recently lost almost all her lower teeth (only 3 left on the bottom jaw).

She had a free dental implant consultation with a dentist found online last Thursday. The dentist quoted a price of £16,000 just for the lower arch ["All on 4"/Remove 3 healthy teeth+4 implants+denture] although on their website it clearly stated All on 4 only costs around 6k per arch! When she questioned why it's so expensive and what materials would be used, what happen if implants fail, any warranty of the implants, how long the whole process will take etc the dentist was very reluctant to answer her questions and only told her he will pick the right materials for her based on his experiences, and showing pictures of other patients having an implant and said to her to just trust him. Of course she is unhappy with the quality of service received and now thinking to have a few more consultations with other dentists, or even seeks dental treatments abroad (e.g Budapest).

One of the problems right now is that she already had many xrays/ct scans etc done over the past year (and short gaps too) due to health problems and 2 long flights (18hrs each way) less then 1 month ago.

Questions: We do not know if it is alright for her to have more dental xrays (and maybe more ct scans) within such a short space of time? Could she request a copy of the xray result from the dentist she saw last Thursday although she had paid nothing? Will the new dentists normally accept those dental records and discuss possible treatments based on them? Does anyone have personal experiences with getting an implant abroad? If so do you mind to share it with us?

Thank you!

brook2jack

Implants are complicated treatment and all on four particularly so. It is likely to take many visits over several months. It is also likely to need maintainance and replacement over the years. For this reason it is important to have the treatment within reasonable travelling distance as even with the best treatment things go wrong eg temporaries come off etc and not having to travel far is helpful.

Your aunt should ask their own dentist for recommendations rather than trying to pick an implantologist at random. General prices are around £4000 to £6000 for an implant held denture and £12000 to £14000 for implant held "bridgework" ie porcelain teeth on. A metal framework. Both have advantages and disadvantages best discussed with the implantologists.

Ct scans are expensive and if your aunt wants copies of the x rays and scans I would think the dentist will want some payment for the scans £150 would be usual. This will cut down her x Ray exposure.

I would be concerned as to why , at her young age, she has lost so many teeth . If the reasons are not dealt with then she may very well lose the implants quickly as well. The most important thing is that she has regular dental care with a dentist she trusts and takes their advice otherwise she can spend a lot of money , lose the implants and be in a worse state than she is now.

Toothsmith

Been typing a reply to this between patients this morning - but now just deleted it all as Brook has said everything I was going to there.

Do not get implants unless you understand why your natural teeth have failed, and done something to correct those habits.

A decent dentist wouldn't provide such advanced treatment to someone who they didn't feel was able to look after it though, and care instruction should form a big part of the treatment visits,

[Deleted User]

brook2jack wrote: »

Implants are complicated treatment and all on four particularly so. It is likely to take many visits over several months. It is also likely to need maintainance and replacement over the years. For this reason it is important to have the treatment within reasonable travelling distance as even with the best treatment things go wrong eg temporaries come off etc and not having to travel far is helpful.

Your aunt should ask their own dentist for recommendations rather than trying to pick an implantologist at random. General prices are around £4000 to £6000 for an implant held denture and £12000 to £14000 for implant held "bridgework" ie porcelain teeth on. A metal framework. Both have advantages and disadvantages best discussed with the implantologists.

Ct scans are expensive and if your aunt wants copies of the x rays and scans I would think the dentist will want some payment for the scans £150 would be usual. This will cut down her x Ray exposure.

I would be concerned as to why , at her young age, she has lost so many teeth . If the reasons are not dealt with then she may very well lose the implants quickly as well. The most important thing is that she has regular dental care with a dentist she trusts and takes their advice otherwise she can spend a lot of money , lose the implants and be in a worse state than she is now.

Toothsmith wrote: »

Been typing a reply to this between patients this morning - but now just deleted it all as Brook has said everything I was going to there.

Do not get implants unless you understand why your natural teeth have failed, and done something to correct those habits.

