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4:39pm on Monday, 16th December, 2024:
Anecdote
After having my tooth extracted, my dentist (or rather the expensive dental surgeon he got to do the extraction) asked if I wanted it replaced by an implant. I said yes, so he sent me to a private company to get my jaw 3D-scanned. It cost £325. They do 20 of these a day, so I put it to the receptionist that it was quite lucrative. She told me that I had the Rolls Royce scan and most people only pay half as much "because they have their dental work done in Turkey".
Anyway, as a result of the scan the dentist found that in addition to the implant I wanted, I needed two implants in the top right of my jaw (necessatating the raising of my sinus membrane), two extractions and the removal of my bridge to be replaced by another bridge built on an implant. Total cost: £14,000.
The NHS isn't going to pay for any of that as none of it is essential.
Because it's not essential, I therefore said I'd managed without any teeth at the back at the top for 40 years so could hold out a while longer. The teeth that need pulling can wait until they actually hurt, as it turns out they've needed pulling for a couple of decades but haven't actually caused any problems. The tooth under the bridge that's decaying does need sorting, but he's going to try to do it by drilling through the bridge and attacking the root that way, rather than taking the bridge off straight away; he'll only do that if the attempted through-bridge fix doesn't work.
I don't know how much this will cost, but I do know it will be a considerable amount less than £14,000.
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