Dentists UK vs Europe - Dental Implant Decision

[mither]

Hello,

I wonder if anyone might have any advice on dentistry.

I had root canal surgery on my lateral incisor many years ago (this is a tooth adjacent to the two front teeth at top and is therefore highly visible). I was warned it would be weakened after this and it snapped off last week.

I've been to my local dentist and have been told the options are as follows:

1) Denture
£225 and can be completed within a week.
Looks OK from a distance and fastest and cheapest option. I may decide to go for an implant later.
Downside is that have to have a denture in my mouth and that it doesn't look particularly good.
Doubtful that I can eat anything tough with the denture.

2) Sticky bridge
£450 and will take a minimum of 2 weeks to be fitted
It will work well and can be very closely colour matched to my other teeth
May last 5 years but may just as easily fall out after 6 months and I'd then have to pay for it to be refitted.
Wouldn't be strong enough to bit in to a lot of things.

3) Dental implant
£2500 and would take 6 months at least and require more than one visit to the dentist.
The expense of this is a big problem. I could live with having a temporary tooth between the two pieces of work (implant into top of mouth and addition of the tooth)
The cost is more than I can afford (though I could get it done on interest free credit by the surgery apparently) and i have some important meetings and presentations coming up in less than two weeks for which it would be great not too have a gap.
The assessment was that the bone inside the gum was still healthy and he was confident it could be treated without too much difficulty. There was no damage to the gum etc. Since he described it as not being too problematic I was abit frustrated to hear that i was right at the top of the pricing band range.



My thinking is to have the denture for now as I require this treatment urgently and then have the implant at a later date.

I'm told that an implant should cost £2000 - £2500 but annoying ly after having the tooth reviewed mine would cost the top end at £2500. I have already paid £100 for the implant expert to provide this analysis but I'm still awaiting his full report.

Without having the treatment on the NHS it would cost £6000. Is there anything to be gained from getting prices from different NHS dentists? Could the price vary between one dentist and another?

My current plan is get the denture and then have the implant at a later date when I can afford it.

I have heard mixed reviews about having such work done in Hungary. I understand that it is much cheaper (?) there but there is also a risk involved as their standards may not be as high?

Does anyone have advice/experience of this situation?

If it really came down to it I could get the work done on interest free at the dentist but don't like this option as I still have to pay it back and it is a lot of money for me.

Any advice would be great. If you have any recommendations for dentists in the UK, Hungary or elsewhere that would be great too.

Many thanks

 

[Spike 1969]

Hello and

I dont one have experience of going to Hungary or anywhere else for treatment but I am going to be looking at having one placed in the not too distant future.

being ultra cautious I personally wouldn't go to Hungary or anywhere else as I don't know how thorough they would be, I'm building up a trust with my new dentist who does implant surgery and I like his cautious approach to the whole thing, the last thing I want to do is end up saving a few pounds but have the implant fail (or worse) in a short time and the dentist responsible being out of the country.

That's just my personal opinion, I'm willing to pay that bit extra to have the job done by someone I really trust to do it.

Hope this is helpful.

Kind Regards

Spike

 

[rob wain]

Hi

firstly I should state that I'm a UK dentist and I restore implants on a regular (daily) basis.

Regarding the treatment decision - if you have a denture or a sticky bridge then the bone will contract and this will complicate future implant placement. The best time to place the implant is immediately or within just a couple of months of removing the tooth.

I'm afraid all front teeth implants tend to come at the top end of the price range because the aesthetic need is considerably higher than for back teeth.

Regarding treatment abroad - there are good dentists in every country there are also bad dentists in every country.

You should consider though that if there is a complication in your treatment and you require additional visits then it is very much more complicated and expensive to travel abroad. The obvious question then is how often do complications arise and the answer is that it varies - the large majority of treatments don't require any additional visits but an aesthetically demanding case often benefits from repeated small adjustments of the temporary crown - this won't happen if you have to catch a flight every time!

Shopping around may help but price isn't the only criteria to consider and savings costs on cheaper brands of implants or cheaper components runs the risk of compromising the result.

Difficult decision you have to make, best of luck

 

[comfortdentist]

All the above is true but let me add a couple more details.

If there is a problem in the USA due to negligence the patient has considerable protection. Secondly if you have treatment elsewhere most doctors won't touch you due to liability concerns

 

[Spike 1969]

I would say that what comfortdentist is saying pretty much applies here in the UK as well; plus the GDC will have no jurisdiction over dentists outside the UK so if there are problems with this type of treatment carried out outside the UK I would imagine you could have big problems.