Well OT of course but anyone got any opinions on the muddle known as NHS dentistry? Band 3 (£222.50) is supposed to cover crowns and bridges but it seems dentists are unable, or unwilling, to provide that service. They say it only covers procedures where there is a "clinical need" but that seems like a hell of a grey area. I'd say a missing front tooth should not be classed as cosmetic, but what do I know? TIA for any input before I'm finally forced to go private?
The snag is that most dentists use independant labs to have the actual crowns made. And they set the price they charge for the work. Which is usually far higher than the NHS will pay. So the dentist has to do his side of it at a lower price per hour of work than other things which are totally under his control.
In some ways it's a pity the individual couldn't simply make up the difference. That would be much cheaper than going private. But far too logical for any government.
I did that 10'ish years ago (bone graft, implants, crowns and bridges) all still in good shape, a filling they did at the same time could do with replacing by a crown - I wish they'd just done that at the time rather than "save" it ...
Couldn't find anything about crowns and bridges, but
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says white fillings are available on the NHS for front teeth, but not for back teeth as that would be purely cosmetic.
Does the front tooth still have a usable root? That can make a significant difference to treatment options and the actual cost (although not the NHS charge). A crown on an existing root would probably be £400-£500.
I asked my dentist what the (private) charge for a bridge was, as a rough guide for a friend, and he said around £400 per tooth involved. So for a missing tooth bridged to the ones either side, £1200 would be typical. However, costs can vary considerably due to individual differences (and that was probably 5+ years ago).
Another option if there's no root is to have a titanium socket inserted if the bone is in good enough condition. If the bone is not in good enough condition (often the case if there's been no tooth there for a long time), you might be able to first have a bone graft done (I knew someone who had this done some years ago). No idea on the cost of this, but probably quite substantial.
which begs the question, what are these NHS figures based on? Maybe they're viable in certain areas but not anywhere near London. And if dentists won't do their side at a reduced cost, why have an NHS contract at all? I suppose there are times when they can do five minutes work and shaft you for the band 2 fee.
I needed a dentist in Budapest a couple of years ago - serious toothache, turned out to be an infected root. We just asked at the campsite, they pointed us to a clinic in the town centre. Excellent service, far cheaper than it would have been in the UK privately, and probably not too far different to NHS price - but the surgery "felt" properly Harley Street. The dentist was drop-dead _gorgeous_, too...
Went to mine to have a fairly old crown glued back on. He didn't wait for the glue to go off before scraping off the excess. Came off again later. Charged IIRC £40. He did it again - same thing. Went to a local private dentist who did it properly, and it's been fine since. But cost 3 times as much.
My (private) crown was £27 to pull off, clean up, and refit. That included a temporary antiseptic filling for 2 weeks before refitting, as it had got infected underneath (although that was probably not factored in to the original estimate). I wasn't allowed to floss around it until it had been inspected 2 weeks after glueing in, so that is 3 appointments, although the first and last were only a few seconds.
I've just been reading about the Maryland bridge, which seems like an option given that the teeth either side are pretty good. If the worst happens I can always glue it back.
But nothing explains why our private dentists are the most expensive in Europe, if not the world. They remind me of gas engineers, who think they have us over a barrel but who are actually chasing fewer and fewer jobs.
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