DD told it's 7 years for a brace!

[ukgone2pot]

I almost fell off my chair today when the dentist told me DD would need to wait 7 years before she could get a brace fitted for her teeth. Apparently NHS are being very stringent as to who qualifies for one now too. DD is almost 12, so could be 19 when she finally has one fitted. The dentist explained due to the Covid backlog, they couldn't do anything about it. Fortunately, her teeth aren't too bad but I feel so angry for those children being made to wait like this.

Teeth are such an important part of how you look, and I fear that having crooked teeth well into your early adulthood is going to really affect the way you view yourself and cause more harm than good, especially with bullying etc if you have a bad case.

Of course, there is the option of going private but at £3-4000 a pop it's not cheap.

I just feel at times if those bastards (Tories) want to privatise the NHS - then fucking do it - but give people flexible options for when nasty surprises like this occurs. BTW - I don't know the ins and outs of privatisation, but surely some insurance contributions each month would help towards big expenses like this and cut out the wait times?

My foster son had to wait almost 6 years to get his. He had 2 with one growing in front of the other. One taken out now other one being moved forward.

Not ideal but a lot of private dentists do payment plans

I’ve been waiting over a year for an extraction which needs doing. In constant pain, can’t eat on that side, can’t brush my teeth on that side, get infections.

This from what I was to adults have no hope of braces on the NHS

*told

What grade is she on the IOTN? They absolutely do prioritise, like all areas of the NHS. My DS is a grade 5, got straight in with the specialists at our local hospital and is receiving excellent care. If she is 3 or below, ie no dental health issues, purely cosmetic then yes, you should expect to be lower priority than the kids who need braces more urgently.

Loads of 15 year olds have braces. My nearly 17 year old should be having hers removed next time she goes. She's not alone due to the waiting lists!

We couldn't get an appointment to see our dentist after the Covid lockdowns lifted and the surgery refused to do a referral without seeing her even though at her last appointment just before Covid he had told us he would refer her as soon as she was 12.

They also told us then that the wait list was 3 years because of Covid backlog. We went private in the end as her teeth were really crooked with one front tooth sticking out at a weird angle but it wiped out my savings.

I think this is the future for the NHS generall. Difficult decisions about what healthcare is 100% necessary and what’s a ‘nice to have’. Given that in some areas you cannot access any IVF on the nhs at all nowadays it doesn’t surprise me that a non emergency procedure has such a long waiting list. Some trusts have stopped any ‘cosmetic’ procedures (such as removal of varicose veins) even if there are other benefits long term to health too.
We don’t pay enough tax to sustain the NHS as it is as it’s so expensive to pay for all the stuff that we definitely can’t do with out (emergency healthcare, surgery, primary care etc).
I have two small kids, I had braces as a teen and I fully anticipate one or both might need them. I also expect I will be paying for this (sadly!).

^ this.

I spoke to my dentist (private) only the other week about braces for DD. She has crooked front teeth, a very crowded mouth and a minor crossbite - but it isn’t bad. Dentist said that NHS have got much stricter on what qualifies and although DD would benefit from braces, she would not qualify on the NHS.

We had to go private for my DDs braces. It’s worth shopping around - we were quoted £5,000 at our local orthodontist but if we go 30 mins away to the next county it was only £2,400 and they do a payment plan over two years so much more affordable.

I am new to all this (DS2 soon to be fitted) but we had to wait until he'd lost all his milk teeth. This happened when he was 13. Most of the kids at the open triage day seemed about the same age, maybe a year younger, certainly all secondary school (it was during the school day so all in uniform).
So I don't think 12 is late, is it? You don't see many primary school children with braces.

We had a 2 year wait pre- covid for NHS orthodontics.
The one consolation is that nowadays plenty of older teenagers have braces.

My dentist referred DS well before he'd lost all his milk teeth knowing the wait would be a while.
It worked out for us. Sounds like we are fortunate to live in an area with shorter waiting lists (Essex)

We had to wait ages for orthodontist referral and a first appointment for DSD too. She was a Lisa Simpson case, but the ball didn't get rolling for DSD until she was in secondary school. This was pre-Covid.

Once DSD started seeing the orthodontist, they wouldn't take moulds and photos for NHS braces until she started brushing her teeth 3-4 times a day. She kept getting sent home for months hearing from the orthodontist that she wasn't brushing her teeth well enough, and then hearing at her regular dental checkups that she was doing fine.

