Teeth

I'm hoping that folk will take this thread seriously, as I know if I'd posted it on other forums it would have been made fun of or met with derision.

However, up until the last 5 years I've always had a perfect set of teeth. Very white and very straight but sadly, because of a gum infection which can't be treated, my teeth are deteriorating at a fast rate and I feel very self-conscious now, to the point where I don't openly smile any longer.

There was a time when I was taken into hospital for something and a nurse tried to remove my teeth because they thought they were false, they were that perfect, so you can't imagine how unhappy I feel about myself now.

Anyway, the question is, how does one go about getting new teeth? I swore I would never ever have false teeth because I was so proud of my own, but unfortunately this is now depressing me to the point where I don't socialise any longer because I'm too ashamed, and my confidence is at an all time low.

Please don't make fun of me, because this is a very serious issue with me. There is no dental treatment on the NHS, and I can afford very little privately.

I do still have 6-monthly check-ups with my dentist, and I'm not having any problems, apart from decay and it is truly driving me crazy. I want to be able to laugh again.

Re: Teeth

Mollie darlin' - not true that there's no NHS dental treatment - I visited my own dentist only yesterday morning!!! - however it depends on your income and (more importantly) its source!!!

If, like me you're in receipt of Pension Credit then you CAN get free dental treatment!!!

Re: Teeth

Poor you Mollie Surely, if you have an untreatable gum disease this falls under the category of having new teeth? It's not because of cosmetic reasons!

If I were you, I would chat with your dentist (unless you've done this already). And like Uncle Joe says, you should get the treatment free, depending on your circumstances.

Good luck xx

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I agree with what has been said above, Mollie - have a word with your dentist, tell him what you have told us, then see if he can come up with either free treatment or treatment that's not going to cost the earth.

Have you been with this dentist for very long? If so, he should do everything possible to help you.

Good luck!

Re: Teeth

Mollie, you go to work don't you? So maybe not any free treatment? If you can find a NHS dentist accepting new patients (phone the NHS dental helpline) you can get treated a lot cheaper than a private one. I cannot remember the exact bands but I think there were three, the first about £40 odd and the third about £200. They cannot charge you any more than the third band. You pay for what you are having done. As long as you attend regular check-ups (6 or 9 months, I can't remember) you can stay with the NHS dentist. Maybe look into NHS dental treatment online and get the proper facts? Good luck

Re: Teeth

It depends on the dentist Mollie, if he says your teeth are affecting your health, you should be able to get them done on the NHS, but if they are being done for cosmetic purposes only, you will have to pay the full amount.

Re: Teeth

Thank you all so very much for your replies. My current dentist is an NHS one and I attend every six months paying £16 for each visit. I've been with this particular dentist for about four years or so now, when I first noticed that my teeth were "shifting" although I've had no toothache or anything like that.

Yes Maryl, I still work part-time and, as you say, I'm probably not entitled to free treatment in this case. It's not affecting my physical health, but it is affecting my mental health because I'm very depressed because of it. I signed on with my current dentist as an NHS patient a few years ago.

I've never, ever, taken from the State anything I've not been entitled to, and would never dream of doing so, so perhaps I should speak with my doctor about this, as well as my dentist. Both are absolutely brilliant so perhaps there can be a compromise.

Carmen, this is, and it isn't, a cosmetic problem. It is because I feel ugly, and it isn't, because I'm depressed because of it. I honestly can't believe how this has happened.

If the most I have to pay is £200, I can probably manage that.

You have all given me hope and I'm due for my next 6-monthly check-up soon, so I shall speak with my dentist to find out my options. He already knows how badly it's affecting me, but my doctor doesn't.

Thanks very much folks for being so kind and supportive.

Re: Teeth

Well let's hope that between the dentist and the doctor an inexpensive solution can be found Mollie

Re: Teeth

Thanks Marian. Everyone has been so kind about this situation for me and I am genuinely very grateful for the advice.

Re: Teeth

Just to update you on this. I went for my six-monthly check-up today and the dentist and I had a long conversation.

I had looked online at the cost and, from what I read, it was up in the £2000 mark so, after discussing the fate of my teeth, he said it would cost £204.00 in total - BUT - there were different stages. If I have them all removed then replaced with new it would cost £204.00 but, if they were done step by step, it would cost about £200.00 each time.

He has been absolutely brilliant and I am now 99.9% sure I'm going to have them removed, which saddens me very greatly, but I can't go on like this any longer, and I find it embarrassing.

I'll let you know when the procedure will be carried out but, just to prove what I used to look like, here's a photo of me before everything went wrong.