Frequently asked questions about dental prostheses

Through the local search on zahnersatz-berater.de: enter a postcode or town and choose a radius. It shows practices that have listed themselves in this directory and state dental prostheses as a focus.

Dental prostheses are part of general dentistry – every practice may and can offer them. For demanding work such as telescopic dentures or implant-borne prostheses it is worth asking about experience and focus.

The examination and the drawing up of the treatment and cost plan are covered by statutory health insurance. For the consultation itself you normally incur no additional cost.

Yes, at any time and without giving a reason. Take the treatment and cost plan and current X-rays with you. The examination there is also covered by insurance.

No. The Zahnersatz-Berater keeps a directory and is not involved in the treatment. You arrange the appointment directly with the practice.

Dental prostheses replace teeth that are missing or so badly damaged that a filling no longer holds. They include crowns on your own teeth, bridges across gaps, and partial and full dentures.

Fixed: crown and bridge, also on implants. Removable: partial denture, full denture and telescopic denture. Plus combined work that joins the two.

That depends on the findings and on the restoration chosen. A metal crown is in the mid three-figure range, a three-unit bridge in the four-figure range, a telescopic denture well above that. Only the treatment and cost plan is binding.

A fixed allowance per finding: 60 per cent of the cost of the standard care, 70 per cent with five years of a maintained bonus booklet, 75 per cent after ten years. The amount stays the same even if you choose a more elaborate restoration.

There is no best one. There is the one that suits the findings: the number and position of the gaps, the condition of the remaining teeth and the amount of bone available.

Crowns and bridges are at around 90 per cent after ten years. What matters is not the material but the care of the margins and the condition of the abutment teeth.

A crown two appointments within about a week, a bridge two to three appointments in two weeks, a denture four to five appointments over three to six weeks.

Usually yes. Broken dentures can often be repaired in the laboratory within a day. Important: do not glue anything yourself – superglue makes a clean repair impossible.

Keep the crown, do not put it back yourself and do not glue it. An appointment within the next few days is enough; until then chew carefully on that side.

Yes. Bridges, partial dentures, full dentures and telescopic work manage without implants. Implants are one option, not a precondition.

Each finding has a standard care assigned to it. The insurer covers 60 per cent of the cost set for that, 70 or 75 per cent with a maintained bonus booklet.

The same form of restoration, only carried out more elaborately – for example full ceramic instead of metal. You receive the fixed allowance and pay the difference.

A different form of restoration from the standard care – for example an implant instead of a bridge. You receive the same fixed allowance; the practice invoices the rest privately.

Six months from approval. If the treatment starts later, a new application is needed.

On a low income the insurer covers the standard care in full. The application goes to the insurer together with the treatment and cost plan, before the treatment begins.

Only if it is taken out while the teeth are in good order. If the cost plan already exists, the finding is as a rule excluded.

Many practices agree to instalments, often without interest. That is usually the cheapest option – ask there first.

The jawbone recedes once the tooth roots are missing. The denture then no longer fits exactly. Relining restores the fit.

As a rule every five to ten years, more often in the first years after tooth loss.

During the settling-in period yes, and they are adjusted. Lasting pain or open sores are not normal.

Daily with a denture brush and liquid soap over a basin filled with water. No toothpaste – it scratches the acrylic.

As a rule yes, so that the mucosa can recover. Exceptions are discussed at the practice.

The clasp denture holds and is inexpensive, but the clasps are visible. The telescopic denture sits more firmly and is discreet, but costs considerably more.

Only if the hold comes from your own teeth or from implants. A full denture that merely rests in place needs the suction surface.