Anybody got any practical advice on getting dental implants done? I’ve been to a dentist who charged £100 for a 3D CT scan, confirmed that it’s OK to do an implant and has quoted 3.3K for a single implant. I initially booked to have the work done, but looking round, that seems over the top cost wise. I’m not convinced I needed the 3D scan done…I think a normal x-ray would have done it, but I don’t really know?

I’ve phoned a few other local dentists, who appear to be about 2.5K for the same work. One of the dentist quoted two prices, one using a implant from Asia, and one using a ‘main brand’ implant. I asked him if the cheaper one is as good, and he said it was analogous to ‘the difference between “a Ford and a Lada”. I dunno what that means? I pressed him to explain the differences, and I still couldn’t understand if the cheaper implant would perform as well (it’s £600 quid less).

My regular dentist doesn’t do implants, so he’s not an option. Any ideas on how to proceed?

no idea but apparently my uncle had his done in hungary on some sort of package with hotel etc and was very pleased with it

My regular dentist doesn’t do implants, so he’s not an option.

Ask him for advise ? Presumably he will know what’s available the likely cost and your specific needs. If you trust him his advice should be the best I would have thought.

Here you go, I decided against it:

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/anyone-had-a-dental-implant

Thanks for the link CG, sounds like the cheaper implant might not be best if it’s not maintainable. Like you, I don’t fancy travel abroad.

I’d ask your own dentist if, if he were to have one, where and what he’d get…

Had an implant done about 2 years ago and very pleased with the result as it looks and feels just like the natural tooth. Cost was about $2.3K here in the states.
Option was to put in a bridge, but in order to do the bridge, they would need to do a crown on each adjacent tooth, so the bridge ended up costing about the same.
My dentist suggested that I would really hate the care and cleaning of a bridge and he referred me to an oral surgeon who does implants as a primary business. Would definitely do it again if need be (and I have the $$ to do it).
The process does take a while (about 9 months as I recall) as they have to pull the offending natural tooth, then let the bone grow back into the root void. They then drill and screw in the post and that has to sit for a while until the jawbone grows solidly around it. Then they attach the implant and you are good to go.
The reason, as the surgeon explained, for the 3D imaging was to make sure there is adequate/quality of jawbone structure to take the implant.

I’ve been deliberating about an implant for a front tooth I knocked out earlier in the year.
I’ve finally decided to go for it, mainly because I can’t stand the denture I’m using.
Although, I am a little scared…….

You need the 3d scan to check the bone structure in detail and ensure he is not going to drill into something interesting like your sinus . the short package holiday deals are ace if your bone can grow and heal in the time frame of the trip but if you are one of the xmen why dovyou need an implant .
Crankygirl is just going through all this . we are going to the person recommended by our dentist who we trust and working on the idea that this is not a treatment where one skimps on cost or time at the expense of quality .

Your price is spot on for what we are paying too.

in the process of doing mine..

I am 6 months in, got the root out, and the implant is in….just need to wait for the bone to properly heal around it.

I am also getting a new crown and post in the adjacent tooth.

cost is €2500 for all of the work, but it is discounted as the dentist rides mountain bikes……….. this is in Italy.

3.3k sterling sounds extortionate

3.3k sterling does sound extortionate

It does to me…it really pushes it past the point of being able to justify having it done. It’s not like I look like Brad Pitt to start with. I’m married so I really don’t GAS what I look like.

The no brand implant would be £1800, which is a bit more sensible, but the dentist didn’t fill me with confidence. I’m thinking I’d prefer to live with a gap and use the money to buy something useful.

I’ve been quoted around 1K for a bottom molar so that sounds a bit expensive to me.

I’m sure your unbranded budget implant would be just fine. They might not corner as well as branded ones but just think of the money you’d save.

Wife works at a dental surgery that specialises in dental implants. She say £2.5k as a rough estimate, but added “it depends” at the end of that.

Where are you located?

East Midlands, UK

Nasher, Italy has much better technology for dental
Implants, the UK is behind the times in manufacturing technology.

I talked to my dentist about implants, he’s actually got some and he reckoned the important thing was to have a sensitivity test done beforehand. He doesn’t do implants himself though.

You drive from Vienna to Sopron (a beautiful town by the way) which is about an hour away. As soon as you cross the border every 300 meters you see dentists, health spas and plastic surgeons. The car parks are full to brimming of Austrians and Germans.
All work is about a quarter of the price and they say the work is as good if not better.

+1 for abroad

I got mine done in Poland for about 50% cheaper than UK:
Airport tranfers, hotel, lovely staff, modern, superbly equipped Dental Practice.
Plus, i had a lovely couple of city breaks.

