All-on-4 Dental Implants on the NHS


Find UK Dentists »

The NHS provides a comprehensive health service that offers treatment and care to people across the UK for a variety of medical conditions. When it comes to which dental treatments are covered by the NHS however, many people are less certain about where they stand, particularly as most of us have to pay for most of our dental care. In this article we look at whether the all-on-4 implants, one of the most popular and effective dental technologies available to people with missing teeth, is available on the NHS.

NHS implant cover

The NHS offers treatments on the basis of medical need, so where a procedure or therapy is medically necessary for a person to live a healthy life of decent quality, the NHS will usually cover it. Provided, of course, that the therapy is recognised as being effective and medically relevant.


The NHS can potentially provide dental implants where there is a medical need for them, and this is usually the case for people who have suffered damage to their face or teeth through trauma or certain cancers. These implants are also provided to people who can’t use an alternative form of prosthetic teeth like fixed dentures, and people born without some teeth, a cleft palate, and people who lose their teeth below the age of 40.

Whether all-on-4 implants are provided will depend on the NHS Trust involved and its PCT, as well as the dentists providing the treatment. This type of implant will have to be one recognised and used by the dentist, and funded for by that PCT. The NHS does have general guidelines to determine whether or not a patient is eligible for such treatment, but PCT’s and individual Trust’s tend to have a certain degree of autonomy within that.

The guidelines do outline three groups of patients who can be provided with implants under certain circumstances, and these will usually be offered implants under the NHS. The first group are patients with no teeth in either both or one of their jaws, the second are those who still have some teeth, while the final category are patients who need extensive treatment that includes the replacement of tissues in the face and skull. Patients in these categories, including the cases discussed earlier in this article, will be considered for funded implants.

There are other factors that will be considered however, and these include general health, smoking and alcohol consumption, life expectancy, and hygiene. Ultimately the process of funding implants through the NHS can be a bit complicated, but the core issue is whether or not these implants are medically necessary, and if they are, chances are the NHS will fund them.

« Cost of All-on-4 Dental Implants Dentists Offering All-on-4 Implants »

Guide to All-on-4-Implants


Guide to Dental Implants in London & the UK




Further Information about Dental Treatment