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@Dammit
@psg1ben As has been mentioned, dental insurance won't cover pre-existing conditions, I have dental insurance through work and they refused to pay for a filling that I claimed for, after they phoned my dentist and asking whether in his view I'd have needed the filling before the start of the contract.
I've got two implants, lower left pre-molars, both of which were snapped off at the gum-line when I came off my bike and used my face to absorb the impact.
At the time I was using a dentist in Deptford, to whom I went for (quite significant) remedial work to resolve issues from the crash. They applied to the local NHS trust on my behalf for the implants as the loss was due to a crash rather than for e.g. 15 cans of coke for breakfast and an antipathy toward tooth brushes. It was extremely useful to have my dentist take on the application for me- frankly I'd not have had a clue where to even start with it, and they of course knew the correct things to say with regards to my dental history.
I had the two implants done at Guys, by three dental students and their tutor - not as terrifying as it may sound, largely because of the happy pills they gave me that made everything blandly entertaining. They drilled my jaw then screwed in titanium anchors, which they capped off with what they referred to as buttons. I was then sent off for I can't remember how long, during which time the bone fused to the titanium anchors. I remember that breathing in when making a hard effort on the bike (in winter) sent a wicked shock down through the two metal buttons straight into my jaw.
After whatever the period was they removed the buttons and bolted in my new teeth, which have been fine since (this was maybe 11 years ago).
I lost two teeth and had two implants, however with you they might group implants into a bridge type structure - but I don't know what that means for cost.
I got the two implants for free, due to my dentist making my case to the NHS trust for me - without which I'd not have been able to have those teeth replaced as (at the time) the ~£2,500/each cost was totally beyond my means.