A little bit of advice and direction needed, please!

[Dean.B]

Okay so the story goes, I'm 28 years old... I was born 3 months Premature and whether or not these things are connected; I've had "Crumbly teeth" since I was a baby.

I would brush my teeth at least twice a day and after eating, but without fail I would lose my milk teeth pretty much instantly (as though my gums were unable to hold them I suppose).

The same thing has been happening with my adult teeth now and I've had to have pretty much every single tooth in my mouth removed, except for my two bottom front ones. I also have caps on my two top front and my left #3.

I've been speaking with my Dentist who works privately and he's informed me I can get implants (he suggested it'd be easier doing the entire mouth) I've already paid almost £200 on doing a full 3D scan and he informs me I've got more than enough bone and it should be no problem doing this treatment.

However... It appears that this is going to cost me the world, as apparently on repayments he would want something in the region of £800PM over the course of 36-48 months. That IMHO is more than some peoples Mortgage!, right? I cannot understand why Implants are so expensive..

I was also informed I could have myself referred to a Dental Hospital (Such as Eastmans in London) but also that if this was a health factor or causing a health factor I could indeed register to have this treatment done under the NHS?

Well this is causing me all kinds of Health problems. My gums are susceptible to easy infection right now; due to the number of teeth I have missing, I'm unable to chew properly and therefore unable to digest my food properly... Which is causing me major issues in the stomach region.

On top of all that it's also causing me depression as I have been a professional Actor since I was 11 years old but in the past 12-18 months have lost out on most of my work due to not having teeth - I mention this but my above all worry about getting this done is for health reasons, not 'lifestyle'.

Is there absolutely ANYTHING that can be done due to the problems it's causing me health wise about getting this done on the NHS or what kind of 'wrong' would there have to be, before a referral to a Dental Hospital would be accepted?

Thank you very much in advance!

[Nilesh]

Hi Dean,

Im sorry to hear about your tooth problems. Firstly, price wise you would be looking in the region of £30,000 for upper and lower fixed implant bridges. You would be looking at about 6 implants in the top jaw and 4-6 on the bottom. This is a VERY difficult treatment to provide and involves huge costs and takes LOTS and LOTS of visits, which is why it costs so much!
A cheaper alternative maybe to have dentures which connect to dental implants via something called locators. These are cheaper than fixed bridges but do need to be taken out at night time like conventional dentures.

With regards to referral to a dental hospital it maybe worth a shot. The guidelines set out by the government mean that you MAY be eligible to have dental implants on the health service if you lost your teeth due to:

1.Trauma
2. Cancer
3. Congenital disorder

It may be worthwhile going along and seeing the consultants at these hospitals and seeing what they say.

Best of Luck