Braces for 16 yr old - Going private

[Minecraftmama40]

Long post but appreciate any advice please

Dd just turned 16 at age 13 she was seen by maxi fax as her nhs dentist said needed jaw surgery (this scared dd) and braces , the max guy we seen said nope she definitely doesn’t need jaw surgery as it’s optional and nothing bad would happen if she didn’t go for it.

We live in a small town and the place they offered for braces was 60 miles away we don’t drive we went once on the bus for the assessment yes she qualified for nhs braces - a huge overjet I think it was 9 or 12MM however nhs would not offer one closer and it wasn’t possible to go ahead with this distance with transport issues and also dd wasn’t wanting it.

The nhs dentist (local ) who referred us originally is now shut down 2 years ago so my dd has been without a dentist as no where else taking on.

Fast forward now 16 hates her teeth so much she is low confidence and recently pain I think from overcrowding , the guy in maxi fax was wrong it has got noticeable worse and now the top teeth stick out of mouth .

We are now going to go private but it’s not easy as she has severe anxiety and needs extractions.
I am considering taking her to a place 25 miles away for these as they offer sedation then go somewhere local for braces and see what they say about jaw surgery is it possible to do it this way ? Or would the extractions need to be done at the braces place , the main issue with this is she won’t have extractions without sedation and they don’t offer this .

I thought about just doing the whole process at the sedation place 25 miles away but the bus service isn’t great and Ive been told you’d need to go every 4 weeks so local would be better for this .

what would you do ?

Also forgot to say is around 8k the average cost for private thanks

I’ve had a DC who had extraction and braces, the extraction was done at our local dentist then the braces fitted elsewhere. We just needed the orthodontist to advise which teeth to extract. If I were you I’d find the orthodontist you want then deal with the rest.

I’d try and get another referral. I’ve got two children who have had significant dental issues, and they have been treated under the consultant at the local hospital, and consequently their braces have been free on the NHS.

Everyone I know who has needed extractions took a letter from the orthodontist to their usual dentist and got them done there. Standard metal braces for under 18s are a fixed price around here. When I had mine done in 2020, the price for children was about £1800.

Depends on extractions I’d imagine…
DD had to have 4 out including one that was impacted so that was all done under general anaesthetic at the hospital.

Her orthodontist has an amazing system where DD scans her teeth once a fortnight using an app on her phone and then the photos get reviewed. Once the braces need adjusting we make an appointment.

Much better than the every 6 weeks I had to take DS so they could check and then adjust if necessary!

All NHS but we did have a looooooooong wait from initial referral.

Good luck!

The problem is if her overjet is that severe then she really will need surgery as braces on their own will not sort the problem .
That will require a joint surgical/dental approach which will need to be on the NHS. She will need to be referred back again.

You can get a private orthodontic consultation and they can refer onto hospital, that will will around £150 for initial consultation.

First she needs a general check up because they will do no treat,ent at all if her teeth and gums are not healthy. Ask friends, family etc about NHS dentists taking in, it doesn’t need to be in your area . If not then get a private general dentist check up first off to make sure she has no issues that need addressing first.

If her anxiety is bad then you could ask for a referral to Special Care Dentist at the hospital - there must be something like this in your area. My son has had extractions at special care and also a more complex tooth was done under GA in hospital.

Ive got jaw issues as an adult from where overbite was never corrected as a teenager. I’d recommend getting it done somehow while she’s young.

Unfortunately if the extractions are needed for orthodontic treatment , rather than decay, then the referral will be declined by community or special care dentistry .

For the surgery she would need to see max fax surgeon. This would be done in the NHS and then an orthodontist would put the braces on. If you’re near a dental training school you may well be able to get the braces for free as under supervision students would put in and care for her braces. Personally this is the option I’d follow as the care and treatment tends to be better as students are taught best practice!

You definitely don’t need the extractions done at the same place as the braces. My 13 year old daughter needed extractions before her braces. She has an over jet of 14mm. (One of the worst they’d seen) She has huge anxiety and although she loves her dentist and could get it done there, her anxiety was just too great. So I took her for sedation. It would have been a 3 year wait for sedation on the NHS so we went private. It was £1000 for four teeth extracted (and the sedation) and I’m so glad we did it. She didn’t remember anything at all from the extraction process and healed very quickly. She now has braces on the NHS and I would say that because of the gaps where the teeth were removed, she has quite a few problems with the wires catching/bending etc. so we have had to go back quite regularly to have them fixed. Our orthodontist is very local. So do make sure you can get to the orthodontist easily. Last month we went three weeks out of four.

Students no longer do orthodontic treatment as part of their training , anyway this would be far too complex.

A referral to joint ortho/max fac needs to be made and this will be free even if she’s above 18 as treatment that needs a surgical,approach is free.