On 13/06/2015 13:14, Andrew Gabriel wrote:
In article ,
stuart noble writes:
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?

Couldn't find anything about crowns and bridges, but
http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/nhs-fill...CategoryID=742
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.


Seems you can have an implant done for a grand now, in Harley Street too!

In my case the root has apparently cracked, so the crown can't be
re-cemented. Been there for 44 years so I can't complain!

Can't really see any justification for our dentists being the most
expensive in Europe. You can even fly to Munich and still save a packet