Advice on NHS partial upper denture after dentist visit required please. Thanks

[Tcateh]

I'm very much hoping @Bs0u416d sees this thread as when I searched you'd given some helpful advice to another person about the denture process.

I was lucky to get a one off NHS appointment in a town miles away to address painful tooth. It's my upper 2nd molar and basically it's falling down because it's opposite bottom molar had to be removed during COVID.
I have no other molars at the top.

So advised to have this removed and a partial denture. The dentist said I'd basically hate it and it wouldn't fit properly.
Slightly off putting.
I am exempt from NHS fees due to long term disability but haven't had an NHS dentist for ten years or so have had the removal in COVID done privately.

My initial glee at having this one off course of treatment, ie the removal and partial dentures on the NHS has now made me wonder why he would say oh you won't be happy with it and will have to start again anyway.
The appointment was a bit of a rush the chap was lovely but I'm confused tbh.

The appointment to take out the tooth is in a month. I don't understand when impressions get done iyswim.
Can't be at the same time surely. Or do they do the impression then take the tooth out.

On the NHS I'm guessing that's that, the first set you get are it?

Or do you get another set later when the hole has healed.
Help! I don't know what the dentist meant.

I asked the nurse after the dentist went for his lunch but she said all she knew were a lot of people were coming in unhappy with their dentures.
Lol

I'm 54 and mortified to be having a plate in this first place

Hopefully there's advice for me.

Bump

If you have a set of dentures made as soon as you have a tooth out or soon afterwards the bone is still healing and changing shape so even if it fits at first it will soon not fit so well and normally you would need another set after three months or so which, if you pay , you would have to pay for again. Many people , for this reason, wait until the bone has finished healing before having dentures made because immediate dentures fit for only a short time.

Dentures, even the best ones, are not nice things , the only reason someone can wear one is because they train their tongue , lips and facial muscles to keep it in. It is a skill to wear a denture and not everyone can tolerate it. Most dentures will move and most people have to modify the way they eat to use them.

Top dentures are easier to tolerate than lower dentures .

It will take three to four visits to make your dentures and first impressions can be taken at same visit you have the tooth out.

Thankyou for your answer.

I don't have to pay for this one off special offer of one round of treatment. Yet I don't think that will apply after the three months.

This is when I'm reading that some others have had to pay for an entirely new set. This dentist has no more NHS services.
I've looked at the cost and it would be £750 at this dentist.

I could get the tooth removed on the NHS under this scheme. Then go back in a few months to my private dentist and pay about the same when my gums are more healed.

I wonder if they'd be better quality?

I guess no they aren't nice things but here we are.

So everything the PP said regarding immediate dentures is spot on (guessing they're also a dentist!)

Immediate dentures are a compromise in terms of fit but provide a space filling for function/aesthetics whilst the healing process is underway. They're most valuable when multiple teeth have been removed or when a front tooth has been removed. Less so for a single molar tooth (that's a lot of plastic on the roof of your mouth for a single tooth).

I think you've misunderstood the basis of your treatment on the NHS. You are either exempt from NHS dental fees or you're not. There is no such thing as a one of special offer. If you didn't have to pay for this course of treatment, assuming your circumstances don't change, you won't have to pay for the next course of treatment either.

What may be true is that you were accepted for a one off course and that this practice has not made a commitment to seeing you again for future courses of treatment. If that is the case, you may indeed have to pay for subsequent treatment on a private basis, either at this practice or another. Unless you're able to find another NHS appointment that is.

For what it's worth, I suspect you'll probably not end up missing this molar tooth tooth much and despite having a denture that you could wear, are probably choosing to cope without it.

Hi there thanks for picking up on my thread 😁

Yes the dentist practice is one in a group called mydentist and advertised now taking on NHS.
I rang and was told for a course of treatment not ongoing.
This is excellent timing in my case because an extraction is required. This one lone molar has nothing to press onto below it. There's nothing wrong with it it's the bone around it, it's very exposed and slightly lower down than it was 3 yrs ago when the lower molar was extracted.

My appointment is in 4 weeks to extract. But I'm not sure if this is an appointment for impressions. Do they do that before they extract?

The receptionist couldn't make head nor tail of the treatment paper, only that I required a half hour appt 😕

In your honest opinion would I be better off not going for the denture and wait for healing. Then go back to my private one starting from scratch?

Or give this one a go? Get the initial set.
I'm hoping that adjustments can be made to them under this one off course of treatment?

I think I understood it as here are your teeth get in with it, goodbye. This could be a waste of time all round?

Whether exempt or not with the NHS service he gave me the feeling that with these in this course of treatment that they'd not be very good.
Which is slightly alarming if you can't afford private.

I'm picturing one crappy lab v a great place down the road scenario!

With reference to not missing it much, when it's gone I'll only have 4 teeth upper on the right. Front, inscisor, pointy and 1st molar.
Apparently the bone around that one's a bit thin as 2nd molar has moved away.

Thanks if you get to read this

Sorry, I misunderstood. I assumed you were having a single molar removed and that is the only tooth you'd have missing!

In your case, I think you'd definitely benefit from an immediate denture.

The problem with immediate dentures is they are fabricated from a single impression, as opposed to definitive dentures where there are multiple stages to ensure an optimal fit and bite etc. This should be true for NHS and private definitive dentures.

Immediate dentures should still fit well enough that you can use them comfortably though you should expect their fit/retention to diminish as your mouth heals and changes shape in the circa 12 after extraction. Obviously the fewer teeth you have removed, the less this change is going to impact the fit of a denture.

If you're luck and the immediate dentures fit well, perhaps you won't need a new set at 3 months. Perhaps they will just need a reline or minor adjustment with in the laboratory to optimise their fit. In both cases, this would be provided either free of charge on the NHS or at a cost privately. But paying for a reline/adjustment is going to be much more affordable than an entirely new denture on a private basis.

Ideally you would have been provided with a treatment plan. This should detail exactly what you are having done and what the costs are (in your case £0).

An immediate denture would require and impression appointment prior to the extraction. You then usually attend a week or two later for the extraction and the denture fit. If it's happening any other way, it's not really an immediate denture.

I think the molar that will be extracted will be far back enough that you won't really miss it or need to fill the gap with a denture. I have one but it is a bit irritating and I often spit it out to eat dinner! Hahaha! See how it looks after the extraction. Don't be rushed into a denture. I think on the NHS it will be a one off charge of £306.

I'm afraid in England from April 1st £319.10.

If it's an immediate denture you would have to pay for any relines and a new denture after healing has finished.

Also to clarify long term disability does not entitlement you to free dental treatment. You are only entitled to free treatment if you meet the criteria in this link https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/dentists/get-help-with-dental-costs/#:~:text=Exemption%20for%20pregnant%20women,or%20your%20baby%27s%20birth%20certificate.

It is important that if you are in doubt you check before signing for free treatment because your exemption is checked and you will be fined if you claim for free treatment if you are not entitled. Apologies if you already know this but many are caught out because the rules are quite complex .

Yes I'm exempt due to the benefits I am entitled to.

I agree very important to make sure. This will be the first time I've had anything free tho on the NHS in years due to being kicked off my NHS list during COVID as many have been and not notified at all.

No NHS treatment here at all now in South Devon exempt or banded hence me jumping at the chance of being seen if only for a short time.