Low income dental treatment advice needed

rreeve

Hi there,
I was hoping someone would be able to advise me on how to get free or affordable dental treatment that isn't available in the NHS.


My dental history

I'm a 43-year-old man and in the last 5 years my teeth have deteriorated quite badly due to gum disease. I have lost four of my top teeth due to receding gums. (three at the rear and one at the front) My remaining teeth are all starting to become loose now and they look awful with the root partially exposed.



I've recently given up smoking to combat the gum disease and I now follow a strict cleaning routine to keep the disease at bay.



I'm convinced my problems started when I began to floss after every meal and I broke the seal my gums had with my teeth. Maybe I was too aggressive with my flossing but after this, my gums started to recede quite badly and it became harder to clean my mouth properly.


My confidence and overall mental health has really been affected by my teeth and I have to cover my mouth when I speak or smile because my teeth look awful due to the receding gums. I feel like people are judging me and probably laughing at me. I avoid any social events and stay indoors as much as possible.



I've come to the conclusion that I need to have dentures which was not an easy decision to make at 43 years old but I can't live like this anymore. The only problem is, I won't be able to cope with a denture plate touching the roof of my mouth and this is the only type of denture offered on the NHS. It's a long story but I have a phobia of anything hard touching the roof of my mouth so I know they wouldn't work for me and I'll be left in a worse situation without any top row teeth.


In an ideal world I would get dental implants but this is out of the question because of the heafty price tag. Instead, I would like to get a top set of denture implants which I believe consists of 3 or 4 implants to hold the denture in place without needing a top plate touching the roof of the mouth.


Denture implants are not as expensive as individual implants but they are still not cheap and they are not available on the NHS. The cheapest I've seen is about £8000 in the UK and €4000 in the EU. This much cheaper option is still well out of my reach as I am currently claiming Universal Credit due to my depression and anxiety that has a lot to do with my oral health. I'm in a catch22 situation.



I was hoping someone on this forum would be able to advise me on ways I could get this treatment done.



I've considered volunteering for treatment by dental students at university hospitals but after looking into this none seem to offer this level of treatment. I think maybe I need a dental surgery university but I couldn't find any. I'm even willing to volunteer for treatment at schools anywhere in Europe.


To be honest, I'm at my wits end and I am desperate to get this treatment done so if anyone knows of any solutions or options that may be available to me I would be eternally grateful. I desperately want to get my life back. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

brook2jack

I am sorry but even patients having implants placed by dentists in training will still pay , albeit a somewhat reduced amount.

Implant treatment is extremely expensive to place and on the NHS it is reserved for cancer patients , and occasionally for those born missing more than 8 adult teeth.

It is not part of the standard teaching curriculum in dental schools , it is a postgraduate subject which the dentist training will be paying tens of thousands of pounds to train in and will be offering treatment at a reduced price to one of their regular patients.

Do you have a regular dentist? Flossing does not cause healthy gums to shrink , but cleaning properly does cause very inflamed/swollen gums to shrink to a healthy state .

You need to see your dentist regularly to understand your gum disease better andto talk about partial dentures. If you can keep some of your own teeth part dentures may be easier for you to tolerate.

mda99das

well done for quitting smoking.
With the money you have saved from this, you shall be able to afford your dental treatment. Work hard save harder and ye shall be rewarded