I am writing to ask for some advice about the problems I am having with my gums and teeth.

I was given fluoride tablets as a child which led to me having mottling and discolouration on my adult teeth. My mother decided, when I was 15 that having veneers would be the best course of action (and this was recommended by my dentist) I had veneers fitted on my 6 front top teeth. These veneers were effective and remained ok until 1999, when 2 of them had chipped, which I understand is not unusual, veneers having a limited life span.

In 2003 I had new veneers fitted by my local dentist. Since then I have had repeated problems, in particular with two of these veneers. These veneers repeatedly come off and I have been back to my dentist several times to have them refitted. More problematically though, the veneers would come off whilst I was out and unable to go to the dentist. The teeth underneath are noticeably small, discoloured and have no enamel. I experience some sensitivity in one of these teeth. Thus I bought some temporary dental cement and used this when the veneers come off . 2 of my veneers are now fixed on (badly!) with this cement. Ideally I would have no veneers at all, but I can’t do this as my teeth underneath would be exposed, with no enamel.

One enquiry I have is whether I could qualify for NHS veneers, given that I am not now seeking them for purely cosmetic reasons, I have no real choice about it. I also had limited choice when the original veneers were fitted when I was 15, and was not mature enough to make a properly informed decision. If this was not possible I would like to find out where the best place to go for private veneer replacements.

A complicating and worrying factor has now come about however. I have now got periodontitis. I only noticed the symptoms of this 3 weeks ago. My dentist took ex rays and made an appointment for me to go back for cleaning at the end of this month. She intended also to remove the 2 veneers around which the problem is worse. I feel unsure about undergoing this procedure and having new veneers fitted there, because of my past experience. My gums also are getting worse on a daily basis and I’m quite alarmed at the rapidity of the deterioration. I therefore found and saw a private periodontist. He did a thorough examination and diagnosed periodontitis. He suggested deep cleaning of my teeth and gums, before replacing the veneers This made sense to me, but I am concerned that the two venners that are causing me the most problems will either come off and maybe break during the cleaning, or stay in place, still harbouring infection and/or causing aggravation to my gums because they are ill fitting. The fee for treatment privately is also unmanageably high for me, though if it was likely to be the best course of action I would consider taking a loan. I just don’t want to go down the wrong route and end up with more long term problems, as I’m aware of the associated health risks from periodontitis.

I am also unsure if periodontitis can be treated by an NHS dentist. I would like to know more about the differnece in quality of NHS veneers versus private ones. I don’t want a ‘hollywood smile’, just to have teeth that look like mine would have done. My original veneers from the NHS both looked fine and lasted long, but maybe quality varies (these would have been fitted in the 1980’s). Ideally I would have the periodontitis treated by an NHS dentist and perhaps ‘shop around’ for the best veneers I could afford (if they are very different from NHS ones), but it would also be nice to have everything dealt wirth under one roof .