UK Dentists really do stick the arm in.

Iodious, wife works in Cambridge. If you want her/her practice’s advice, I’m sure that I can sort out something.

I’m afraid that the reassurance of being able to visit a dentist quickly in case of emergency would be the deal breaker for me. I’ve recently been through 6 months of dental treatment and a couple of times emergency appointments were needed, one of which was my fault.

No way would I travel abroad for treatment, it’s important to research the dentist and, if possible, talk to people who’ve used him/her.

Thank for the offer Willard, would you be able to ask if using an implant from the far east from a no-brand supplier, but fitted in the UK would be a sensible thing to do?

There is no way I can go abroad, even if I wanted too, it would involve too much time off work

Right, if it was me, I’d make an appt to see my own dentist and ask him/her to refer me. As with most things like this, you do get what you pay for. I won’t dismiss the European route but there I countries I wouldn’t recommend you go to, and some which have better or certainly equivalent standards to the the UK. However the acute care issue raised by CG us a pertinent one, and something you should consider carefully.

nickc – as a matter of interest cos you obviously have some knowledge, if someone has been treated abroad and needed to be seen urgently in the UK, would an NHS/private dentist treat them?

It turns out my dentist does implants, but at a different practice. I phoned them, phone answered by a fairly stroppy receptionist. They charge 175 quid to do a tooth extraction and can’t do the work for 4months 🙁

What area are you?

East Midlands, UK

OK. It is a big decision, all you can do is research and some more research. Good luck. 🙂

CG yes a normal NHS dentist would see you if you had been treated abroad. Most Areas have acute car provision, sometimes at a hospital sometimes provided by a practice. Call your local Commising Group and ask them about how to access it

Found a place not to far from work, who get good ‘tinternet reviews. Phoned them for a cost, they quoted 1450 all in. It sounds like they use a variety of different implants, some of which are more expensive than others. They gave a much better answer as to which to use, they said “we look at the application, some implants need more strength than others, so depending on where it is in your mouth and the state of the bone, we advise if you need a more expensive implant. More expensive implants have more threads and coatings to help them bond with the bone”

That sounds a lot more sensible than the car analogy the other dentist gave. Booked in for Monday morning for examination 🙂

That’s very cheap for an implant. An implant is not something I’d buy solely on price. Whilst I wouldn’t necessarily stop researching the topic, the best advice will come from your own GDP as they will have an interest in making sure you get good quality implants and aftercare, as its their reputation their putting on the line.

an interest in making sure you get good quality implants and aftercare, as its their reputation their putting on the line.

It’s a nice thought, but I think my M3 driving dentist has more of an interest in making a load of cash than my welfare, otherwise he wouldn’t have nearly run me over rushing to my appointment, which I was on time for, and he was late for 😉

It’s a nice thought, but I think my M3 driving dentist has more of an interest in making a load of cash than my welfare

If he did implants it would’ve been a Bentley

An implant is not something I’d buy solely on price.

🙂 You might have a point. Joking aside, at 3.3K it’s not going to happen. I just can’t justify that kind of cost on a tooth.

not just a tooth though – it’s an implant which gets screwed into your skull or jaw and bonds with the bone. big problems if something goes wrong! Pay to get it done right. Mine was a bit over 4k but I had lost a lot of bone around the old tooth with an infection and had to have that rebuilt with some old dead cow. totally worth it.

Lots of ppl in the UK think the standard of the Dentistry is world class – it isn’t.
Some practices are good, a lot aren’t (and are expensive to boot).

I totally get why you wouldn’t go abroad for treatment for convience sake. However you’ll be pleasantly surprised if you think the treatment abroad is sub standard. The practice I was treated in was sumptous 🙂

Lots of ppl in the UK think the standard of the Dentistry is world class – it isn’t.
Some practices are good, a lot aren’t (and are expensive to boot).

I have totally been there…paid 2.5k for two root canals and waited 8 weeks for crowns (told it would be 4 weeks). When they finally arrived they didn’t fit…at all. Cost me a fortune in time off work, he was always late for appointments (sometimes up to an hour and a half, but always more than 1/2 hour).

He was selected on recommendation (I was working away from home at the time), not cost, and he was rubbish.

Radio 4: dental tourism

For years, people have travelled to other countries for cut-price dental treatment. But so-called Dental Tourism has been so successful that dentists from eastern Europe are now setting up in the UK, offering highly competitive rates, without the need for their patients to travel abroad.

The link is an hour long show that covers other items, so you may have to search to find the right bit.

Cheers for that RS…i’ll check it out 2night.