Dentures Specifically ask for alternatives

Ask the dentist for alternatives

01/10/2014

If after filling a tooth, the gap needs to be filled, patients should consult their doctor for all alternatives. There are different possibilities for dentures. Thus, in healthy neighboring teeth an implant over a bridge may be the better choice. Patients should seek a second opinion if in doubt.

Ask the dentist for alternatives
If a patient needs a denture, he should ask his dentist specifically for all sorts of alternatives to the proposed solution. For example, an implant may be an option instead of a bridge. As Professor Dietmar Oesterreich, Vice President of the Federal Dental Association (BZÄK), according to a message from the news agency dpa emphasized, dentists should educate their patients about all options. If in doubt, patients could also seek a second opinion.

For example, if the adjacent teeth are healthy, an implant over the bridge may be the better choice, as Austria explained. For a bridge, namely, the adjacent teeth must be ground. „Any loss of hard substance carries the risk of damage to healthy teeth“, so the expert. For a few existing residual teeth and multiple gullets, however, a removable prosthesis could be useful.

Implants often do not last as long as bridges
However, there are also critical voices. For example, Gregor Bornes, an expert at the Competence Center for Dental Health at the Independent Patient Advice Germany (UPD), advises against always favoring an implant at the same time. He gives to consider: „They often do not last as long as bridges.“ Moreover, they are „quasi privatized places in the mouth“, whose treatment must always be paid privately. Statutory health insurance pay for dentures fixed subsidies. For certain incomes, hardship rules apply where the fund may pay all of the costs.

More additional payment with higher quality
For example, the fixed subsidies for anterior tooth gaps, which can usually be treated with simple bridges, are at least 50 percent, as Austria calculated. These subsidies apply to the so-called standard care. In the case of the anterior tooth gap, this is a non-precious metal alloy which is veneered to the outside in a tooth-colored color. However, if you want a higher quality, such as an alloy of gold or all-ceramic, you have to pay more. However, implants are always private services that have to be paid for by the patient. Not only if the policy of supplementary dental insurance covers this.

Tooth preservation has priority
The fixed subsidy increases for crowns, bridges and prostheses, if proof of the annual check-up of dentures can be provided by the bonus booklet. However, such investigations must have taken place for at least the last five years. Dentists should always have checked all options for rescue before pulling. „Getting a tooth is always a priority“, so Austria. Often a root canal treatment can still help. As Bornes added, it was also important to check the preservation with an X-ray examination. This explains, for example, how healthy the tooth root and jawbone are. „If the tooth is not worth preserving, root canal treatment would be just superfluous ordeal.“ (Ad)