Dental implants problem

[Professionallytorn]

A family member had Nobel Biocare Dental implants on the NHS a few years ago as she had an unusual dental issue. She is having repeated problems with the veneers falling off of the metal structure, the nhs dentist who did them no longer practices, and this type of implant does not seem that be done by many dentists. She has seen an NHS specialist who has refused to treat her as not a priority patient group. Two queries -

1. should she not be entitled to ongoing NHS after care - she has 4 front veneers missing and just metalwork showing which is impacting her mental health and confidence to work with Young adults. Can she appeal the specialist decision that she is not a priority group?
2. Anyone know of a dentist that can help with this type of implant - south of london to south / south-east coast area ? Thank you.

DH is a dentist and says implants are rarely done on the NHS and unfortunately there is no obligation for implant problems to be fixed on the NHS.
It's likely the implants had bridge work placed on them. If they're repeatedly failing, it suggests a significant problem with the occlusion (bite).
Under normal circumstances, the next step would be to get a referral to a local dental hospital however with covid, that could be extremely difficult, leaving just a private specialist as the only option.

'She has seen an NHS specialist who has refused to treat her as not a priority patient group'

But she is a priority group! As you say if she has exposed metal stumps on her front visible teeth that will have a massive effect on her mental health. I would contact PALS and escalate this ASAP. They have a duty of care, she had the procedure on the nhs it is absolutely reasonable to expect them to fix the problems she is now experiencing. It isn't as if she has any choice if the system used isn't one used widely by other dentists. Be pushy.

Where were they done? Hospital referral is likely to be the only NHS route.

It won’t just be the specialists decision that’s she’s not a priority group it will be the NHS trust’s decision. Implants on the NHS tend to be for people that are naturally missing a lot of teeth or have had oral cancer. It may be that their only option is to have the implants taken out and a denture fitted

'It won’t just be the specialists decision that’s she’s not a priority group it will be the NHS trust’s decision'

Yes but a decision worth challenging. Whatever reasons she had for having them surely still exist, they can't just leave her with a mouth full of metal stumps. If dentures were appropriate I presume they'd have done them in the first place. Once a treatment has been started on the nhs then the surely have a duty of care to follow up and fix problems.

They were done by NHS dentist in Hampshire area. They were done on NHS due to a jaw bone issue. I just wondered if I could get some insight on her rights. It is likely to cost her a lot to fix this privately, but even finding a dentist in the area that does these implants is an issue. I feel that surely the NHS cannot just abandon her in the state she is. Flabbergasted really !

I have never heard of someone having NHS implants in a practice. I don't know of any funding pathway for that?

Implants are very rarely done on the NHS and when they are it is usually a hospital setting for patients with trauma/head and neck cancer or severe hypodontia/cleft patients. These patients will get follow up care, if you've had implants on the NHS outside of the usual remit of what the NHS provides then I'm not sure where that leaves you. NHS implants are funded by a hospital and therefore if you have problems you go back to the hospital. If the implants are out of the usual remit of what the hospital provides then a special funding request is made and follow up responsibilities explained to the patient.

Agree, there's no funding pathway for implants in NHS general practice. Sounds v odd.