Cost of cosmetic dentistry

[bagpuss]

Being a total wimp with a pathological fear of the dentist since early childhood, I was fortunate to find a really great dentist who understood my fear and went out of his way to allay my fears- so much so that when I broke a tooth I was able to go through with getting a titanium implant.

However things change and subsequent experience - a change of dentist when I moved south ( and some very deep fillings) have brought back my paranoia- I face having to get a wisdom tooth and a molar extracted under general anaesthetic in hospital soon, and I'm losing sleep. Not just about extractions- but about how much the implants to replace the teeth will cost.

Reading the site on similar topics I know we should be grateful we have dentists at all. And yes I know lab bills are high- but why does replacing teeth cost more than laser eye surgery or designer specs? Andy why do dentists not understand just how bad a dental trauma in childhood can affect someone? Answers please????

I should point out that the heading refers to the cost in terms of both emotional trauma and monetary cost also

[Metalattakk]

Why would you need to replace a wisdom tooth and a molar? No one can see them anyway.

[telfordstar]

I got my 4 wisdom teeth taken out and a molar under general a few years ago as there was no room with all my other teeth and i never got them replaced or offered to get them replaced.

[bagpuss]

A large part of the trauma was actually down to the fact that a dentist whipped out 4 of my molars without tellign me or my family what he was intending doing- a sort of 'orthodontics' of the day. My best friend (whose daddy was a doctor- learned from my awful experience and signed herself over to the local dental hospital and got braces instead.

Wouldn't dream of replacing wisdom teeth- but dentist insists on replacing the molar - not with a bridge but with a titanium implant and tells me another 4 teeth will go the same way over the next few years (mainly down to all those fillings having been deep fillings instead of crowns) And I don't want dentures- having had a temporary one for 6 months was enough.

I really admire kids who go through all the process of braces- and think it will really be worth it in the end for them. Just wish when I was young that drill and fill hadn't been the order of the day

[joxville]

Have you considered hypnosis/NLP to overcome your fears? There are many practitioners these days and thankfully dentist's are more understanding of patients fears now.