Can you get white crowns on nhs?

[GentleSloth]

For upper right molar

See what your dentist offers, generally no but they seem to have some discretion, as you pay a set amount, they make a loss if the treatment costs more!

May I ask what you paid for zirconia? My dentist said it would be £880. TBH, I wasn't sure I'd heard her correctly, as thought zirconia was a fake diamond, but seems that is the correct name.

@CJ0374 It was £660, but that was at a "discounted" rate because I'm on a £20 p/m private payment plan.
I've only had it about three months so far (back molar) but I'm really pleased with it. Feels very stable and sturdy.
I didn't see the point of paying not a huge amount less for one thst wasn't going to last as long.

Hey OP, I'm about to have an NHS crown fitted on an upper molar which was more filling than tooth. Filling broke a few weeks ago.

Avoided root canal, but the NHS crown was £360 (metal) and the private one would be £980. There was an in between option (porcelain?) around the £600 mark which he said wouldn't be as hard-wearing as the other two.

Mine has been more silver filling than tooth for a long time, although weirdly the temporary crown is white while I wait for the actual one to be made. My dentist didn't try to encourage me one way or the other, just said the main difference between the two is the colour. I was super nervous but actually I think it might be better than the massive filling I had long term, and my priority especially on an upper back tooth is longevity and wear, not how it looks.

I think there may be different guidelines for bottom or front teeth as I have a white filling on a lower molar that I'm fairly sure I had on NHS but it was a long time ago.

@hilariousnamehere thank you! This is actually a similar situation to what I’m in, however I’ve had the first stage of a root canal and am just waiting for the second and then going to ask for the tooth to be crowned. Thank you for your help

But the metal ones still have a white coating? They are metal inside but the outside will still appear white. The Zircona ones are white all the way through.

I should say, I'm not stating this as fact, more wondering!!

My lovely (yet terrifying!!) old dentist put me in a white crown as I’d only ever had a white filling before and said he couldn’t bare to put a metal crown on my teeth because it would look jarring, was all covered on my maternity dentist package thing so I didn’t pay a penny. This must have been 10 years ago now.
My new dentist would definitely not do that now!

No there are various types of crown

All porcelain , only used on front teeth

All metal used on back teeth , non precious metal NHS , gold private

Porcelain fused to metal , metal with porcelain on top to make it look white used much less now

Lithium disilicate, zirconium oxide crowns etc which are white all the way through

@StainlessSeal ideally this would be the one I would go for if it’s an nhs option

A porcelain bonded crown will not be offered on a molar (back tooth) on the NHS , it will be a metal crown .

For other posters we are talking about a tooth six or seven teeth back from the front of the mouth, not a premolar which is a back tooth and will be done in white on the NHS but is only four or five teeth back from the centre line.

@Lollygaggle can I ask as you seem very knowledgeable!
Are silver fillings harder wearing than white? I keep losing a white filling and they've put silver in this time at my request (it's a wisdom tooth) to see if that stays longer

It's an annoying position, inside of my lower wisdom tooth (the tooth broke/split)

I got an nhs white crown on a premolar about 2 months ago

At the back of the mouth, around a wisdom tooth it can be very difficult to keep a tooth dry. White fillings rely on glue only to keep them in and to work they have to be absolutely dry.

An amalgam (silver) filling is much less demanding and just needs the right shape hole cutting to stay in and so is very good where it's difficult to keep the tooth dry.

However the force of the bite is at its strongest at the back of the mouth (equivalent to pressure from an elephants foot!) so it can be really difficult to keep any fillings in when there is not.much tooth left to.hold it in.

@Lollygaggle thank you! It's quite a small filling but an awkward place and I'm a tooth grinder (I sleep in a mouthguard every night though)