Anyone Got Dental Implants?

[cartimandua51]

Twenty-odd yeas ago I took out a mortgage endowment policy (I know, I know, but needs must when the devil drives) And although I sold the flat after four or five years I kept the endowment going as I foresaw that if my dental health went the same way as my mother's, I might need lots of expensive treatment.

Sure enough, my teeth are falling out just as the endowment has fallen in. Now I have the £25K that a full set of implants will approximately cost, I'm feeling queasy about spending that much money on UK dentistry, but also doubtfull about having it done in Bulgaria or wherever at half the cost.

I've done some Googling, but while there are lots of shiny websites offering services, actual independent this-is-how-it-was-for-me experiences are not easy to find.

Anybody here had them themselves, or near relatives/ friends experiences to relate?

Otherwise I'm tempted to say Sod It, spend £3K on a decent set of false gnashers and blue the rest on a Morgan!

[Solitaire]

Hope you don't mind me jumping into your thread and asking for similar advice. I too would be interested in the experiences of others on this subject. I don't have the option of implants and at this point am suffering from very painful teeth due to bone loss.

My dentist has referred me to a specialist surgical dentist for tooth planing and deep cleaning but I don't know if there is any point if the bone loss will mean losing my teeth or if it would prevent further deterioration. It's an expensive procedure and I wonder if I should give up on trying to save the teeth and use the money towards some cosmetic dentures.

Don't know what I would decide on if I had the £25k for implants, I'd probably go for the dentures and give the house a makeover!

[Garry AKA Pod]

I'm sorry but your teeth aren't worth spending anything like £25k on.

You'll have far more fun blowing Morgan. He'll appreciate it more if you don't have teeth anyway.

[ccc]

Sorry can't help, but just wanted to make a point.

If I was needing this I wouldn't use anywhere that I had not had a personal recommendation of. From someone who had it doen years ago and is still happy.

Of course you could perhaps try and get yourself on one of those Ch4/5 makeover shows ? Freeby.

[Patfig]

Hope you don't mind me jumping into your thread and asking for similar advice. I too would be interested in the experiences of others on this subject. I don't have the option of implants and at this point am suffering from very painful teeth due to bone loss.

My dentist has referred me to a specialist surgical dentist for tooth planing and deep cleaning but I don't know if there is any point if the bone loss will mean losing my teeth or if it would prevent further deterioration. It's an expensive procedure and I wonder if I should give up on trying to save the teeth and use the money towards some cosmetic dentures.

Don't know what I would decide on if I had the £25k for implants, I'd probably go for the dentures and give the house a makeover!

Just get them all pulled out and live on soup, there will be a soup kitchen in your area soon enough!!

[Garry AKA Pod]

Twenty-odd yeas ago I took out a mortgage endowment policy (I know, I know, but needs must when the devil drives) And although I sold the flat after four or five years I kept the endowment going as I foresaw that if my dental health went the same way as my mother's, I might need lots of expensive treatment.

Sure enough, my teeth are falling out just as the endowment has fallen in. Now I have the £25K that a full set of implants will approximately cost, I'm feeling queasy about spending that much money on UK dentistry, but also doubtfull about having it done in Bulgaria or wherever at half the cost.

I've done some Googling, but while there are lots of shiny websites offering services, actual independent this-is-how-it-was-for-me experiences are not easy to find.

Anybody here had them themselves, or near relatives/ friends experiences to relate?

Otherwise I'm tempted to say Sod It, spend £3K on a decent set of false gnashers and blue the rest on a Morgan!

On a serious note, I've heard Turkey seems to be a popular dentistnation (see what I did there?) for cheap and apparently good teeth related work.

[Cinnamon]

Implants can be complex -- how much gums do you have left, how well do your gums hold up (women often have a hard time when menstruating, genetic reasons, etc) -- habits of yours (smoking, gnashing of teeth whilst sleeping)

If your teeth just rotted and you have no gum issues it is fairly straight forward -- but if you have gum issues, then those need to be fixed first, then you need to be helped to grow new bone with sinus graft and other assorted tricks. Be prepared to chew on the rim for a few month, but in the end, it'll be worth it, a denture will never provide the chewing services you really need, an implant supported denture is a huge improvement and will greatly improve your digestive health, which in turn puts extra years on your life expectancy and wards off all sorts of painful illnesses.