Ortho finally explained to her that despite DSD's very crowded teeth and cross-bite, the NHS would reject the application, despite DSD's obvious need, if they saw any evidence of lingering plaque, because it would indicate that DSD would have tooth decay while wearing braces.

The bar is deliberately set sky high for NHS braces because the waiting list is that full. There is not enough funding for patient care. It sounded to me like the NHS was making it difficult for our local orthodontist to claim the reimbursement for treatment.

I looked into doing DSD's braces privately at the time, but even with dental insurance through work and splitting costs 50/50 with her mums house, we were still looking at over £300/month out-of-pocket for each household. It won't necessarily be that expensive for milder cases, but DSD needed a lot of work done.

I needed a lot of orthodontics growing up too. In the States, that intervention started at age 7 and my train-track braces were done by age 12. I was surprised DSD had to wait so long to even be referred.

Same for us, dentists refer early as it's typically a 2 year wait. Though 7 years sounds harsh.

I think there's also a bit of a grey area as to who qualifies for NHS orthodontics. My dentist referred my son to one orthodontist who apparently is "more flexible" on meeting the criteria. Hmmm.

We ended up paying for one and getting the other on the NHS. We also gained a year by my son having teeth out (which they don't do as often now but his were particularly crowded and misaligned).

I have a couple of friends who've used the mould options as their kids were older (Invisalign?). I think they're cheaper than going privately to a traditional orthodontist and her son gets something like 40 different trays to wear over 18 months.

Words of advice about baby teeth pulling etc.... DS outgrew this expectation. As in, orthodontist said he deffo needed teeth removed but the teeth hadn't come thru, and after several years orthod. changed his mind: said DS could keep those teeth.

So... I am now in favour of delaying tooth pulling as long as you can.

Look into smiles direct op

Please don't OP. Whatever you do, do not mess your child's teeth in this way.

( dentist here)

Additionally adding that here in Scotland there is no funding for specialist orthodontic training so there is a vastly reduced workforce. They are training therapists who now do the majority of the work, but honestly it's a shambles and will only get worse

You mentioned her teeth weren't that bad. Obviously part of it is a covid backog, but that's the reason why - it's not urgent compared to others.

My DD's teeth were sticking out of her mouth and spaced out, she couldn't shut her mouth. She had 2-3 years of constant sores/bleeding on her lower lip where her teeth rested on it. Her treatment involved teeth removal (nothing new), realigning her jaw and operation in her mouth to expose teeth in roof of her mouth and twist them down. Obviously a lot of work (which we're all very grateful for), but also more of a priority case.

ps: those of you who shopped around, would you recommend that we make several 1st consultation appointments with different orthodontists (all private) to eventually make multiple quotes possible without extended further delay? Given we are having to wait 4 months just to get to 1st consultation, I am thinking that the only way we can shop around & still get treatment soon for DS is to request extra consultation appointments now.

Cheers.

There won't be any NHS dentists when your DC hits 19.

I'd start saving up and go private.

A few of my DD's friends have had Invisalign when their teeth weren't too bad. Is that an option? Slightly cheaper?

My DD was referred in October 22 had her first appt Jan 2023 & have been told she qualifies for nhs treatment which I was very surprised at. She’s getting them fitted mid March 23 we have the date. Older DD had them before lockdown similar wait times. If must really depend on the area, we’re in London

My son got treated (surgery then braces) very quickly due to the urgency of dealing with his teeth. My daughter had to wait 18 months. I think we were very lucky - both are being treated at an NHS hospital rather than by a local dentist. What the Tories are doing do our NHS is despicable, and I despair to think of the further damage they will do before the next election. Our dentist says that they are massively underfunding dental training and university places; it’s the lack of dentists that causes the waiting lists.

I think as a parent, it’s your responsibility to do way more than accept the lengthy waiting times the NHS offers. Pay privately, OP. Get a second and third opinion. Sometimes you have to grab the bull by the horns and stop relying on a service that’s not fit for purpose. Yes, it shouldn’t be this way. No, it’s not right. But when it comes to minor-ish issues like dentistry, podiatry etc, there is zero point in relying on the NHS. Expect £3-4000.

We've decided to go private faced with similar waiting times in Manchester. Is this one of those postcode lottery things? Where in the country are you OP?