paulr

Since i had an accident when i was 14 i've had two front teeth missing and have to wear a plate.Has anyone had,or know anyone that had a dental implant.
To be honest the thought of it terrifies me,..drilling into your jawbone and inserting a titanium nut(for the tooth to bolt into).The cost is about £1,000 per tooth also.

Thanks in advance
Paul...

SCOSaltire

i crashed my (pedal) bike into the back of a stationary BMW at 30mph - busting my 2 front teeth.

Fortunately i just had to get them capped. But one of them is causing me problems and I may need this same treatment.

It also scares me!

SiDHEaD

I knocked one of mine out and cracked the other in half when i was 10. I've had a plate since. I'm 20, yet the last time i asked about a permanent fix they said my mouth was still growing. I expect they were waiting till i was out of college and in work so i would have to pay full whack!!

Not sure i can really be bothered with the hassle/expense as I am so used to my plate i forget its there most of the time!

Andy

Katana

The thought of dentists scares me horribly, especially the sound of the drill. Thats possibly my only phobia. Oh watching "The Dentst" part 1 and 2 didn't help me much either..

JohnMcC

My sister had implants years ago when they were (I think) pretty new. I can't comment on the experience she went through, but I am pretty certain that everything is hunky-dory and there has been no problems since.

Don't see her often, but if I do anytime soon I will ask her.

However, my g/f is in her final year of a dentistry degree - if you have any specific questions I can ask her.

STi-Frenchie

Brrrrrr....it's minus 10 out there folks - drive carefully !

Not really what I wanted to say...

I haven't had the treatment you speak of but am currently going through getting a couple of crowns with titanium posts in. What does this have to do with anything? Well, I'm terrified of dentists going at my mouth with drills and hadn't been to a dentist for years and years.

After I'd quit smoking in August of last year, my doc recommended that I go have my teeth polished - no sweat with that one. Once I got in the chair the dentist (a new one for me - it had been so long since I'd been to a dentist I'd moved several times) did the full works marking out all the work he "needed" to do. I have to say all that new high-tech gear was impressive - x-rays, colour photos, all done on the spot.

I digress...bottom line is that I've cracked a load of teeth, will need bridge work done and at least 4 crowns (if I remember correctly). I thought my choppers were in pretty good nick but apparently not so. Anyway, long story short, I agree to start the repairs with two crowns which were needed most urgently. I almost bottled going back for the start of the work as he'd been talking about root canal work. But, pucker-factored up to the max, in I went and jumped in the chair. He then tells me that as the two crowns are side-by-side, he'd do all the root work at one go. Too late to jump out, I lay there (feet up in the air - bizarre) and let him gimme the ju-ju juice to numb my mouth and let him get started.

An hour later, he was done - *no pain* for me (even will all that drilling and hammering and scaffolding in me gob) and best of all, my face didn't look or feel like Lennox Lewis had been using it for practice. My mouth throbbed a bit for a couple of days but nothing major and completely normal according to the torturer.

The "new" advances in dentistry mean a lot less pain for me and I'm not nearly as terrified as I was before. I'd suggest you go to a fairly modern dentist as this work was painless (I go back this week to have the posts and final caps on).

Not that I'll be rushing to him every week - dentists have a knack of inducing pain in my wallet.

Brun

My Dentist is a softly spoken 28 year old Irish lass who is fantastic eye candy. What Pain????????? I love going to visit her

Dream Weaver

I need two front implants (my two top main teeth) sometime this year, but they quoted me £3,080. So I said get lost [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img]

Cant believe I've paid my NI for 10 years now, and the only treatment I ever need is going to cost me £3k. I said there is no chance I could ever afford it, even if I sold my car and that I would just leave them.

So I now have a great big hole in my tooth, and horrible stuff that comes out of it every now and then.

They even said the implants weren't gauranteed to work

Only link I found recently was this one - Dental Implants

Luke

Dentists........ As greedy as firemen!!!!!

I have just had 7 old metal fillings removed and replaced with white enamel ones. Total cost £120.00!!!!!
Done at a state of art dentist surgery in Istanbul.

I give up on the costs over here............ Go abroad they are better and cheaper. I am told that Poland has some amazing "State of art" dentits.

paulr

Thanks for the replies.
Do most of you go to NHS dentists or is it private work?....i find my NHS dentist is a bit.."sit down-filling-next please"...without any explanation or anything.And i cant ever remember him giving me any preventative advice.I expect a better level of service to be honest.


On the point of implants i lost my front teeth nearly 20 years ago,so the gums may have shrunk a bit.I'm not sure how effective they could be.

SCOSaltire

not NHS
I am with the Highland Dental Plan

hotsam

Damn guys...I've never even had a filling done!

camk

I knocked out 2 front teeth when I was 10(now 35), 3 years ago I got a bridge done using 2 teeth either side as foundation posts. NHS paid part, as all my other teeth were relatively healthy. i got a 450 quid bill. No more plate and just some more complex cleaning using floss. It was quite painful getting the healthy teeth buffed down but only took 15 minutes(its worth it in terms of your lifestyle). They then take an inpression and send it off to a lab, they fire on temporary caps(they look fine), when you go back they cut of the temp caps and glue on your bridge. My advice is that its worth it.

Cheers
Cammy

[Edited by camk - 1/13/2003 4:02:27 PM]

paulr

Cammy....it looks pretty good does it?....

