UK Dentist who will Fix Dental Work Done Abroad or in Turkey

For many people, having dental treatment carried out abroad is a cost-effective way to get a new smile. However, we have seen a rise in patients calling us to fix something with their dental implant treatment that has been carried out abroad.

Their biggest issue now, is "who can I go to in the UK to solve these problems?"

The answer is that, although some dentists will help in these situations, most dentists will not be as willing as we are.

Understanding the limitations of treatment

We want to help you achieve the smile you were looking for in the first place. But if we're totally honest, we can be limited in what we can do to fix these situations. We may try to continue treatment, rather than start again. This can be down to the cost involved with starting from scratch, or maybe removing the implants is too invasive - there are a number of situations where we may choose to build on the dental implants already placed.

Even if the implant position is not great, we may still build on these, but we have a discussion about what the compromise in the long term might be, and our patient would then decide what the better option is in their situation. Often it's difficult to continue the treatment and get a perfect result. We usually find that the dental implants are in a less-than-ideal position. In simple terms, it's often better to start again than to continue throwing good money after bad.

This may mean that we need to accept certain compromises in the treatment, but the most important thing here is that there is a two-way conversation about the advantages and disadvantages of doing this.

The Costs of Treatment

One of the main reasons for going abroad is to save on the cost of treatment. Unfortunately, when it doesn't work out, having it corrected will end up costing more. And, you may not get the result that you were looking for at the start.

We saw a gentleman who had implants done abroad, and we had to remove them, as they were all infected and loose. I think it cost about £6000 to have the treatment done abroad, and then about £1-2000 to have them removed, and have a denture made.

So after spending about £8000, he is left with a removable denture – exactly what he was hoping to avoid. He is now considering a new dental implant treatment to stabilise the dentures, but he just wants a break from this nightmare before he starts the next phase.

Why are so few dentists willing to help

We often hear from patients that they have seen several dentists, and no one is actually willing to help. This could be for a number of reasons. The first is that dentists can feel that they are taking on the liability of the dental implants failing in the future.

Remember, the dental implant positioning is rarely ideal.

Personally, I think this is only true if there is no detailed conversation about these things before starting. Yes, dental implants can fail, and often it's a combination of poor implant placement and a poor design of the teeth that go on the implants.

If something fails in the future, it can be a lot of money to fix it, and some patients will start pointing fingers about the work carried out. Again, this is why a good conversation is critical, and don't be surprised if your dentist asks you to sign a waiver before starting treatment.

Your local dentist may not have the experience to help you. We see a lot of people who go abroad for dental implant treatment. This is the most complex treatment, and a lot of UK dental implant dentists may not be confident carrying out full mouth dental implant treatment. This means the number of people who are able to help when this treatment doesn't go well is even lower!

There is always a way

In the past, dentists have thought that dental implants will last forever. As time goes by, we are finding that this is not true (no matter who fitted them!).

This week, we have removed two dental implants. They are not permanent, and they can be removed. This isn't always easy, but it can be done.

As more and more people are having dental implant treatment, failures will become more common, and so will implant removal – and the reconstruction in these areas.

The main advantage of seeing a local dentist for this kind of stuff is the aftercare. Just like anything, if you maintain things well, they will last longer. I don't want any of my implants to have issues in the future, so we do what we can to protect them.

This starts with placing them in good-quality bone and gum (gum is probably more important). It continues with designing the teeth to be as cleanable as possible and using an appropriate implant design for that particular situation. This is also why it's so frustrating when we see work from abroad, which has been planned like it's designed to fail!

But no matter what your situation is, there is almost always a way to achieve your goals.

Let's say we need to remove dental implant, in general, we like to let the area heal, and reassess the situation in a few months. It is often possible to have another dental implant placed, or maybe we need to consider bone grafting first.

In more extreme cases, maybe we need to look at specialist dental implants, but there is often a way - even if it's complex.