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?

must be very regional - DS (then 14) was referred last March - consultation with orthodontist in June, tooth out at dentist a couple of weeks later, back to orthodontist in September for the brace to be fitted.. very quick it seems... all NHS - we're in SE London

Our health and dental services are in such a degraded state. I had a Ukrainian living with me for a while, she was in absolute disbelief at how bad it was, I felt really ashamed. But, we get what we vote for. The Tories have never left the health service in a better (or even as good) state when they leave office that it was in when they arrived. We all know this, people vote for them anyway.

It does seem to be area dependent -we are in an area with a long standing dentist shortage so perhaps less of a surprise there is also a long orthodontist wait.

Best thing to do is make sure you talk to your dentist and get on orthodontist lists though you may need to be seen at a dental hospital - which is probably be a different list.

Though I'm not sure what you mean by rotting milk teeth - I still have milk teeth in my mid 40 they are not rotting - I have a gene meaning I don't get all my adult teeth and I got left with coupled of milk teeth -my DC ironically are missing the same teeth but getting better dental care than I got with NHS and will likely avoid that issue.

Fortunately, her teeth aren't too bad

Sorry, I couldn’t tell from your post-has she been accepted for NHS treatment?

DD is 10, referred for a significant overbite and overheat in November, first appointment a month ago, moulds done 3 weeks ago and fitting next week. All free to us. Treatment will take around a year and then she might get tramlines to straighten anything that needs straightening.
i can’t praise the dental service enough!

You don’t get them for cosmetic reasons on the NHS. There has to be a medical/dental reason.
We were told DD would need braces age nine but that she was too young and she would be referred when she was 11/12, which she was. We waited about six months, but this was pre-Covid.

@pinkhousesarebest that's interesting to hear as both my dentist and orthodontist said it is now best practice to have braces while they're still growing. A few people commented on my 9 year old being to young for braces so your post is very reassuring. We're in Ireland and are private, he's 9 months into an 18 month treatment.