Do you want new teeth and want immediate dentures without a long wait? We will introduce you to all the options and alternatives.
The wish of many patients: to get a beautiful and functional denture with a treatment at the dentist. In most cases, you will wait a little longer.
Dental emergencies: Treatment options for quick dentures
Removable prostheses
You can get a simple replacement for missing teeth in two to three treatments. They require significantly more treatment steps to produce a comprehensive, final denture.
Treatment steps for simple dentures:
- Planning
- Impression taking and production in the dental laboratory
- Possibly: Removal of all teeth that are not worth preserving & insertion of the dentures.
Treatment steps for final dentures:
- Planning
- Possibly: Grinding of teeth for crowns & impression taking.
- Taking an impression with an impression spoon
- Bite registration – the dentist records how you bite with a template
- Fitting of the prosthesis made in the dental laboratory and corrections
- Incorporation of the final dentures
Fixed dentures
If crowns and bridges are made by a dental technician, at least two additional dental treatments are necessary.
Exception: you only need a crown or a small bridge? Some dentists have the option of making these right away.
Implants
There is the option of immediately replacing implants with dentures. The dentures insert immediately after the implant has been inserted.
Often these are long-term temporaries that must be replaced after three to four months.
These temporaries must be fabricated beforehand in the dental laboratory. In addition, your jaw must be measured before implantation so that the right implant is selected for you.
Dental emergency insurance
They limit the benefits of statutory health insurance. Additional dental insurance with or without a waiting period can reduce costs.
Attention: supplementary dental insurance does not cover the costs for ongoing or recommended treatment.
You should therefore take out insurance a few months before treatment if possible because almost every tariff has waiting times.
What should you look out for in tariffs without waiting time?
Some insurance companies advertise tariffs with immediate reimbursement of costs for dentures without waiting. This means that you can use the service from day 1 without a blocking or waiting period of several months.
With these offers, carefully check your tariff, its service description, and the sum limit in the first few years. If you take out insurance without waiting, make sure that it also insures missing teeth.
Caution: In some tariffs, dental insurance pays the same amount as statutory health insurance. With high-quality dentures, you should still contribute.
If your health insurance does not cover any costs for implants, the additional insurance does not cover any costs for these tariffs.
Financing of immediate dentures
The health insurance benefits cover a maximum of 50% of your costs. With enormous amounts, the question of how to finance your dentures quickly arises. Usually, you have two options here:
- Financing at the dentist: Some practices offer you payment in installments. The first 6 months are often interest free.
- The loan from the bank: You can take out a loan from the bank classically.
Financing of dentures through additional dental insurance
There is another alternative for financing dentures. Think about the benefits of dental insurance. Cheap monthly contributions compared to the loans and the interest you must pay for them. And you get so much more with supplementary dental insurance. Additional services and a budget that grows over the years. Some supplementary dental insurances do not include the tooth stagger (an annual limit on the monetary benefit) after 4 to 5 years. So, if you need expensive treatment in a few years, you do not have to worry about whether the insurance company will pay your bills. Think about the future, because it is precisely then that people, statistically, need most and, above all, expensive dental prosthesis treatments.
Advantages and disadvantages
Of course, the idea of getting new teeth in just a few treatment steps is tempting. But the most important thing in the manufacture of dentures is accuracy.
A prosthesis that has only been manufactured on two models usually fits worse than a prosthesis that has been tried on in the meantime. Changes to the jawbone as extraction wounds heal can also have a negative impact on function.
Please discuss with your dentist the advantages and disadvantages of a dental prosthesis that was created in just a few treatment steps.
Please consult your dentist for advice. The advantages and disadvantages of the recommended dental treatment are especially important. You should be happy with your new teeth for a long time.
Think carefully about whether you want to take the risks of a quick supply. Extensive treatment implies better performance. The waiting time pays for itself with greater convenience.
Immediate dentures – which costs are covered by the statutory health insurance?
The statutory health insurance has a proposal for every denture, the so-called standard of care. According to the health insurance policy, a dental prosthesis must be functional and economical – only then will the statutory health insurance cover some of its costs.
The standard care determines the respective fixed subsidy from the health insurance company. Standard care includes clasp dentures, full dentures, dentures with double crowns (with three or fewer teeth per jaw), silver tooth crowns for the molars, and tooth crowns white on the outside for anterior teeth.
If implants are advisable, it requires caution. We will not cover the additional costs incurred for implants.
Fund patients always must pay something for dentures.
Exception: a patient group with an exceptionally low income. These patients fall under hardship regulation. To check whether you are “hardship”, you must submit a hardship application to your insurance company.
If you fall under the hardship regulation, the statutory health insurance pays double the fixed allowance. Often there are hardly any costs left for you.
Tip: It is advisable to take out dental insurance for expensive dentures. Much statutory health insurance companies offer additional tariffs in which you can receive higher benefits with or without a waiting period with a small contribution, depending on the tariff.