Just make sure the dentist you choose in the end has lots of experience and put plenty of implants, and it may well be the Hungarian/Bulgarian guy who is the best choice for you. UK dentists are not much better qualified at all and there is a reason why UK subjects have awful teeth and lots of 'hack jobs' in their mouths... it's very amusing for them to poopoo their continental colleagues!

Here is a good straight forward site that explains a lot of the process: http://www.dental-implants.com/cms/

You can probably mix and match services -- get your gums healed up in the UK and at the same time find perfect support for post implant time (where gum disease is your major enemy), and then go for the dentist with the most implants experience and the least precious attitude. Note the segment in that website about costs too -- it does not have to be overly expensive, a lot of the spin of how difficult this all is, is just an attempt to get more money for the work, a bit like the housing market *smirk* It's not simple and many dentists do a wonderful job, but then again, it's not exactly rocket science either.

Good luck!

[cartimandua51]

Thanks for the info - it's gums that are my problem (despite obsessive tooth hygiene - there's no justice in life!)

I'll see what the UK can do for my gums.

Anybody know whether gums heal up better if you have your teeth out rather than just receded /loose/fangy?

[Cinnamon]

Thanks for the info - it's gums that are my problem (despite obsessive tooth hygiene - there's no justice in life!)

I'll see what the UK can do for my gums.

Anybody know whether gums heal up better if you have your teeth out rather than just receded /loose/fangy?

If the tooth is lose, you WILL lose it, even if it resets. Receded gum is different to receded bone, either way, the permanent inflammation is very bad news for the rest of the body(heart disease etc), so, don't be squeamish, get rid of it, it brings more grief than it prevents.

The problem with gum disease is that there is nothing that cleans up the crevices -- so the infection is always reseeded from small pockets that no-one and nothing can get ahold of[1]. So yes, removing the teeth stops the gum disease, but some people may still have gum issues for a while afterwards, as there can be interconnected pockets of puss generated by the permanend infection there was before.

It's it's fangy problem, see a gum specialist who often can do quite a bit, but once a lot of the gums have caught 'fire' you are better off thinking radical rather than spend years and a fortune faffing around to lose the battle in the end anyway. It also depends on what strain of bacteria is colonising you, some are much more rabid than others and may not stay in your gums either but proceed into your sinusses etc.

Another thing to consider is that when your teeth are pulled, the gums recede no matter what, they need the teeth to 'feed' them and to keep the bloody supply going. Because you have gum disease, the dentist can't put bone power at extraction time to prevent this loss. So the question is: After the healing time of 6 month, will the gums be smaller after you lost the tooth to disease or if you had it pulled? Because bone is the thing you want to keep as much as possible in your situation, even if you get a bone graft, every little helps here.

Bad gums is not always a matter of bad hygiene, there are many other factors involved, so don't beat yourself up about it, and more importantly, don't let anyone else either.

See it positively, things like that work like an instant IQ test on people you meet, so, don't knock your bad luck too much ;-)

---

[1] Also compare homebrewers' plastic buckets. Brew 1 is fine, brew 2 less so, afterwards it gets grim. Why? Because miniscule scratches in the plastic house germs and those scratches are not whetted by the disinfection agent because the scratch is too tiny.

[Guest AuntJess]

I'm sorry but your teeth aren't worth spending anything like £25k on.

You'll have far more fun blowing Morgan. He'll appreciate it more if you don't have teeth anyway.

Yeah, but she'll look like his mother!

Losing teeth means the jaw bone shrinks and the face collapses in on itself. I have seen women 20 years younger than me, with false teeth, looking 20 years older! All puckered and pruney around the mouth.