Andy W

There are a couple of dentists on the board of which I am one.
Dental implants are an excellent way of restoring missing teeth, they involve the placement of a titanium replacement for the root of a missing tooth, a period of healing is then usually required, depending on the implant system used and the area of the mouth this can be as long as 12 months. Then a custom made crown is fitted to this. TBH this is usually not any more traumtic than having a tooth out, if you are very worried then speak to your dentist about some form of sedation.
There are pros and cons to this form of treatment, as with any other, but personally if I was in your situation I would be first in the queue for implants.


A

[Edited by Andy W - 1/13/2003 6:27:14 PM]

camk

It looks much better than the plate, it takes about 24 hours for the swelling to go down from local anesthetic under your lip then it looks OK. It feels a bit odd at first but really its pretty natural. You can get it done to one tooth either side BUT its not as strong and I'd broke a few plates at the front through too hard biting.

Cheers
Cammy

Andy W

Have a look at http://www.uksmiles.cc/ this is a site from a collegue in England, No connection with this chap at all but it has some useful info.

Andy W

http://www.bda-dentistry.org.uk/site...lantsvideo.asp

Andy W

Hope these are of some use to you.

Andy

Andy W

Cammy,

You have had bridge work which is a very different solution to the problem, Bridgework often relies on preparing (cutting a tooth down to a little core) the teeth next to the space, it may not be possible if the teeth next the space are already compromised or are not robust enough to accept such treatment. With conventional bridge work, as you describe, at the very least you shorten the lifespan of the teeth. Other types of crownless and adhesive bridgework are sometimes possible but they also have pros and cons.

Andy

paulr

Andy..thanks for the links,i'll check them out.One issue for me though is i lost the teeth nearly 20 years ago and there has been some gum shrinkage,i'm just a bit concerned implants may look too big.

btw,my regular dentist doesnt do implants,i asked him a while ago about it.How should i go about finding someone good who does?

Cammy...cheers.

scrap

I am the worlds biggest wimp when in comes to anything medical, dentists etc.

BUT can highly recommend the dentist I visited recently in Dundee, put me at ease, didn't feel a thing with any of my 6 fillings!!

He has put my fear of the dentist at rest now

BTW - he drives an EVO and had a Scoob!!

Seriously tho, I know he does these 'implants' too.

SCOSaltire

would that be Sam?

scrap

might be

Dream Weaver

Sorry for the thread hijack, but Andy W - any solution to cut the cost of these implants?

I really cant afford £3k and probably wont be able to for about 4 years. I cant have it bridged - although the teeth either side of my two front ones are strong enough, the nearside one (LOL) is a double tooth - it has a tooth on the back of it, and it is a pain to do apparently, and also a rare phenomenon supposedly.

I need to do something though - there is a hole in my front left tooth where they tried an Apisectomy which didnt work, but when they fill it the filling just moves up over time, then comes loose.

Simon

PS I know any opinion you give will be your own and I cant use it etc etc

Andy W

Some answers.
3k for two restored implants is a pretty reasonable price,
At the front, in the top jaw a typical implant needs to be left for 6 months, now there is no reason why they need to be restored in 6 months- 6 years may be fine, the important bit is that the implant sitting there keeps the bone in place, Preventing resorbtion of the bone which make things more difficult. This can cut out a potentially expensive bone augmentation step which some dentists that do implants don't have the ability/equipment experience to do.
An implant retained crown/bridge is expensive in the short term but it is likely to last the rest of your life........for the cost of a years insurance/depreciation/road tax on the scoob.
Ask your dentist about a payment plan, some do have them, speak to your bank 3k over a few years should be affordable.

Paul, with bone augmentation it may be possible to build out your remaining bone structure to make this look natural, there are different types of implant system that using angled "abutments" can give a natural looking emergence from the gum. It is even possible to using gum coloured porcelain to avoid the tooth looking overly long.

There are alternatives, there are type of bridges that don't involve such destruction of the surrounding teeth, adhesive bridges and currently I am trying out a new type of adhesive "crownless" bridge, these should be cheaper but will not last as long, typical life span 5-7 yrs cost that out over 20 yrs!
They could be looked on as a long term temporary, before implants or before implants but before the second stage, to allow a few years of saving.

[Edited by Andy W - 1/14/2003 8:28:29 PM]

Andy W

If your dentist does not use implants then almost without exception they will know someone who will, If not with a little research I may be able to turn up someone from your area.

I may sound like I have all the answers, I have some limited experience with a couple of implant systems but at present do not place them myself. I am lucky enough to work with someone who does a large amount of this type of work.

Any of my comments here are major generalisations and may or may not apply to you/your dentist but I hope I have been able to cast a little light on this.

paulr

Andy..thanks for that.I'll have to do some thinking/research.

The money is not the main issue,although 3K is a lot of money.More than anything its the procedure and the idea of going through all this and being dissapointed with the end result/or it not going correctly and having years of problems.In a way i'm sort of used to having a plate,and although it aint ideal,no-one seems to comment on it.On the other hand it would be nice to get rid of it.
Another question,are there any new developments in plates/false teeth or will it always be a lump of plastic in your mouth?

I also had a look at some of your links,i guess there's no such thing as a nice pic of an implant procedure...it does give you an idea of whats involved though.

Much appreciated
Paul....

scrap

Paul

try speaking to Sam Elassar on here he is a dentist who does implants. He will tell you it as it is - no BS etc.

May be able to help?!

Huxley

Ooo the fear of god, going to the Dentist


If there are some dentist's on her what about a group buy


Huxley "with gob shut for a change"