£12k for dental treatment?!

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Just seen a private dentist at my NHS practice as they have no NHS dentists working so this was my only option.

My teeth are terrible. I have severe bruxism and most of my teeth are so ground down and broken that the dentine is exposed and the enamel gone. They are also very very short.

This dentist basically said I have three options

1. Do nothing and just keep wearing my night guards. Teeth will crumble and break, and I'll have to have them removed and have a bridge or similar when that happens.
2. Crown the front 14 teeth (8 top, 6 bottom) and wait 3-6 months for my rear molars to push up to the same height (crowns will gain me 5-7mm difference she thinks) - £12,000
3. Crown all my teeth (I have several missing molars) - £21,000

That's it. Those are my options. I'm not suitable for any other treatment. The NHS have long refused to do the crowns.

I'm fucked, aren't I? £12k is an absolutely impossible sum of money to find.

It used to be common for people to get all their teeth taken out to avoid problems. I seem to remember an aunty got her teeth removed as a 21st birthday present! If you went that route you could invest a fraction of the cost on a really good set of dentures which should be pretty undetectable. Dental treatment is ridiculously expensive, going abroad does seem a real option, one friend used to go to Ukraine and another goes to Bulgaria, they have family in those countries.

3yrs without a week off sounds horrific. DH is in the military, our time off together is whatever they say it is so I try to spend time with him when he's here.

No nails, gym, car payments or subscriptions to anything to cut 😂.

I have my hair cut every 6-8mths. We share Prime and Netflix with a mate - we pay one each. I'm guessing you live very differently.

I'd do dentures, I lost my teeth due to genetic problems, tmj and brutixsm.

I started my dentures journey at 27, I don't regret it in the slightest and you'd never know I had them if I didn't tell you.

Yes my grandmother did this

Nope, the NHS have always refused preventative therapy. They claimed crowns were cosmetic and not clinically necessary. I've seen NHS dentists regularly all my life

Ive had several crowns on the NHS. If you look at the NHS dental charge website they are in the top band.

I have bruxism and weak teeth. Mine are knackered. I just get mine filled at the back. I’ve got one porcelain crown on one that shows at the front. That’s was 600 quid. You can’t get porcelain crowns on the NHS though.

OP, to be frank, I would consider other country, like Poland. Medical procedures are on the same level as in the UK, including dentistry. It really sucks, I feel sorry for you. 12k is hell lot of money.

I've had a crown in the past for a root canaled molar tooth, but never been granted it as preventative work to the worn down teeth. They've always said that is cosmetic and not clinical.

You might find a dentist who could do the work a few grand cheaper but you're looking at £8K for that amount of work minimum.

Dentures may be your cheaper option but look for a payment plan.

No they won’t do that. They only do it to protect a tooth in a bad state.

Seems pointless really. How much would it cost to do prevent it ive work compared to millions of fillings.

This! If they are at the front, they do crowns! Well they did mine years ago.I have quite a few.

I would suggest:

1. ask them to refer you to your nearest NHS dental hospital restorative department. (You have to meet criteria to be accepted - one being you have to try a night-guard first, which you have). You can have an assessment and if you meet criteria they can offer treatment there, which is free.

if they refuse or say they can’t because ‘they aren’t NHS’. I would get a second opinion from a different dental practice, not just a different dentist.

Kids braces cost £5k. This is hugely skilled work, from a professional who is self-employed, has no paid sick/maternity/paternity/annual leave and has significant overheads. I can appreciate that it's unaffordable, but actually I don't think it's an unreasonable quote. Of course you need to get a 2nd opinion but it wouldn't surprise me if it was within £1-2k either way of your first one

But I would also agree that with the medical issues/bruxism, it's worth asking if you can be referred for an opinion at somewhere like Eastman's on the NHS

If they’re charging those prices they don’t really need to worry about paid maternity or holidays.

If they did one person a day for 5 days that would be 60k a week. Most people don’t earn that a year.

I would remove them all and get implants. You’re only 41 and could get another 40 years wear put of them.

