2+ year wait for braces on NHS or £2500 for private treatment

[StrongerThanIThought76]

Son age 13 needs braces. 2 + years wait on the NHS to begin treatment, or for £2500 (over 2 years) we can start after Christmas.

Money is tight. Exh is tighter and I think will refuse to contribute to private treatment.

If I could scrape together the ££ wwyd? I've never had braces so can't comment on physical/emotional aspects. What are the pros and cons of waiting vs going private?

Does private just buy you earlier treatment? If so, I'd wait.

If private offers Invisalign or something, I'd bite their hand off. Especially if you can pay by installments.

Presumably the dentist has known for some time that he'd need braces? At what point does the dentist feel he should have treatment? I ask because DD2 is likely to need braces and the dentist got a second opinion last month when she was 9, although has said that it will be a good couple of years before they start considering it yet.

I think it depends on how bad his teeth are. Is he very self-conscious about them? I got nhs braces at the grand old age of 22 and still feel so happy that I got them for free. Two years go quickly and 2.5k is a lot of money.

Dentist has been saying for maybe 3 years he might need them. Referred over the summer, had the initial assessment yesterday, where orthodontist confirmed, and treatment falls within NHS funding.

His teeth have calcium deposits in addition to not being straight so he is fairly self conscious of them (though the calcium deposits he'll be stuck with without a serious amount of cosmetic dentistry in the future)

I'd just wait. Why pay all that money (that you don't really have) if he's eligible on the NHS?

My DD1 has only recently had her braces fitted and she's nearly 18. She got referred last November, we were told it would be 18-24 months but then she was seen in June and had them fitted in September. I think sometimes they have cancellations or you can move up the list quicker if people have changed their minds and gone private!

My dentist has told me they won't fit braces until all adult teeth are through???

I had nhs braces at age 12, I got ribbed a bit but nothing major and I'd forgotten the whole thing a short while after removed. Yes I agree depends how bad the teeth are and if they are affecting his confidence as they are. Mine weren't overly prominent just very crooked so it didn't matter much to me either way. However if it was my child and his confidence was being affected I'd say go private.

What does dentist/orthodontist say about how bad his teeth are? When I had braces my parents chose to go private as my teeth needed sorting URGENTLY - I had to have my jaw moved forward and that had to happen while I was still growing (otherwise it would have been excruciatingly painful) and my teeth were so bad that photos of them were used to train orthodontic students. Oh, I also had a tooth growing down through the roof of my mouth so had to have surgery on that. I'm aware my case is a pretty extreme example, but if your son is a more normal case then I don't see the problem in getting it done on the NHS to be honest.

I also would recommend waiting. Unless your son is very mature for his age, his jaw is probably not yet approaching its adult shape. A good male friend of mine had braces fitted (by NHS dentist) at 12, as did I. In his case, this led, or so later specialists have said, to restricting bone growth in the still-developing jaw, which has led to neurological / spine problems (chronic pain) as an adult. Not sure how common this is, but certainly seems to make sense to wait until jaw has got closer to adult size just to see how much space you have to play with. I only had braces on bottom teeth, but my top ones looked a lot better at 17 (without correction) than they had at 12, when the teeth looked weirdly large and overcrowded in a child's mouth,

Everyone said wait for the free NHS treatment on the first thread on this too...,

If you wait he will have them when he will be 15 and possible dating? I'd pay personally get it over with.

I would wait until he is 15. My Ds had braces fitted at 15 as orthodontist did not recommend treatment at a younger age. I think this was good advice as my son's facial features and jaw line changed a lot over the course of his treatment.

There needs to be a level of maturity with regard to looking after a brace such as ensuring proper brushing no fizzy drinks etc. Then there is the after care and wearing a retainer every night after braces are removed. Making sure retainer is meticulously clean etc.

I think 15 is a good age.

It probably depends on what he needs doing. Some orthodontic treatments are designed to alter the way the jaws grow, not just shift teeth around in the bones as they are. I think those treatments need to coincide with periods of bone growth - so adult orthodontics can't do that as adults have stopped growing (not that he will be waiting until he is an adult). So the treatment/outcome might differ depending on when he is treated.

We paid so that, apart from not having to wait, we could get appointments after 5pm. Otherwise, because DD's school is over 20 miles from the orthodontist she was referred to, it would have meant taking significant time out of school during the gcse years, which she wouldn't have been at all happy about.