Dental Bridge over a gap of 2 missing teeth-Can it be done?

I'd hate it if I couldn't find a dentist. To brook2jack and toothsmith can I say most people value and appreciate the work you do. I'm 65, have all my teeth but probably half have fillings. I hate the thought of dentures and see my dentist twice a year and hygienist 4 times a year and work with them in the hope I can avoid dentures.



The OP is totally ignoring the fact that there is more to making anything than 2 hrs work, you need equipment, premises, insurance as well as the training to do it. Some people can't see the nose on their face.

While there may be some dentist justs out to make money the same as in any profession I don't believe the majority are

I somehow ended up with a credit to my dental account - the only thing that I could put it down to was I'd had a root filling on a tooth which about a month later caused major problems and I needed to have an extraction (dentist did warn me), all of a sudden I was quite a lot in credit with the dentist (about the level of a root canal treatment), all the receptionist could tell me was I'd paid for something I shouldn't have.

If they were just out for money they'd have kept what I'd paid them, plus for any other course of treatment, because I was happy to pay

[QUOTE=dontlikemondays;75014984
I visited a new dentist regarding my small filling and guess what, they will do it for £59 NHS which is half price the previous dentist wanted for a "private white filling". Will it be white I asked. Yes, was the answer (so far so good I suppose)
But still £59 for 5 mins work. No wonder "Toothsmith" defends his profession with such gusto!
A bit like Turkeys Voting For Xmas if he didn't.!

It's literally like a license to print money. You can almost see the £ signs appear as you walk through the door.

While there I asked about my 2 tooth gap (the one currently filled by dentures) and guess what?
They can bridge the gap with a "bridge" but only PRIVATE as it's not under the Band 3, and at a cost of £1400
£1400 to grind the 2 teeth either side (20 mins) order the set of 4 plastic teeth and fit them (2 mins)
It's a total disgrace.
I asked what about a "Maryland Bridge" with the wings attaching to the good teeth. "Oh we can't do that as the last tooth is too big to attach to" How can the wisdom tooth be too big to attach a wing to, what a load of rubbish.

Also, under Band 3 NHS in plain english is "Bridge Work", so why does everyone say they won't do them. I think we can guess that answer can't we?

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Average cost of running a cheap practice in a cheap area per room.. 140 pounds an hour

Laboratory costs for a private four unit bridge start at 516 pounds and will go up to several thousand depending on materials , gold content of metals ,staining etc, laboratory costs for a four unit bridge on the nhs will be more than the dentist takes in by quite a large factor, in other words the dentist will pay for their time, their practice expenses and the additional lab bill, it costs a dentist to provide a bridge on the NHS.

bridges are made of porcelain and precious or non precious metal, or pressed ceramic they take many hours of a lab technicians time.

to prepare , x ray, numb up two teeth , prepare them in a parellel way for a bridge , take impressions , make a four unit temporary bridge, decomtaminate , write up notes and lab forms, set up and clean down a surgery takes an awful lot longer than 20 minutes.

I have yet to meet the dentist who can fit,adjust a bridge, set up and clean down a surgery , write up notes in 2 minutes!

Maryland bridges are not used for back teeth and certainly not as far back as a wisdom tooth except as temporaries for eg an implant, Even then they don't last as they can't take that sort of biting strain.

The NHS is there to secure health. The rotten tooth has been taken out and a denture provided . A bridge does not secure health, perticularly that far back in the mouth even if you might prefer one. The list of NHS treatments does not mean you are entitled to them all , they are there to be used as appropriate to secure dental health. Indeed in the new pilot schemes very few crowns and bridges are done as most peoples oral health is not good enough to warrant them or they are not appropriate.

Finally your 56 pounds has paid for a check up , provided by a dentist , possibly x rays and your filling. It pays for the dentists, nurses,receptionist,cleaners,decontamination nurses time, the costs of running the surgery and the materials. A 5ml bottle of glue to stick in that white filling costs 90 pounds alone.

The set up, cleaning down ,paperwork, check up , getting materials out and ready, anaesthetic, getting materials out, filling , smoothing and adjusting cannot possibly be done in 2 minutes.

I hope this clarifies things for some people reading this thread.