Thinning teeth

Do you have a good dentist? I know they differ greatly in expertise but if you have one you can trust why not ask him or her?

HI Aka, I will ask the dentist but I wondered whether anyone had experience of what solutions were on offer so I can compare ...

HI Aka, I will ask the dentist but I wondered whether anyone had experience of what solutions are on offer so I can compare ...

On another note, daughter asked me this week - "Why are people so ready to pay for private dental care but not for medical care? Is it because the NHS dentists are so awful (but the doctors are good)?" (She had a very bad experience where she subsequently had to pay a private dentist to save her tooth. I have also had a bad experience with a local NHS dentist unfortunately). It made me ponder on that. (Not saying all NHS dentists are poor, BTW).

Don't know what happened there, I thought I had deleted first post

This is a very timely post. Last week one of my front teeth chipped. Before I. Could get to the dentist the chip broke some more. The dentist told me that it could be repaired by a filling, but difficult to maintain because it was on the edge and was continually used for biting. Every time it broke more good tooth would have to be removed for the filling to get a good fix. I have gone down the veneer route, which will cover the real tooth. The temporary one looks great so I expect a wonderful result when the real one get back from the lab.
Not a cheap option, I know, but I compared it to buying new tyres for the car and I wouldn't hesitate to do that. X

There are very few NHS dentists in our area so for many, like us, the only way to get dental treatment is to go privately.

My dentist told me about a procedure which is similar to re-enamelling teeth, he was trying to sell it to me ( the french think all british are rich.)
But too expensive.
Here we get most re-imbursed for essential work, but very little for cosmetic.

Message deleted by Gransnet for breaking our forum guidelines. Replies may also be deleted.

reported

I've just had my front teeth capped. Four of them. Not cheap either (nearly £2000!). My dentist told me as my teeth were getting very thin and sharp I would be needing false teeth (he mentioned screw in ones and root work) within 2 or 3 years. They'd got too bad for veneers. I went to another dentist for a second opinion. Unfortunately he said the same -but was a couple of hundred pounds cheaper. I could wait until they caused pain and trouble and get them done on the National Health when it would be a much bigger, longer job or bite the bullet and pay now. I hate and loathe anything dental so opted for the caps. I'm so pleased now that I had it done.

Go to your dentist now Grannyknot. Hopefully you can have veneers.

My remaining front tooth is the same GrannyK. I have them cleaned regularly, but tea/coffee etc quickly stains it. A veneer will do the trick.

I have one of those plans where you make a monthly payment to cover any work needed. It wasn't an easy decision to 'go private' for me, or for the practice I've been going to for 45 years. I took this decision several years ago, when having a veneer and a bridge done on the nhs would be £650, and on a plan £200.
I've recently had that first veneer replaced with a crown. It cost £80 on top of my monthly plan fee, but would have been about £600 I think done without the plan.
It saddens me that the nhs dentistry service has deteriorated and I fear the same thing will happen with the nhs.
It isn't always easy to find an nhs dentist, and I've heard too many horror stories to take the risk.
Bad isn't it.

Thanks for reviving this thread Iam and NFK. I've had my teeth polished and they look great (they were tea stained) and I have a dentist appointment next week.

I never thought about considering a plan, Iam, that sounds good. Please could you PM the name to me? Thanks in advance.

I have had a dental plan for more than twenty years now. When I need anything such as a crown or veneer I pay the technician's bill - everything the dentist does is covered - now about £50 for a crown.
I broke a piece of my front tooth while we were in USA last November - had a repair which cost £147 and the dental plan reimbursed me. I do need to have a more permenant solution which will be a crown or veneer but the dentist told me I need to have both front teeth done or it will be very obvious.
As a point of interest the US repair came off after about four months so I went go see the local dentist here in France - he repaired it again but this time he put two pins in as well - I had to pay€40 - am not sure yet how much, if any, the health service here may have paid as I have not had the account for that period come through.