Dentistry question (kinda important)

ThreadKiller

Guys,

Just wondering if there's a dentist on the boards or anyone knows one or could find out the answer for me.

15 years ago I had my upper front eight teeth crowned due to the fact they were horrible grey & small due to medication as a child.

They were never good to start with & I was always concious of them & never smiled etc.

Over the years I was happy with the crowns until because of natural (accellerated) fatigue in my own teeth under the crowns meant I lost two of them (with the rest on the way out). I now have a plate with two false teeth on it (which I hate)

I'm interested in getting dental implants (block of titanium is implanted into the gum & then teeth are "screwed" into it. It's a long & painful process but I think it would be worth it as I'm now utterly ashamed of my teeth & never smile.

I'm wondering how much implants would cost in Ireland (would it be worth going up north for them)?

Sleipnir

I don't know how much they are on Ireland but I do know a chap who lives in California who had all his teeth replaced by implants and it cost him $40,000!!!

But, it's probably even more expensive in the states.

I would imagine it would be cheaper in the North and have heard recently that many people in th Republic are going there for dentistry.
However you would probably have to travel up there an awful lot.

D!ve^Bomb!

quit your job, apply for medical card, problem solved....

(i doubt this would really work)

seamus

You're looking at going to an orthodontist. I don't whether this kind of repair is covered by the Irish health board.

This sheet may be of some use to you:
http://www.oasis.gov.ie/health/dental_optical_and_aural_services/dental_services.html

Orthodontic surgery is expensive.

oneweb

There is/are dentist/s abroad who are apparently a hell of a lot cheaper for dental work yet very very high standard. There are even travel deals with such dentists. Dental work here is quite expensive in comparison to other countries (surprised?).

I'll try find some links again and post them.
link

ThreadKiller

Thanks for thet oneweb... very inexpensive.

oneweb

I've changed the link since. Something odd about the original link's very very low prices.

luckat

I think orthodontic services are covered by the MED 1 "unreimbursed medical expenses" refund scheme. But that may be only when they're done for reasons of medical necessity. Maybe you should talk to your dentist about it? S/he is sure to know a good orthodontist, and be able to send you for a first visit and estimate.

Robbo

Originally posted by luckat
I think orthodontic services are covered by the MED 1 "unreimbursed medical expenses" refund scheme.

Correct, if you play it right, you can put an awful lot of dental work under MED1.

Also you can get a shedload done under VHI.

dudara

This is one example of a czech dental service

http://www.kromeriz.biz/czech_dental_treatment.html

there was a link featuring dental work abroad a while back in "after hours" i think. Maybe you might do a search on that.

I'm in the process of getting crowns put on my two front teeth, and it's given me a whole new lease of confidence. I'm similing fully for the first time since I was about 12.

empirix

Ask John Fuscieante(or however you spell it) - guitarist from the Chilli Peppers, he lost a lot of his teeth from the Heroin (as well as being close to death), I believe he got something similar done.
And look at him now - looks grand

leonotron

Originally posted by empirix
Ask John Fuscieante(or however you spell it) - guitarist from the Chilli Peppers, he lost a lot of his teeth from the Heroin (as well as being close to death), I believe he got something similar done.
And look at him now - looks grand

THats a great help. have you got his phone number by any chance or his address, maybe I could knock round.

Kernel32

Those czech prices are amazing. I had to have a couple of root canals and porcelin crowns done in the states, crowns start at $750 each here, implants run in the thousands of dollars. I have probably spent about $4k on my crappy teeth so far but they are now good and healthy. Ireland has a lot to answer for when it comes to promoting preventitive dental care.

dudara

I had fillings done on the health board when I was 12 due to my mothers reluctance to spend money on a dentist. I recently had most of them knocked out and replaced due to their crappy quality. The whole course of treatment at the moment is going to cost me ~2500E. But it's worth every single penny to finally smile fully

oneweb

Originally posted by dudara
I'm in the process of getting crowns put on my two front teeth

can I ask how much it's costing you? I'll need that done

dudara

I'm not actually sure off the top of my head. I would say somewhere in the region of E1500. I'd have to find the quotation to be absolutely sure

De Rebel

Originally posted by ThreadKiller
I'm interested in getting dental implants (block of titanium is implanted into the gum & then teeth are "screwed" into it. It's a long & painful process but I think it would be worth it as I'm now utterly ashamed of my teeth & never smile.

I'm wondering how much implants would cost in Ireland (would it be worth going up north for them)?

I'm at the final stage of having such an implant. It was not (in my case) particularly painful, no more than a filling. The following are the details:

5 years ago was mugged and lost an upper front tooth. Had a plate with a false tooth made. Put up with it for 5 years. Hated the thing. On the advice of a friend who is an endodontist (he referred to such a plate as a "gum-stripper") I went to an orthodontist to get an implant exactly as you describe.

Process started last year. There are 3 major stages.
1. Drills a hole through the soft tissue and into the bone and fits the implant. Caps this and leaves it for a period of approx 3 months.
2. Fits a temporary tooth. Makes an impression, which is sent away. Another 2 months elapse.
3. Fits the permanent "tooth", made from the impression.

I'm in between step 2 and step 3.

This is costing me €3,500. It is tax deductible on Med 1, which reduces the cost to approx €2,000. There is some variation in the cost, depending on who makes the tooth. My orthodontist expressed it thus - "I use A for front teeth, where his higher price is justified by his perfectionist approach, but I use B for back teeth, where his quality is just as good and appearance is less important" Needless to say its a front tooth so I ended up getting it made by A which added €400 to the cost.

Its awfully expensive, but even with the temporary tooth in place I can swear that its worth the money. I flung that F***ING plate against a wall and smashed it up.

Like I say, its not particularly painful, though some of the sessions are quite long.

Hope this helps.

LilyMon

Hi -
does anyone know where I can get info on this 'Med1' scheme? Or what is it exactly?

Thanks

dudara

go to revenue.ie . Find the query page and on that page is a link to the quick find index. In that look for Medical Relief. There is a downloable pdf file there with further details

LilyMon

will do.
Thanks a mil.