Dental implants

I'm in a simmilar position, not full mouth but still in terms of implants ££££££'s. I think my local private clinic charges about 3K for a single tooth implant, or lower price per tooth if you have say 4 in a row and they can do an implant bridge type thing.

The wall I've come up against is simmilar, one you commit that much cash your kinda stuck and if they turn out to be rubbish, you've potentially got a bigger problem than when you set out. A bit like building a house extension, how to you choose one builder/PM from another?

It's much cheaper in europe but then if you get problems you'll be in a very bad position to rectify it/get compensation, and appearently a lot more cowboys amongst the good ones.

In terms of financing, pretty much no private dental insurance will deal with veneers or implants, as it's classed as cosmetic, they'll only pay aout for extractions, dentures, or crowns, and often only subsidised rather than covering the full cost so it's a bit of a mine field.

So for funding you'll have to stump up the cash, or take out a standard loan, like you might to buy a car or whatever.

Sorry I don't have answers, but I'd be very interested to see what others thoughts are.

No experience implants but work loosely in the industry.

I know of a few people who have travelled to Turkey and eastern Europe to have implants done. As you say it's far, far cheaper.

Generally, I think that's because the economy makes it cheaper rather than them all being butchers or whatever.

I've asked a few dentists/ surgical specialists about their opinion and they've all said they wouldn't go near a set of implants that had been done by anyone else, let alone from another country.

It's all well and good getting them done on the cheap but if your having to fly back every time there's an issue then the costs are going to mount up fairly quickly.

tbf there is a big difference in terms of regulatory oversight and healthcare quality between Poland and Turkey. Even I - a notorious cheapskate - would not get Turkey Teeth. I'd go to Poland tho.

Currently having a bit of dental work. Not to that level, but I did hear a conversation with the receptionist about another tourist teeth job and how she felt bad for them paying all over again.
Also know someone that went to Poland iirc and had loads of trouble afterwards. I think he's just had 6 root canals last week (UK dentist).

I've got an implant, it's about 5 years old now. I've not had a single issue with it and I can treat it like any normal tooth. Based on my experience I wouldn't fancy doing it abroad, lots of trips to the dentist were involved in a short space of time that I can't imagine could be condensed into shorter visits unless corners are cut.

I imagine an implant bridge would work differently but as mine is a single tooth I wouldn't know.

When it comes to cost, yes it's expensive but I found a dentist I trusted and paid the price. I needed other work alongside the implant so it was close to £10k but I don't regret it one bit. I just paid for each visit and because it took quite a while I could spread the payments out a bit.

I was lucky in some regards that the NHS coughed up for two implants and a bridge for me, I was more unlucky because I crashed and broke my jaw in three places to need to have them done. Prior to the accident I said many times that if I won the lottery I'd have all my teeth removed and a perfect set of implants. There's no way on earth I'd do that now, I'm trying to keep as many of my originals as I can, so much so I'm booked in for a root canal with crown. The thing with implants is you dont get a gum line like you do on your natural teeth, they sit against my gums but the gum doesnt come over the top of the tooth like your natural teeth do, a layman won't see it or notice but I see it every time I look in the mirror and I hate it. I'm not sure when they were done now, at least 7 years ago and I've had no trouble with them so far. The only occasional thing that happens is if they get a knock, they shift a fraction of an amount which freaks me out because I panic that they're coming loose but after a while I stop noticing it and it shifts back.

Sounds like you're really struggling with your teeth currently, but Id think hard about it before deciding either way.

That’s the thing, I paid to have a consultation with my Dentist implant specialist (Bupa), who said that given the price difference, if it was his money he’d be travelling to Poland. The caveat emptor being if you have any problems. In conversation he did point out that there’s a lot of Polish dentists currently working in this country.

About your have a tooth out and been told I'll be looking at £2.5k if I want an implant.

As it's only one, near the back, I'm hoping I can leave a gap.

As it’s only one, near the back, I’m hoping I can leave a gap.

That's what I did about a year ago. No problems so far...

And me, about 6 yrs ago on one side, then last year on the other. No problems worth 5 grand to fix.

Yup me too. Two molars missing after root canals didn't last. Had 'em out and been fine. Any other non visible teeth I'll just get out straight away rather than the root canal carry on again.

I’ve lost 3 molars top set, soon to be 4 due to the latest root canal failing & soon to lose my rear most molar due to it splitting vertically. I really couldn’t give a monkeys about how my teeth look but when I can’t chew food it then becomes a problem.

Rather than going abroad you can actually volunteer to a dentist school. I did 15 years ago when working in London and got bridges, rout canals etc done. All for nothing.
The students are micromanaged by lecturers.
I've had 1 filling now in 15 years.

My issue is..
Not where you get the procedure done, more the after care and 'warranty' for want of a better term, follow up care and if you have problems afterwards.

Hence a lot of dentists won't entertain work carried out by a different dentist, you'll just get charged full dollar to un-shag a bad job, and get charged full dollar on top to fix it.

I’ve asked a few dentists/ surgical specialists about their opinion and they’ve all said they wouldn’t go near a set of implants that had been done by anyone else

They work on their own teeth?

A colleague paid 10k for two front implants (front upper two) plus some other minor remedial work.

Those with root canal failure, what sort of time was spent on them?
I recently had an upper front, which has a crown re-done as the previous dentist hadn’t got all of the nerve. It could be seen on the X-ray.
I had a rear molar done last month and it was done over two appointments with multiple X-rays and measuring to be sure it was correct.

I’m amazed there’s not more dentists on here…

There are dentists on here.

Implants - like very elective surgery comes with risks, while I don't want to say that UK dentistry is better than European mainland, there's the obvious issue with aftercare that you'll need to bear in mind if you go abroad, these are generally not fit and forget, especially during the process itself. The process of successful implants can be months long. The implant 'root' needs to be placed in your jaw and 'fuse' with the bone and only once that's all stable can the replacement tooth be placed. There are increasingly "implant in a day" options, but nearly every dentist I've worked with makes a face when they're bought up.

Given that you seem to be having ongoing infection issues, any dentist worth their pay is going to want to make sure sure where their implants go is as healthy as it can be, and probably will advise that before doing anything drastic, you need to get that issue sorted out first. Bear in mind that you may not be a suitable case for implants at all. Consider what you'll want to do then, bridges, dentures etc. Dentists will want to keep as many healthy teeth as they can, so while you might want to rip them all out and have done, beware the dentist who agrees with you.

I used to work at MPS; the clinical indemnity provider, and every other note from dentists a decade or so ago used to start. "I placed an implant..." To the point where in the UK it's really become a specialism, and regular dentists are being persuaded (by expensive fees) to either send their patients to, or become one themselves. So, ask how many they place, and ask about success rates. talk to a number of dentists about their opinions and where they send their patients. In this world it really does both pay to do your research and pay a bit more for good care.

I had a single dental implant done about 15 years ago and it's been fantastic, as others have said fit and forget.

Had it done in Budapest by: https://www.vitaleurope.co.uk/

I had 5 trips out there including the initial consultation (which I see they now do in London) and the facilities were 1st class, I'd even argue that they were better than the dentists I had been to in the UK.

I think I paid around 2.5k for treatment, flights, transfers and accommodation (which they also arranged for me). I also had an upgraded ceramic crown fitted (it's like bike parts!)

From memory I was looking at least 3-3.5k in the UK at the time with the basic fittings.

One thing to bear in mind is that although it has been fit and forget, I think the crowns have a limited life expectancy. I think mine was about 10-15 years, so this something I might have to look at in the future. Not so bad for a single tooth but worth raising with whoever you go with if you are considering having them all out.