[Guest theboltonfury]

I lost two teeth playing rugby. The whole tooth. I put them both back in and they re-took to my mouth. Went to the dentist who set them with some cement to the other teeth. They are still there 20 years later, although they have veneers as they discolured after the nerve died.

With implants not every mouth will accept them, and I've been told, if you smoke, forget it!

[juvenal]

Need a front tooth replaced with an implant. I'm looking at £1200- £2000 for that single tooth.

Anyone got any advice or experience?

Thanks

[Bloo Loo]

I was abducted and have an implant from the planet Dent...does that count?..I know it does...how many steps, who I meet...its talking to me now in fact...

[AteMoose]

Missus is a dental nurse. Yes it is worth it if it is a front tooth, they will last upto 15 years less if you have a stronger bite. They cost £2300, BUT they will require extra maintenance. If you get them done abroad you will need to go abroad again to get any maintenance done, a uk dentist wont accept you if you have had this work done elsewhere. In the long run It will be best to get them don't in the uk, as you wont have to fly out again and again and again. If it is back tooth don't do it. Oh you need to have sorted out any other dental issues before you do it..

[Guest theboltonfury]

Need a front tooth replaced with an implant. I'm looking at £1200- £2000 for that single tooth.

Anyone got any advice or experience?

Thanks

There is no guarantee that the implant will take and if you smoke it's about 50/50.

[Bloo Loo]

Five years ago I had a choice of implants or a bridge. In the end I went for a gold-porcelain bridge. No problems so far. At the time I lived in Germany, a lot of Germans and Austrians get their dental work done across the border in Sopron, Hungary because german dentists are so expensive.

I had no problems at all with the standard of the work or care. Whenever I go for checkups in the UK dentists admire the dental work and ask where I had it done.

[cartimandua51]

Missus is a dental nurse. Yes it is worth it if it is a front tooth, they will last upto 15 years less if you have a stronger bite. They cost £2300, BUT they will require extra maintenance. If you get them done abroad you will need to go abroad again to get any maintenance done, a uk dentist wont accept you if you have had this work done elsewhere. In the long run It will be best to get them don't in the uk, as you wont have to fly out again and again and again. If it is back tooth don't do it. Oh you need to have sorted out any other dental issues before you do it..

Can you ask your missus - what is this extra maintenance?

so they won't treat Polish immigrants who had an implant in Poland????

Why not on back teeth?

[cartimandua51]

Need a front tooth replaced with an implant. I'm looking at £1200- £2000 for that single tooth.

Anyone got any advice or experience?

Thanks

I put up a similar query a year or so back and one of the replies was

Implants can be complex -- how much gums do you have left, how well do your gums hold up (women often have a hard time when menstruating, genetic reasons, etc) -- habits of yours (smoking, gnashing of teeth whilst sleeping)

If your teeth just rotted and you have no gum issues it is fairly straight forward -- but if you have gum issues, then those need to be fixed first, then you need to be helped to grow new bone with sinus graft and other assorted tricks. Be prepared to chew on the rim for a few month, but in the end, it'll be worth it, a denture will never provide the chewing services you really need, an implant supported denture is a huge improvement and will greatly improve your digestive health, which in turn puts extra years on your life expectancy and wards off all sorts of painful illnesses.

Just make sure the dentist you choose in the end has lots of experience and put plenty of implants, and it may well be the Hungarian/Bulgarian guy who is the best choice for you. UK dentists are not much better qualified at all and there is a reason why UK subjects have awful teeth and lots of 'hack jobs' in their mouths... it's very amusing for them to poopoo their continental colleagues!

Here is a good straight forward site that explains a lot of the process: http://www.dental-implants.com/cms/

You can probably mix and match services -- get your gums healed up in the UK and at the same time find perfect support for post implant time (where gum disease is your major enemy), and then go for the dentist with the most implants experience and the least precious attitude. Note the segment in that website about costs too -- it does not have to be overly expensive, a lot of the spin of how difficult this all is, is just an attempt to get more money for the work, a bit like the housing market *smirk* It's not simple and many dentists do a wonderful job, but then again, it's not exactly rocket science either.

from Cinnamon

[CrashedOutAndBurned]

I think in terms of overall health when it comes to any dental work and from a natural health perspective I personally wouldn't get an implant. It's metal in your head, titanium is not completely inert and does challenge the immune system. When it comes to dental work, doing the least possible is the best long term solution, so unless you're dentally in really bad shape drilling into the jaw should be avoided as there's always the chance of nerve damage or infection.

