To think if your child needs an NHS orthodontist, and cant go private, the appointments are during term time only from 9.30 to 3pm

[LieLikeALoungeroomLizard]

So either pay thousands or your child will have to miss school in year 10 and 11

Our appointments are only once every 6-8 weeks, hardly missing massive amounts of school. It’s cost us about US$6k per child, I wouldn’t be complaining about appt times if it was free!

@LieLikeALoungeroomLizard you say she’s got retained milk teeth. Do you know which ones they are and has she had X-rays done?

Where are you based to?

You've not even had a first appointment?

For your first appointment where you will find out if you qualify it is usually a 12 week wait.

Why don't you just call the practice and ask these questions?

Both my DC had NHS orthodontist treatment. Always in school hours. It seems normal. It’s not a big deal, surely.

I think you're being unreasonable. Opening hours are 9-5pm in some places.. there's limited out of school hours appointment available within this time frame. Everyone wants the same times, how would you accommodate everyone? It's just not possible. Places can see hundreds of patients daily. Schools usually are understanding that the kids will need to see their ortho every 6-12weeks. Once the appliance is fitted, appointments are usually 15 minutes. I think we're lucky that this treatment can even be provided on the NHS (if they qualify) - can suck it up missing an hour or so of school every 2 months. Private patient uptake is much less than NHS so they can specify out of school hours as there's less demand.

I quite liked having a morning off with DS every 6 weeks, we had a treat lunch or drink out on the way home ( when teeth not sore) and we couldn't have afforded private treatment.

My DD was first seen 6 weeks after referral, had to be seen in hospital first (that was about 6 weeks after that) and was then seen every 6 weeks, usually at 4 or 4.30 pm. NHS orthodontist. Great service and flexible. You've been unlucky, OP.

We have nhs apps here

I had to see one when a child. My appointments were always during school time, it didn’t do me any harm

My daughter had (is still having) NHS treatment through exam years. The appointments are not frequent enough to be a major problem. Plenty of kids will miss more through illness.

Having said that, she did mostly (not always) have them at 8.30 so missed very little.

12.30 appointment for my 9 year old.

I had to miss around 2 hours every 6 weeks or so. That was 20 odd years ago. My education didn't suffer and I passed all my gcses and a levels

I think that having good teeth is almost as important in life as having good grades (genuinely!)

Just get them to the orthodontist. They will be fine.

@LieLikeALoungeroomLizard

This is a 12 month wait to be seen too

I think you need to calm down too op. Missing a lesson here or there won't do her any harm.

But, where do you live? You could see if your dentist will refer you to (NHS) kings cross or whitechapel dental schools and see if they will take on her case, and you might get it done sooner. With odd teeth on the top of her mouth it sounds like they might like to see her.

Also my daughter went by herself after the first ones.

I had braces from year 10 to just before heading off to first year of uni. Missed hours of year 10, 11, upper 6th and lower 6th. Literally effected me in no way at all

Yanbu.
Our one only worked those hours and only Monday and Tuesday. They couldn't accommodate all those who requested after school on those hours!
I had to collect her from one side of town and drive her to other side of town then all the way back again then me back home, jump on bike and cycle to work. Pita.
I wouldn't mind but her bum barely rested 60 seconds in their chair.
Took 2 and a half years.

Neither of mine had orthodontic treatment, but the English teacher’s children both had extensive treatment in school time, leading to many lessons with no teacher input.

Her regular dentist did xrays on her last appointment
I'm not sure of the names of the teeth but they are on the side

Your title is pretty misleading as it concerns one specific orthodontist and is not an overall NHS policy.

We haven't had the first appointment yet it's a year wait for that

Just because it’s FREE isn’t automatically a good reason to choose the NHS.

Many years ago, I started wearing braces at 13 and had to walk 30 mins from school to the town centre to catch a bus into the city that took an hour each way. So I generally missed a morning or afternoon of school about once every 8 weeks for about 3 years.

It didn’t work that well as they only did the top teeth and I had a second lot of NHS orthodontic treatment in my mid twenties.

I had my third round of NHS orthodontic treatment in my forties in the Dental hospital. I was seen as the ideal adult case for trainee orthodontists (already qualified dentists) and as it was at the hospital under the supervision of a consultant, I thought I’d finally have a nice smile.

My perfectly healthy teeth are still not straight and I try not to smile as my mouth stretches and makes my face look odd.

Depending on how bad her teeth are, you might want to consider going privately to a really good Orthodontist. I wish I had! If my DS needs treatment I’ll be searching for an Orthodontist who has best reputation and I don’t care how much it costs. I know what it’s like looking like you’ve got a mouth full of spanner’s.

I don't see the problem. You miss the first 1/2 hour, or the last 1/2 hour, once every 6 weeks for brace tightening. For most teens it takes a year, that's 8 appointments. It's nothing in the grand scheme of things.

I can't even get either of my son's an NHS brace! and so I'm having to pay privately and I'm absolutely furious because both children were told that they would previously need a brace, and that they did qualify for an NHS one. and they now don't qualify for an NHS one and I am beyond furious. so don't get me started on timings! You are lucky to see the NHS orthodontist, quite frankly - you're extremely lucky to get it at all.

@LieLikeALoungeroomLizard

How on earth do they decide who qualifies for NHS treatment?

They measure. Yhey actually get a teeny tiny ruler thing out and see how much the teeth need moving back into place. If it's over a certain amount and not deemed 'cosmetic' they qualify.

Both mine took a lot longer than a year. Around three I think.