A decent dentist wouldn't provide such advanced treatment to someone who they didn't feel was able to look after it though, and care instruction should form a big part of the treatment visits,

Hi brook2jack & Toothsmith,

I just spoke with my aunt over the phone. She'd really like to thank both of you for the detailed explanation!! :beer:

Personally she'd would love to have an implant done in London. Getting an implant is insanely expensive, if she is going to seek dental treatments in e.g Budapest, what'd happen if things don't turn out the way it was planned, and how about the future dental implant maintanance?... she is indeed very worried.

£16,000 for All-on-4 /implant retained denture [My aunt confirmed that the implantologist was using the word denture during the initial consultation] for just the lower jaw is way too expensive.

Also when she questioned what happen if things go wrong, any warranty of the implants? The implantologist only said to her that all his patients have successful implants. Before he confirms to my aunt the treatments are completed, everything will fall under the £16,000 quoted.

If my aunt requires to see him again after the "treatments are completed" she'd then apparently need to pay whatever charges incurred. Tthe implantologist never clarifies what he meant "treatments completed" in the meeting though. Also when my aunt asked what materials will be used in the treatment he said he will pick the right materials for her based on his experiences... ??? :eek:

My aunt did ask her general dentist for recommendations but was only told to search it on the internet. None of the dentists she seen so far ever questioned & investigated why she lost so many teeth at her age. She therefore never thinks about it too. Although she cleaned her teeth every single day/after every meal, her teeth are still pretty bad/loosing over time. All of our family member had bad teeth so honestly speaking we never thought to investigate the reason behind. Would she need to speak to her GP about this, as her general dentist is not really caring to find out why?

She only has a very few friends (3) who got dental implants. The overrall feedbacks are not that positive and they only had one or two teeth replaced. She had spent a good few days searching the internet and finally found the above implantologist with many good google reviews. She was thinking to book treatments right after the consultation if everything went well. But..... This also causes her to feel really anxious about seeking dental treatment abroad.

She has not yet done any CTs for the teeth only X rays. But we will try to get in touch with the dentist today asking how much it'd be for them to email across her xray results. If they are willing to release the data and the price is reasonable we'd get a copy and hopefully this could help her to reduce xray exposure during the initial consultation stage.

Right now she is seeking to get a few more consultations in London (still based on google reviews...), or maybe flying to Budapest as the price there is only about 2/3 of the price quoted in London (more research required of course). If possible could you please recommend any implantologist in either London or abroad?

Thank you both again for the help in this matter! :T

Toothsmith

[quote=[Deleted User];76013761]
My aunt did ask her general dentist for recommendations but was only told to search it on the internet. None of the dentists she seen so far ever questioned & investigated why she lost so many teeth at her age. She therefore never thinks about it too. Although she cleaned her teeth every single day/after every meal, her teeth are still pretty bad/loosing over time. All of our family member had bad teeth so honestly speaking we never thought to investigate the reason behind. Would she need to speak to her GP about this, as her general dentist is not really caring to find out why?

[/QUOTE]

I think she probably needs to find a good general dentist first of all.

The reason teeth are lost are bad brushing techniques/habits and bad diet habits. (Oh - and smoking, if any of you do) You can brush teeth many times a day - but if it's always the same teeth/ areas that are brushed/missed, then disease will still set in.

You can think you don't have much sugar - but a glass of fresh orange juice sipped slowly through a morning at the desk would devastate the teeth more that a couple of Mars Bars for lunch!

The ways things like brushing and diet affect the teeth are not as straightforward as brush lots and don't eat sweets.

She needs to find a dental practice that has time to care & explain things properly, not just bash out the fillings and tell people to 'google it' when it all falls down.

[Deleted User]

Toothsmith wrote: »

I think she probably needs to find a good general dentist first of all.

The reason teeth are lost are bad brushing techniques/habits and bad diet habits. (Oh - and smoking, if any of you do) You can brush teeth many times a day - but if it's always the same teeth/ areas that are brushed/missed, then disease will still set in.

You can think you don't have much sugar - but a glass of fresh orange juice sipped slowly through a morning at the desk would devastate the teeth more that a couple of Mars Bars for lunch!

The ways things like brushing and diet affect the teeth are not as straightforward as brush lots and don't eat sweets.