If you are dead set on an implant, check out all zirconium implants which are all-ceramic and at least mediate some of the potential problems of titanium. A previous dentist was natural health aware and could refer to someone to did these, although they are more popular in parts of europe, especially Germany.

For a tooth near the front, a maryland bridge done well is the least invasive solution as it can be done without reshaping adjacent teeth. Again, some dentists can do metal-free marylands, which is ideal. I family member has a maryland that's been there 20 years.

[AteMoose]

Can you ask your missus - what is this extra maintenance?

so they won't treat Polish immigrants who had an implant in Poland????

Why not on back teeth?

Regular x-rays 1 to 2 years, oral hygiene needs to be maintained, if your bite is heavy it might need tightening. If the bridge work gets broken it might need to be fixed. Its to do with dental records, if the dentists don't know exactly what work is done most dentists will tell you to go back to where you got it done if you have a problem. The same goes for it you start any dental treatment almost all dentists wont complete a treatment that has been started by someone else. Back teeth, what's the point it is an extra expense for something you wont see and probably don't need.

[cartimandua51]

Regular x-rays 1 to 2 years, oral hygiene needs to be maintained, if your bite is heavy it might need tightening. If the bridge work gets broken it might need to be fixed.

Its to do with dental records, if the dentists don't know exactly what work is done most dentists will tell you to go back to where you got it done if you have a problem. The same goes for it you start any dental treatment almost all dentists wont complete a treatment that has been started by someone else.

Back teeth, what's the point it is an extra expense for something you wont see and probably don't need.

Bit tough if your previous dentist (like one I had once) was a sole practitioner who topped himself after his wife died! Surely this would classify as unprofessional conduct if someone is in pain? To say nothing of the situation where you are deeply unhappy with the standard of work done / in litigation with the previous dentist.

[AteMoose]

Bit tough if your previous dentist (like one I had once) was a sole practitioner who topped himself after his wife died! Surely this would classify as unprofessional conduct if someone is in pain? To say nothing of the situation where you are deeply unhappy with the standard of work done / in litigation with the previous dentist.

I'm just going on my missus has told me. I assume if the dental records are in English it is easier if your dentists dies, or your unhappy with service, when you have got a new dentist they will be more able to get your previous records. However if your in pain and you don't have a dentist yet ad you turn up with a problem they will normally send you away and tell you to go to a dental access centre instead but they are there to provide a quick fix.

[CrashedOutAndBurned]

That's another argument against implants - you're into a more surgical sphere, a whole other layer of complexity in your mouth. Yes, implants are big money for the dental establishment, which is why they are ruthlessly promoted as the gold standard for missing teeth. From my own experience, and from hearing some serious horror stories, the least invasive you let dentists be in your mouth the better. They really can unleash havoc.

Oddly enough, the term quack comes from the German word 'quecksilver' - it was first applied to dentists mad enough to place mercury in people's mouths, rather than more inert but expensive materials such as gold. Even more odd, today dentists have to be very careful about telling patients that removing mercury from their teeth could aid their systemic health. So the accusation of quackery has done a complete 180!

Nickel is a pretty nasty material to be in the mouth too, often found on bonded crowns. Root canals, meanwhile, are the dental equivalent of leaving a dead toe on your foot and in the early half of the last century were deeply controversial - even dental journals clearly admit that a dead tooth cannot be sterilised.

[Guest anorthosite]

[Tiger Woods?]

If you get them done abroad you will need to go abroad again to get any maintenance done, a uk dentist wont accept you if you have had this work done elsewhere. 

Nice.