Anyone had a dental implant?

[Tony]

I've got a tooth missing and I'm thinking about getting a dental implant and was just wondering if anyone's had one done and what your thoughts are?

It seems that there's a huge variation in pricing for it, from about £400 - £3000

 

[Toddy]

I cracked the roots of a back molar and it abcessed. It wouldn't settle so the dentist pulled it. I now have a truly irritating gap, and I asked about an implant. The quote was nearly 4K. Apparently it needs to be checked by a surgeon to establish that the bone is sound enough, so that's a consultants fee. Then if he says yes, the implant support is fitted, and that's a surgeon's job. Then when that's established the dentist takes a fitting and a crown is made and he can fit it.
Seemed such a palaver, then a friend said, "Och, just go on a weekend's holiday to Prague. Go to the clinic, get things measured, etc., enjoy a day out in the city, go to the clinic the next morning, fitting done, stay overnight, a quick check up the next day and fly home that evening. £1,400, including flights and accomodation.

Makes you wonder, doesn't it ?

M

 

[Chainsaw]

They can work really well but it depends on the location, load and shear applied to the tooth etc etc. The technology itself is pretty sound, based on implanting a metal socket into the bone and fitting the tooth to that. Often a better(if more expensive) solution than a bridge or denture for preserving what is still there. Not all are suitable, depends on your bone strength and other factors, most dentists won't look at doing them on smokers.

As for price, as usual you get what you pay for most of the time. Titanium bits and pieces, CAD/CAM crown design, proper training and 'warranty' etc etc. God knows what you'll get for £400, you should be nearer the £2K mark +/- a bit. Like most things you can get good quality work for less and can pay over the odds for something so do the research, personal recommendations are worth their weight in amalgam...

I have a non-vital front tooth that's the Steven Hawking of the dental world, it got killed in 1984 and has amazingly been hanging on since then. When it goes it will be replaced with an implant.

HTH
Alan

PS not a dentist but I've been sleeping with one for 30 years now so I've picked up a fair bit. She has reviewed this post and didn't shake her head....

 

[Chainsaw]

I cracked the roots of a back molar and it abcessed. It wouldn't settle so the dentist pulled it. I now have a truly irritating gap, and I asked about an implant. The quote was nearly 4K. Apparently it needs to be checked by a surgeon to establish that the bone is sound enough, so that's a consultants fee. Then if he says yes, the implant support is fitted, and that's a surgeon's job. Then when that's established the dentist takes a fitting and a crown is made and he can fit it.
Seemed such a palaver, then a friend said, "Och, just go on a weekend's holiday to Prague. Go to the clinic, get things measured, etc., enjoy a day out in the city, go to the clinic the next morning, fitting done, stay overnight, a quick check up the next day and fly home that evening. £1,400, including flights and accomodation.

Makes you wonder, doesn't it ?

M

You can go to India and get one done for £150.... It might be alright... it might not....

Be interesting to know the figures for what the NHS spends sorting out 'surgery gone wrong'

 

[Toddy]

I don't fancy going to India, that's a whole other ball game entirely, but a jaunt to Prague sounded much more reasonable.

Thing is though, I like my own dentist, and I'd rather have it done here. 4.5K though at a clinic in Glasgow vs a third of that in Poland....and the Poles are pretty sound folks.
Simple google search shows up masses of options.
http://indexmedicauk.co.uk/prices/treatments

No wonder folks question things.

M

 

[crosslandkelly]

Isn't Janne a dentist?

 

[Tony]

In talking to the dentist today he's sending me for a scan and then he does all the work, there was no mention of surgeons etc. They'll probably have to put a little bone and mesh in as my jaw has thinned out a bit after losing the tooth about 6 years ago. You can get it done in London for £1000-£1500, I even saw a place earlier for about £700. I figure though that trips to London from here will soon add up in cost as well. It seems to be, go for the scan, see the dentist, sort out the implant in the jaw, then go back 6/7 months later for the tooth to be put in place after the jaw has healed/grown around the implant...

 

[bopdude]

You can go to India and get one done for £150.... It might be alright... it might not....

Be interesting to know the figures for what the NHS spends sorting out 'surgery gone wrong'

My Brother had his full sets, top and bottom done in Goa, twice, the guy got the colour wrong so had to redo them, no problems with them and this must have been 10 years ago

 

[BJJJ]

I have had one and haven't had any issues once it was finished. I had to have a temporary one fitted on the steel peg for a few weeks until ghe final one was made. Total cost about £1500. Seems expensive but it is a permanent fix. They screw a threaded insert into the bone, it sounds gruesome but it really wasn't that bad at all. With hindsight I would still have it done.

 

[Janne]

My advice: check which implant system they are using.
Implant quality varies hugely, from cheap systems which have zero research behind them, to expensive, well researched systems.
If I personally needed an implant, I would go to somebody that used one of the Brånemark systems. Brånemark have research going back to 1965, research on exact Ti alloy, surface treatment, thread design, abutment design, just everything.
Nobody else has the same research and development base. They basically invented the Ti implants as we know it today. Developed the best alloy, the best operating techniques and methods, the principles behing the whole treatment.
Number two I would say are Dentsply/Astra and third Straumann.

It is very tempting for the dentist to use a cheap implant dystem, to increase his profits. In UK, I was offered (supposedly Titanium) implants for as low as UKP 10, and that is for the implant, abutent, abutment screw, healing screw.
Brånemark charges far more than that for the smallest component, the screw that fixes
/ mates the abutment to the implant.

