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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

DD told she can’t have NHS orthodontist treatment

135 replies

Readysteadife · 23/09/2021 20:42

Was seen for an assessment about 2 years ago by the orthodontist. She was told she qualifies for NHS treatment .

Roll forward 2 years and yesterday she was told her teeth have improved and they are unable to offer NHS treatment . The teeth have “improved “ by 1mm and apparently that’s not on the parameters for NHS treatment.

Has anyone else experienced this ? I can’t help but think If it wasn’t for COVID she would have them . They said I can pay £2500 for them!

I am going back to the Orthodontist clinic next week to be seen by another Orthodontist as I wanted a second opinion . Should I get a independent opinion too ?

OP posts:

pianolessons1 · 23/09/2021 20:43

It's cosmetic. The NHS is in a mess.

CarryOnNurse20 · 23/09/2021 20:44

I think you probably have to suck it up and go private. Like with so much of the NHS almost anything cosmetic is no longer covered which the majority of orthodontics is. I would pay for it for my kids if I possibly could though- I had braces and it changed my life!

Aquamarine1029 · 23/09/2021 20:45

If you can pay for them, I definitely would. It is worth it.

Thadhiya · 23/09/2021 20:46

NHS changed the rules a few years ago and said they can now only pay for the most severe cases. Like, can't close your mouth severe.

Have to go private, like a lot now do.

Oblomov21 · 23/09/2021 20:47

Same happened to me with Ds1 and worse still then Ds2. I am still so furious about it I can't bear it. I saved up £3k for both of them, which took me years for both, and now they are both in braces.

whenwillthemadnessend · 23/09/2021 20:47

My kids both got accepted and they could certainly close their mo the so I call bullshit on that last comment

Yes get a second opinion.

Nomoreusernames1244 · 23/09/2021 20:48

I had the opposite. Not eligible on nhs. Dd’s teeth then moved a bit as she grew and she wasn’t happy, so we paid for a private appt who said she is eligible as her teeth have moved enough to qualify.

Only by that time she was 16 and it’s a 2 year min wait list so we paid. They do interest free credit so we are paying monthly.

NapoleonOzmolysis · 23/09/2021 20:48

2.5K is a bargain price.

CrotchetyQuaver · 23/09/2021 20:48

It can't not help to get a second opinion but I suspect you'll find out you're stuffed regarding getting them done in the NHS and have to find the money yourself. I will be forever grateful to my daughters orthodontist who told me after my DD had a meltdown in the chair putting in the braces and we had to stop and rebook. She told me we had to get them on by a certain date otherwise she'd miss out on NHS treatment due to rule changes. That was a long time ago now. There was no way we could have found the money to pay for private at the time.

BeenThruMoreThanALilBit · 23/09/2021 20:51

Just to counter that orthodontics isn’t always just cosmetic. My DD had to have races due to severe overcrowding and snaggle teeth which, if left unresolved, would have ended in even worse gum erosion and tooth loss by her late teens. So, sometimes it’s actually necessary.

Gingernaut · 23/09/2021 20:55

Can she not be experimented on by students?

My regular dentist referred me to a big London teaching hospital, where I became the 'project' of a dental student.

Full wisdom tooth clearance, train tracks and headgear for two years.

It was a long trip every time I had to go there, but the consultant was on hand as well as a classroom full of students who all had to look at each others work before the patients were allowed to leave.

It was weird and tedious but it was free.

Sprostongreen21 · 23/09/2021 20:57

This isn’t because of covid. This isn’t a new thing. Many people have to go private now for their children.

BoomChicka · 23/09/2021 20:58

It's not always cosmetic

My dd was referred at 8 and started treatment this year at 11 for an under developed bottom jaw which means her teeth don't meet properly. I now want to strangle her daily when she "forgets" to wear the twin block which is probably the most expensive item in our house

BoomChicka · 23/09/2021 20:59

^ if she won't cooperate with the twin block then braces route she will need surgery so I'm extremely grateful for the NHS right now 🙏

Lightswitch123 · 23/09/2021 21:00

@pianolessons1

It's cosmetic. The NHS is in a mess.

Sad but true. Its a new era for health. Been underfunded for way too ong now. Best get used to it and start saving / insurance.

FelicityBeedle · 23/09/2021 21:02

Of course it isn’t always cosmetic, but if you don’t qualify for NHS treatment it’s likely primarily cosmetic

CraftyGin · 23/09/2021 21:02

I paid for my DD's braces. She definitely qualified for NHS but there was a 9 month waiting list.

Also, the orthodontist only saw NHS patients during the day, and as a teacher, I could not take her to appointments. So private for us so we could get 5pm appointments.

GreatPotato · 23/09/2021 21:03

If it's only needed for cosmetic reasons why should the NHS pay? I mean it would be lovely if there was a magic money tree but does the tax payer really want to pay for cosmetic dental work?

LookAtMoiPloise · 23/09/2021 21:04

This happened to me; I paid for them.

TwooThirty · 23/09/2021 21:06

I can’t even get a dentist NHS appointment. It’s ridiculous.

Theredjellybean · 23/09/2021 21:07

I wouldn't waste your time or money seeking other opinions
Its not down to individuals it's criteria set by nhs... And most kids don't qualify.
Your child is no different to all the rest and parents have to pay. It's deemed cosmetic treatment

BalloonSlayer · 23/09/2021 21:08

Try a different orthodontist practice?

DD was referred to the one at our local hospital (Dentist asked me where I wanted her referred to and I picked the hospital as friends recommended it). They said she qualified for NHS treatment but needed to lose her baby teeth first. By the time she had lost them they, they had decided she no longer qualified.

She was gutted but we went to another orthodontic practice in our town. The guy said she qualified for NHS treatment easily and slagged off the hospital for "making up the rules as they go along."

WormYourHonour · 23/09/2021 21:09

My dentist is almost an hour away, the nearest accepting NHS.

I thought kids up to a set age got NHs treatment and anyone over that age would have to be from a household claiming certain benefits and such?

I get NHS treatment as I'm on Universal Credit.

Blueskythinking123 · 23/09/2021 21:11

My DD got refused at one orthodontist, I went to a different practice and she now has brace on the NHS. Without it she would have had an underbite and a peg tooth. She was terribly self conscious, so would of impacted on her self esteem. I would of found a way to save and find if i had too.

Silkiescatz · 23/09/2021 21:11

It took us about 5 years of waiting lists to get DD nhs orthodontist treatment, she disappeared off two lists then put a complaint in and she reappeared again and now having treatment.

I can not even get a nhs dentist atm, it is dire here. The issues started years back but covid has worsened things, pre covid could get an nhs dentist.

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