Sunday, December 8, 2013

Why Expensive Private Dentistry Could Be Cheaper in the Long Term

Since childhood I've had NHS dentistry, and that's a lot of work! A dentist in Beckenham in Kent ruined my teeth as a child; I won't name her but I would like to because she's cost me years of misery and a fortune in dental work. Suffice it to say that this was over 40 years ago now so anyone in that area is safe from her at least.As I grew up I visited various dentists, some better than others, but I always stayed with the NHS. Yet inside me there was a dream of one day finding a good cosmetic dentist who could put my smile right. I didn't because...well that's just vain isn't it?I finally switched to an ordinary private dentist in the hope that I would receive a superior form of care, and I honestly thought that I did. The dentist had more time to deal with their patients and far more interest in their comfort. However, after a few years the practice started to take on NHS patients as well, and then it seemed that my dentist had far less time to work with his patients. Nevertheless I stayed because he was a good man.Until February 2010 when a crown that I'd had for 30 years started to come loose. When it came off I went to the dentist who found some decay around the posts, this dentist would re-attach the crown but if it came off again I should see my regular dentist and consider a crown extension.It did come off again but my dentist said that this extension thingy wasn't an option for this tooth. He tried sticking the crown back on again and it lasted an entire 8 weeks. Because the root was delicate and the crown was held in by posts I couldn't have the crown removed I always had to wait for it to come off in its own good time. So 8 weeks on meant another 8 weeks of it moving around, inflaming my gum, trapping food underneath it and the constant need to clean away the taste, until finally it fell off. On one occasion I was lucky not to lose it because it fell off at dusk in a dark country lane.My dentist kept putting the crown back on to see if it would take, and on two occasions simply because it had come off at a time I couldn't do anything about it - pre holiday, pre work event. In the end he said that I needed an implant as the tooth was in my smile line but also one of my main biting teeth because I'd lost so many teeth thanks to that wretched woman years ago.He referred me to an implant specialist nearby, but I'd moved house by then and to my delight an implant specialist had taken root (couldn't resist that) literally 10 minutes walk from where I now lived. I went to see him knowing that I was facing a bill of about ?3,500 and wondering if I would be better off with a false tooth or a bridge.That's when my life changed for the better!Firstly he sat down with me and talked to me for over 20 minutes, detailing his training and experience, the number of successful implants he'd done over the years, and that he was a leading authority on the work. All without any ego at all, as he said "you have a right to know the qualifications of the person who's will be doing this work." Then he let me walk out with a handful of brochures and information.It was what my New Zealand husband calls a 'no brainer' to go back and ask him to do the work. So we set out on what was a long and careful process.We began with an first check up that lasted over an hour and included the usual X-rays, except these were digital, far clearer than normal X-rays, and put up in front of me on a screen so that he could talk me through exactly what I was seeing. I knew what I was seeing - decay everywhere. Under every filling I had, in teeth with cavities that I could see on the X-ray and he could see with his own eyes. There was also a missing filling that had been in my mouth for less than 6 weeks, and the top priority for a filling replacement was a tooth that had been filled less than 3 months before. I was furious!The decay was so obvious I didn't even need the dentist to point it out on the X-ray. He did shriek however when I told him that my last full dental clean had been about 7 years ago because my old dentist always did a quick clean at every visit. Seeing my new dentist go pale and sit with his head in his hands was enough to convince me that 'normal' dentistry was not worth the suffering and there's a reason that the Americans talk less-than politely about an English smile!He talked me through the implant process and costs, and boy does it cost and BOY is there a LOT of work involved. Then he prepared the rest of my treatment programme. ?3,750 for the implant and ?3,660 for the rest of the work. I nearly cried.However, I had to go ahead with the implant so I thought let's give this man a whirl and see what expensive dentistry is like.Now I know that I'm lucky that I can manage to afford it, we did have to jiggle our finances a bit and pay for the other work as we went and yes that hurts more than the dental work, but one conclusion I came to was that I was that the real cost of years of cheap dentistry had finally caught up with me.We started with a deep clean with the hygienist that was like nothing I'd ever experienced. Pain killing gel for the gums, a machine that didn't compromise my hearing, and over an hour to not only clean my teeth thoroughly and floss them within an inch of their lives but also to explain exactly how you floss (yes there's a how) and exactly how you should clean your teeth properly.When she gave me a mirror a stain that I had thought was permanent on one of my bottom teeth was gone, and I'd had that stain for over 20 years and through at least 2 hygienists and several dentists. I was over the moon, without any whitening really