I have two - I will never crown another tooth again. As my root canals fail I will replace with implants. Also no enamel on my teeth.

I had veneers in turkey as my teeth were very damaged. They look incredible and were very affordable. You should certainly consider going abroad, you don't want dentured at 41!

Go to somebody overseas I beg you. Even competent dentists here so rarely perform this type of extensive cosmetic restoration that they are very inexperienced in comparison to a popular Turkish dentist who will be performing this type of surgery every week.

If the damage is done, won’t the nhs dentist help now?

im having front top and bottom front veneers, back top and bottom half crowns done, all on nhs, for free. I only pay for after care at my
own dentist. This is being done at a dental hospital though, and I’m in Scotland so not sure if different elsewhere.

I had thought I would need to pay initially but they said as it’s a clinical need, not cosmetic, its free.

could you ask to be referred to a dental hospital?

I'm afraid implants would be over my dead body. Apart from the astronomical cost (over £20k), I'm extremely squeamish about dental treatment and even pictures of the processes of dental implants makes me feel physically sick. Never ever going to happen.

Think it's more likely to be every 3 months.

Have you been referred to a specialist yet? Getting crowns without solving the underlying issue seems a bit counterproductive. I have TMJ and the NHS dental hospital were brilliant.

This will be hours of work - I very much doubt it would all be done in one go.

and of course not all profit - out of that has to come the rent/mortgage on the building, nurse/receptionist salaries, indemnity insurance, heating, lighting, insurance on the building, public liability insurance, accountancy fees, dental equipment, burglar alarm monitoring, toilet paper, cleaning equipment - it's a private business and turnover does not = profit.

I'm in Cornwall @BakedTattie - my dental practice is nominally an NHS one, but they lost both NHS dentists during 2020 as they returned to their respective home countries. Therefore I can only be seen privately. No practices are taking on in this region, with a 10+yr waiting list for a place on an NHS dentists books.

I have just found "Individual Funding Requests" can be made to the local NHS board, so I've phoned the practice to ask them about that. They have passed it to the practice manager to look at as the staff aren't familiar with it. My Dad had something similar in Scotland a decade ago for £10k worth of treatment. Similar issues, obv some of my problems are genetic.

My mum had dentures from 21. You’d genuinely never have known, except that her teeth looked far better than most of her contemporaries’. She didn’t appear to have had any problems with them at all. It’s definitely the way I’m going when my teeth start falling out due to incurable gum disease.

It’s a scandal that nhs dentistry has fallen apart and… we’ve all kind of just accepted it?

It is extremely unlikely that a dental hospital will take you on for advanced restorative treatment with multiple crowns and/or bridges . Many have closed waiting lists or will only take on easy cases suitable for students. Eg https://www.stgeorges.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/4.-Referral-and-Acceptance-Criteria-SGH-Oct-2019.pdf

Treatment of severe wear due to bruxism is extremely demanding. Treatment needs to be staged , as your bite is rebuilt , and may well need much adjustment and ongoing treatment and maintainance as the years go by. This is particularly true if you have severe bruxing problems. A NHS practitioner will not have the funds/time/expertise to provide this very, very challenging type of treatment.

Realistically you are only going to get this done privately and it is going to take months , up to a year to rebuild your bite with many appointments.

If this work is done in a rush the change in bite may well make your grinding problems much,much worse. In other words going abroad would be a bad mistake unless you are prepared for very regular visits over a year , including emergency appointments for eg recementing temporary crowns.

Botox is excellent for intransigent bruxing , as are relaxation techniques , yoga , cbt etc. Bruxing is not a disease it is a symptom of chronic stress.

However the only way of restoring the damage is to see a very experienced private dentist who is skilled at full mouth reconstruction and to expect to be wearing a bite guard for life , Botox , possibly for life , and maintainance for life.

Enamel is the strongest substance in the body and whatever we replace it with is only ever second best and not as strong. This is what makes treatment of worn teeth on people who bruxing so very difficult.

Good luck but it will be an expensive and long road ahead.