She needs to find a dental practice that has time to care & explain things properly, not just bash out the fillings and tell people to 'google it' when it all falls down.

Hi Toothsmith,

Thank you very much for the prompt reply!

I think you are right. My aunt definitely needs to find another dental practice that would at least give her advice on how to take care of the teeth. But at the same time she is now only having 3 teeth on the bottom jaw she'd really like to either have a denture or an implant done ASAP.

Her general dentist said that a denture will take about 3 months in the registered dental practice. So she'd be better off go somewhere else to get either the denture or implant. Yes "google it"... :rotfl:

brook2jack

Absolutely agree with toothsmith.

Your aunt needs to get a good regular dentist first. A denture can be made by any dentist, takes four visits and a week in between visits.

42 is very young to have lost so many teeth. General health problems like diabetes and smoking need to be sorted and dental problems like cleaning and diet need to be sorted otherwise she will lose implants even quicker than her own teeth.

First of all get recommendations from friends etc for a good family dentist. Get the basics right with diet , cleaning etc and maybe a denture for now. Then when oral health is stable ask dentist about recommendations for implants.

Rushing into complex treatment without basics sorted will be an expensive short term solution.

[Deleted User]

brook2jack wrote: »

Absolutely agree with toothsmith.

Your aunt needs to get a good regular dentist first. A denture can be made by any dentist, takes four visits and a week in between visits.

42 is very young to have lost so many teeth. General health problems like diabetes and smoking need to be sorted and dental problems like cleaning and diet need to be sorted otherwise she will lose implants even quicker than her own teeth.

First of all get recommendations from friends etc for a good family dentist. Get the basics right with diet , cleaning etc and maybe a denture for now. Then when oral health is stable ask dentist about recommendations for implants.

Rushing into complex treatment without basics sorted will be an expensive short term solution.

Dear Brook2jack,

Thank you for the advice! I'll definitely pass all the information received today to my aunt and hopefully we'd be able to find a reliable dental practice as quickly as possible. :T

kaggi

Sorry to jump in here but I’m researching dental implants abroad as well and was really interested to read this.

I am 47 and have a genetic condition called dentinogenesis imperfecta which resulted in my mum and uncle loosing all their teeth and getting dentures in their teens so it is widely agreed that I have done well to retain my teeth until now. As there are other members of your family as well as your aunt having lots of issues with their teeth, it may be something genetic like this or amelogenesis imperfecta that is causing it, although a decent dentist should spot it.

My teeth are starting to break under all my veneers and crowns. My NHS dentist is great and has tried to get the NHS to give me implants as it is out with my control but they won’t, only suggesting dentures for the missing teeth. My dentist is reluctant to give me a dentures as my roots are very short so the dentures will damage my remaining teeth.

As I will need upper and lower implants eventually, and I don’t have £25k spare I have been thinking about Spain or Hungary for the implants but I am concerned about the comments above as I can’t think of any workable alternatives in my situation. Does anyone have any alternative suggestions on how I can keep my mouth functioning (as well as the lady in the original post)?

Toothsmith

The biggest problems with going abroad are that different regulatory systems apply and the skill and experience necessary to be able to advertise and provide these procedures needn't necessarily be on a par with what is required in this country.

The other problem is that these things aren't always straightforward, and can often need multiple unscheduled visits to get issues looked at. This can really ramp up the costs with extra (short notice) air tickets and accommodation.

Should anything go very wrong, then you would not be dealing with UK law either if you needed to take action. This could leave you high & dry with a huge repair bill to boot.

Have you been to a private referral practice in this country to have all the options fully explained & costed?

Not all dentures are the same! There are way better options out there than a bit of NHS plastic. Although a plastic denture crafted by a good technician can still be a pretty good option. There are all sorts of precision attachment devices available for a lot less than you would pay for implants.

I would suggest getting something like this done well would be far more predictable than taking a punt on flying thousands of miles to get implants.

Of course, there are very good, very ethical dentists in all countries, and anywhere you are looking will certainly have some excellent ones. I wouldn't have thought that they would be the ones offering to do big complex treatment plans to tourists in as few as possible visits though.