beautiful, clean shiny teeth were staring back at me twinkling like little diamonds.Then I had the moulds done for the temporary crown that would take the place of my tooth when it was removed and the implant screw was put in. That was a far more detailed and careful procedure than any mould I'd ever had taken.Then I went in for a 2 hour appointment to have the tooth out. That was not fun and I'm not going to pretend it was. It takes a long time to remove the old tooth because it must be removed gently without any damage at all to the jaw. It was a weird procedure that didn't feel very nice at all, but remember that it was also complicated by a rotten and shattered root with two post holes in it and a tooth that was barely visible below the gum line.If you have one of these to come out, take heart. It took longer than normal to remove but there was no trouble or drama whatsoever, at the time or later.Then I had a little rest while the dentist set the post into my jaw at the right angle (nothing more than a bit of drilling and screwing), then a really long rest whilst he worked with the temporary crown to make it fit perfectly into my mouth.When he gave me a mirror you wouldn't have known that I'd had a tooth out at all. There in my mouth was the best crown I'd ever seen in that spot with no sign of the usual cavity and no horrible gap.He sent me home with a bag full of antibiotics (a pure precaution), anti-inflammatory drugs which I didn't need at all, mouth wash, a soft toothbrush, and some of those stick on pads that you put on muscle injuries to cool them down. I actually had a quick wander round the shops before I went home (well I was stiff from all that sitting in the chair).I put the cold pad onto my face when I got home and kept it there for about an hour. When I removed it all the swelling in my face was gone. The gum bled on and off for about four hours, only very lightly, and eventually I had to take 2 painkillers because I had a dehydration headache. I woke up the next morning without any feeling of having had a tooth out, which was wonderful and very weird. No punched in the face feeling, no cavity to worry about, nothing.The dentist also prescribed ice cream - what a guy!I was told not to bite on the crown, in fact it was slightly short in order to keep it off bite, but I just couldn't seem to remember that I'd had a tooth out so I chose to stick to soft food for about 2 months just to be sure I wouldn't harm the post.The implant has taken really well, I've had no trouble at all, I had to be persuaded to have the permanent crown made because the plastic temporary one was just so nice. The entire procedure has been excellent. It's also worth knowing that because you bite on an implant exactly as you would a normal tooth your jaw doesn't shrink and remains a lot stronger as you get older.The rest of the treatment is under way now, and it is costing a lot of money but I genuinely feel that this work will mean that if I take care of my teeth I won't need to worry about bills for years to come.I'm having some inlays put into teeth that only have corners left, which make the teeth far stronger and inlays don't shrink and let in decay. They also look exactly like a tooth too so my horrible silver fillings are disappearing every month to be replaced with what looks and feels like teeth. Because inlays aren't smooth my teeth now grind my food to liquid before I swallow it whereas no matter how hard I chewed with a mouth full of smooth fillings I was always swallowing chunks of food. My digestion is much improved as a result.All in all I know one thing for certain, if I had children I would start them off with a specialist dentist because although the check ups and cleans would be more costly - although prices start at ?58 for a normal check up and you can choose whether you want X-rays or not - I sincerely believe that I would have saved a great deal of money and pain by having only ever going to expert, highly trained dentists.As an adult faced with a huge bill, I am aware of how lucky I am to be able to pay it, but I would say to anyone reading this that if you can find the money you will probably decide that it was well worth the expense in the long run, and might actually find that in years to come it is cheaper to go to the dentist than it's ever been.As my new dentist said "Barring the unexpected I'd be very disappointed to have to touch your teeth at all within the next 10 years, and I do guarantee all my work for 4 years!"The implant work included X-rays, removal of the tooth, the deep clean, the post, the temporary crown, moulds for both the temporary and permanent crowns, about 6 hours of dental appointments so far, another deep clean, instructions on care, and a permanent crown that has cubic zirconia through the middle and will sparkle like the real deal. It won't be porcelain coated metal that will show if my gums recede, which they shouldn't with the kind of care I'm going to get going forwards.I honestly recommend that you never compromise on good dental work unless you absolutely have no choice and I hope this has helped if you have a costly dentistry decision to make. If you are facing this kind of work you need to seek an implant and dental reconstruction specialist.Wishing you happy days, peaceful nights, and a brilliant smile!Deb

Deb Hawken - Medium, Inspirational Speaker, Writer Mobile - 07912 374226 Website - http://www.dancing-star.org.uk Email - deb@dancing-star.org.uk Media Enquiries - mediaenquiries@dancing-star.org.uk Facebook - Deb Dancing Star Hawken Twitter - Deb Dancing Star"One must have chaos in oneself in order to give birth to a dancing s

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