Where I would have it done? Sweden, UK, US. If I could, I would go to the Brånemark Institute in Gothenburg in Sweden.

The guys there are basically doing 90% of all research and development on Ti implants used somewhere on the human body.

Going to Poland or other low cost European country? Never. Why?
Because I have seen to many failed, low quality or simply ‘crazy’ treatments from there.
At the clinic I worked in in UK, we had our fair share of patients receiving treatment plans and quotes but choosing to go to a low cost country like Poland, India, Thailand, Hungary, Czech Rep., Greece, Turkey.
They went for extensive treatments including implants.

A large % developed problems of various sorts. Most large private clinics in our area ( Kent, W. Sussex, E. Sussex) refused to take on solving these problems.
Most of us recommended the patient to go back to the clinic where they had the work done.

I am trained on Brånemark implants in Gothenburg, both the surgical bit and prosthodontic bit. Did it about 27 years ago. Post grad courses since.
In UK I placed close to 1500 implants, Brånemark and Astra, a few Osteo-T.

I stopped doing them when I moved from UK. I want a less stressfull life.

 

[Janne]

My Brother had his full sets, top and bottom done in Goa, twice, the guy got the colour wrong so had to redo them, no problems with them and this must have been 10 years ago

It sounds like your brother had a bridge made. On natural teeth (roots) or maybe on implants ( not likely unless he spent several months in Goa)

 

[Janne]

Just to clarify:
Implant is the threaded screw that is inserted in a pre drilled and tapped hole in the jaw bone. Made from Titanium or hi Titanium alloy.
Abutment = the piece that goes from the implant through the gingiva (gum) which looks like a steel coloured peg. Titanium alloy
Usually fixed with a tiny screw, a few sustems use a conical friction gripping tech. Usually made from a high tensile Gold alloy.
On the abutment there is a Crown placed. Glued or screwed.
Best are all Ceramic, or high precious metsl crowns, imo.

A Crown is also made to restore a badly broken down tooth. Vital ( nerve alive) or root filled. Most root filled teeth also need a post core, to strenghten the roots.

 

[Tengu]

I would go with the option that is most appealing to archaeologists.

(I have gaps too.)

 

[Janne]

Cost of the implant treatment:
Manufacturers of high quality components charge basically the same in all countries, be it Sweden, UK or India.

So to pay UKP 200 for the implant, other bits, surgery, crown, technitians fees for crown, technitians materials......



You get what you pay for.

 

[Janne]

I would go with the option that is most appealing to archaeologists.

(I have gaps too.)

I have been telling my patients for over three decades that I do not do dentistry for them, but for the Archeologists of the future.

 

[Mike313]

I've a mate with a Black & Decker drill, some B&Q dowels and some ISOPON car body filler from which he fashions 'teef'. £400 paand to you , Gav'nah!

 

[oldtimer]

I'm missing five teeth. I have no problems with eating and after reading the above posts I don't think I'm going to do anything about replacing them.

My sons read about the Inuit tradition of pushing the toothless elderly out to sea on an ice floe when they could no longer chew and began saving for a single one-way ticket to Point Barrow. Fortunately, global warming has put paid to their little scheme.

 

[santaman2000]

I had one done about 15 years ago and I've been extremely pleased with it. The best I remember from the price back then was about $1200. I have another empty spot now where I'd like one but the current price (when I had the tooth pulled a couple of years ago) was closer to $2000 and my budget didn't allow. In a few months when I get a significant raise I'll check again but the dental surgeon that I used before said if there was a significant delay between extracting the my real tooth and getting the implant, I'd need a bone graft because the bone atrophies if the spot's left open. That'll probably be an additional cost. Another potential problem if it's been a while since your old tooth was extracted is that the teeth around it will likely have shifted.

Mine was done here in Florida so I've no idea what to look for there. That said, I think it's safe to assume what others have already posted: that you'll likely get what you pay for. Stay home and go to a reputable dentist. Another western European country or the US/Canada would likely be the same quality but also the same price plus travel expenses (and there's a lot to be said for easily accessible follow up care)

I need to check to see if my dental insurance covers implants. I don't think it does but it's been so long since the last one I don't remember if I paid full price or if that $1200 was just my cost share.

 

[Janne]

No dental insurance in the US covers implsnts.
Yes, the tooth-less alveolar ridge does atrophy over time.
I usually recomment minimum 6 monthd and maximum 2 years between extraction and implant. 6 months because I want matured bone to drill and tap, and max 2 years to be sure not to lose any.

There is always mote bone resorbtion in the top jaw, molar region. Two ways: the sinus floor sinks and the alveolar ridge resorbs.
Sinus liftas are easy though.


In Sweden we had an excellent custom called Ättestupa.

In starvation times, the old and/or useless folks we expected to go to a cliff and ’join the ancestors’.


I know of one such cliff, south east of Jönköping. Said to last have been used in the 1860’

 

[Janne]

Remember this: if the teeth either side of the gap have good periodonal health ( no gum disease) but large fillings, it is better to do a bridge.

Dentists ( specially in the US) push implants like there is no tomorrow.
Excellent profit margin, and in most cases really simple and uneventful.

To make a quality bridge is in fact trickier, specially if more that 2 teeth needs to be shaped.