Introduction
The term “dental prosthesis” refers to artificially produced imitation teeth, which serve to replace missing natural teeth. They are made outside the mouth in dental laboratories. A basic distinction is made between fixed and removable dentures.
While fixed dentures include crowns, partial crowns and bridges, the group of removable dentures mainly includes partial dentures and total dentures. In addition, there is a possibility of a combined prosthesis, which consists of a fixed and a removable part. The general purpose of dentures is to restore the aesthetics, pronunciation and especially the chewing function.
It is not possible to give an exact indication of the cost of the dental prosthesis, as the price depends on the extent of the restoration and the materials used. However, the decision for the desired dental prosthesis should not be made solely on the basis of cost, because often patients who consciously choose the cheapest option are subsequently dissatisfied and have problems with chewing, aesthetics or speech formation. The health insurance companies usually pay a lump sum, which is based on the so-called fixed allowance system for dental prostheses.
This system regulates the health insurance subsidy based on the dental findings. This means that each patient always receives the same fixed health insurance subsidy for an equivalent finding and must bear the remaining costs themselves. As a rule, the statutory health insurance companies pay about 50% of the costs for so-called standard care.
The standard care is the cheapest form of dental prosthesis that can be chosen to restore the chewing function, with less emphasis on aesthetics. The patient has to pay for any additional costs incurred by choosing a higher quality restoration. In addition, the fixed subsidy of the health insurance companies can be increased by taking regular check-ups with the dentist (bonus system). In this way the fixed allowance can be increased by up to 30%.
Does it make sense to have dentures made abroad for cost reasons?
Since the costs for dental prostheses in Germany appear quite high and are no longer acceptable for many patients, many patients are turning to offers from abroad. The so-called “dental tourists” travel abroad to have dentures made in Poland, Hungary, Romania or other countries for lower prices. The prices for dental prosthesis are in fact much lower than in Germany due to the lower wages, but the guarantee is not comparable with the one in Germany.
A work made in Germany always has a 2-year guarantee and goodwill period, abroad this is not granted. Furthermore, more than 50% of the dentists in Germany also work with dental laboratories in China, so lower prices can be offered in Germany on demand. The health insurance also subsidizes dental prostheses in foreign laboratories with the same percentage as in Germany.
However, it must be remembered that in the case of large dentures, a visit to a dentist abroad would be associated with a long-term vacation, as the dental laboratory needs a certain amount of time to complete the prosthesis. Therefore, it is advisable to ask your own dentist whether it would not be possible to cooperate with a laboratory in Asia. Due to the delivery times, the dental prosthesis would then take longer than in a German laboratory and short-term changes and color decisions cannot be corrected quickly and easily by a local technician.
Dentures should be of very high quality, because they last longer, damage the periodontium less and look better. The problem is that inferior dentures are often offered. It is also possible that the denture does not fit well in the mouth of the patient, because it simply does not fit or has to be ground in with a lot of effort. Often the dentist has much more work to do with the work produced abroad than with the work produced by his usual dental laboratory.
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