Orthodontist is being unreasonable

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Our 15 yr old ASD DD has worn a mouth retainer and is now wearing train tracks. He has had a few sensory issues a d had to go in a few times as bits of the retainer were coming off due to his fiddling with it. The lovely lady we saw is now on maternity leave and we have to now see the male co-owner of the practice. As some of my son's brace had come undone he gave my son a real telling off and told me very clearly that only two breakages will be funded by the NHS and anything afterwards has to be paid by me privately. I felt his tone was extremely threatening and I don't know if he is correct. Furthermore, due to the practice's negligence in telling my son that he could wear a broken retainer (which resulted in my son swallowing half of it) he had to be rushed to A&E and have to have surgery to have it removed.
Am I being unreasonable thinking that the orthodontist is being unreasonable?
I'd love any advice that you may have regarding what to do if the orthodontist tells me to pay for any future breakages

Do you mean retainer (which is plastic and normally comes right at the end of the process), or do you mean removable braces?

We have been told that if DD loses or breaks her retainer we have to pay, and I could imagine that being the same for the removable adjusters, though that was 3 years ago for us and I can't remember.

It sounds like your kid pulled it so it then came loose and he swallowed it

They can assess it, see that it's still stuck to teeth and it's fine - and THEN your kid goes home and continues to pull at it - and then he swallows it...

One of mine was the same - had to have them taken off at 16. Then had squintish teeth. Her problem 🤷‍♀️

It is correct the NHS will only pay for 2 and I think YABU.
The brace won't work if your son keeps breaking it so, sensory issues or not, he needs to learn to leave it alone or it's a waste of time and money having it. Maybe a telling off from the orthodontist will help him learn.

We were given several sheets of paper with instructions etc when dd started her orthodontic treatment. Lots about cleaning, how to do it properly, if you didn't clean properly they could stop your treatment. I'm sure it said something to the effect that if you broke it once as an accident, they would replace it but 2nd time, or if it broke because you hadn't looked after it properly then you would have to pay. Perhaps his tone was a bit OTT but I would fully expect to pay if my child broke something.

We went privately for DD’s braces so can’t advise on NHS policies but what I can say is our orthodontist would never speak to her or me in any sort of tone like that. DD was always very compliant but at one point had about 4 broken brackets in the space of 6 weeks! Each time we just rang and they got her in that day to repair them, no fuss and they assured us it wasn’t a problem, just come back in if it happens again.

My orthodontist had zero bedside manner.. I struggled with the wires tightened and sat white knuckled gripping the chair... I gave a little laugh and remarked it never got any easier... Coldly told me it didn't bother him at all. Stared me right out...
Def wasn't a people person...
Maybe your ds was as unlucky with his..
Not nice for anyone... Hope he manages from now on...

How many times do you think the NHS should fund a repair/replacement? What is your cut off? Is it just cosmetic or is it to sort out issues with chewing/that affect eating properly for example?

Yes nhs limit breakages and charge for replacements for losses.

I am sorry about your son's surgery.
We got given a very clear leaflet at the beginning setting out what breakage would or wouldn't be covered by the NHS. We had to sign it to show we had understood. The terms were similar to what you describe.
Did you get something similar?

DD's orthodontist was one of the most unpleasant people I've ever met. We saw him on NHS. DD's best friend saw him privately and he was charm personified.

We had to pay for second breakages. It feels OK, since it was DD's fault (she couldn't resist some pork crackling!).

However, if at all possible, could you not find someone with experience in working with DC with ASC? I realise this is a big ask, but it might be possible, and you might get better support. I also realise that that might set the process back, but you seem to be in a fairly bad place with the orthodontist you have.

@Carrysymons

It is correct the NHS will only pay for 2 and I think YABU. The brace won't work if your son keeps breaking it so, sensory issues or not, he needs to learn to leave it alone or it's a waste of time and money having it. Maybe a telling off from the orthodontist will help him learn.

This.

I’ve never heard of this NHS rule … we are still in the “train track” stage .. we’ve had various brackets pinged off, and wires fallen out. My daughter is quite clumsy (and currently undergoing ASD assessment), we’ll end up paying for breakages.

As some of my son's brace had come undone he gave my son a real telling off and told me very clearly that only two breakages will be funded by the NHS and anything afterwards has to be paid by me privately. I felt his tone was extremely threatening and I don't know if he is correct.
I would smile sweetly and say of course I would pay, and minimise any telling off of DC.

I'd enquire at reception about the cost of repairs and ask why I hadn't been informed of this initially.

Why was he wearing a retainer before braces? I've never heard of that before.

From what I understand, more than two breakages are not covered on the NHS, and the orthodontist probably doesn't want to work for free.

I don't think the orthodontist was unreasonable in what he said, but possibly in how he said it.

Both DS had braces. One NHS, one private. Neither ever paid for breakages (and there were plenty).

A stern telling off sounds unpleasant. Did you intervene? You should speak up about that.

Yes he is correct about the replacement retainer. Although like others I’ve never heard of a retainer being used in this way; are you sure that’s what it is?

As to the negligence causing surgery; If that is accurate then it seems serious. More so than the other matters really. What has he said about it? Surely you must have had a conversation about that. What was his response?

ASD or not they still need telling the facts , and before anyone jumps on me I have an ASD child ( now adult) .

Just to add my daughters both have NHS retainers. We were told that about loss/breakages.

Retainers & removable appliances are costly to make and have to be sent off for.

A fixing on train tracks just needs sticking back on.

What he says is fine, only 2.
How he said it .....

@TeenMinusTests

Retainers & removable appliances are costly to make and have to be sent off for.

A fixing on train tracks just needs sticking back on.

So presumably not too expensive then?

I've no idea- we had to go private so everything was included.

@LynetteScavo

As some of my son's brace had come undone he gave my son a real telling off and told me very clearly that only two breakages will be funded by the NHS and anything afterwards has to be paid by me privately. I felt his tone was extremely threatening and I don't know if he is correct. I would smile sweetly and say of course I would pay, and minimise any telling off of DC.

I'd enquire at reception about the cost of repairs and ask why I hadn't been informed of this initially.

Why was he wearing a retainer before braces? I've never heard of that before.

From what I understand, more than two breakages are not covered on the NHS, and the orthodontist probably doesn't want to work for free.

It's not uncommon, sometimes the palate needs to be adjusted with a retainer before train tracks can pull them into an arch, or they can be used for overbites before the superficial straightening too.

I think people are just getting confused with the wording. Lots of people refer to any removable appliances as retainers. The word retainers is meant to just be the ones at the end of the treatment to "retain" the teeth in their position. Ones used before fixed braces that are moving teeth around (expanding palate/correcting crossbites etc) are not called retainers but look similar and people just call them that. They are removable appliances. But like I said plenty of people just call them retainers.

My 3 had braces and there is definitely a limit on replacing lost broken devices as it was listed clearly in the documents given to us.
I guess this mostly applied to removable not fixed appliances like pallet expanders or block devices for fixings bite issues. I only have limited experience of removable devices, only one had an expander and went into fixed braces and the others just had fixed braces.
Between the 3 of them there were several instances of brackets coming off and other minor repairs and I never paid for those.

Sorry, think you're being unreasonable. Daughter only just didn't qualify for NHS treatment and the £3200 treatment charge only includes 2 breakages. We have to pay for any more.