DD told she can’t have NHS orthodontist treatment

[Readysteadife]

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 ?

Sorry to jump in, but may I ask what is the average age for the initial referral? The dentist has said both my DC's will need a brace. DD is 11 ( year 7) and my DS, age 10 ( year 6). I get the feeling that my dentist is stalling though, on doing the referrals but I'm not sure why? She thinks my DD is a borderline case as to whether she will get it funded but she feels my DS fully meets the criteria for funding. I've got no idea how the orthodontic system works. Thank you.

TBF, even if you do get assessed as meeting the criteria, the list round here is so long that you’re unlikely to get it in time. I think we’re going to have to pay :(

@FurCoatNoNickers

Sorry to jump in, but may I ask what is the average age for the initial referral? The dentist has said both my DC's will need a brace. DD is 11 ( year 7) and my DS, age 10 ( year 6). I get the feeling that my dentist is stalling though, on doing the referrals but I'm not sure why? She thinks my DD is a borderline case as to whether she will get it funded but she feels my DS fully meets the criteria for funding. I've got no idea how the orthodontic system works. Thank you.

Ds was 11 iirc when referred and only had to way 6 months.

DS has severe hypodontia and his last appointment was cancelled/shifted. I pray we don't have to pay, it will cost the earth to sort him out

Given the link between oral health and general health (e.g. gum disease linked to heart disease) anything less than optimal should be addressed in my view. Long term it saves money.

My DD qualified. We were told waiting list was 2 years pre-covid and expected to get worse. We went private. £2,000. Down-payment if £1,000 and then paid off at a rate of £100 per month.
Don't begrudge a penny and could afford it, but it made me very sad for children less fortunate. Someone's smile is such a vital part of how they present to the world and their self-confidence - something really important to teenagers and especially those in this Instagram era.

I don't think it's COVd related. We had to pay and that was about 8 years ago. It Stu may but I do agree that NHS shouldn't pay if it's cosmetic

Hey all.

So I had an open bite and bad teeth.

I was deemed “cosmetic”.

Jaw survey and 3 years of braces, I have teeth whereby I can actually chew, won’t be having undue damage etc.

^cost me £15k.

Nhs sucks dick.

Everything is always “1mm out”.

My son was within NHS parameters but the waiting list was over a year so we paid private and got it done straight away.

I wouldn’t bother with the NHS, they’re swamped at the moment, if you can afford to pay.

@Dunrovi

My daughters were referred before they were ready by our NHS dentist. So by the time we had sat out a two year waiting list, all the baby teeth had gone and we were ready to go. Canny.

My DS was referred when he was 9. They called him back at 11yo at the beginning of this year to assess him and said they will see him again in 6/9 months when they expect his last baby teeth to have come out.

I'm hoping this means he's sat out any waiting list, as you say. I'm pretty sure he will qualify for funding as he has a big overjet and I am sure he will need a twin block just for starters.

If he doesn't qualify I'll be gutted at having to pay because I'm already six months in to £5k of treatment for myself.

I'm in my 50s and I've struggled with my appearance for over 30 years because of my teeth. I'm embarrassed at the cost and it hasn't been easy to afford the monthly repayments but I think it will make a huge difference to my confidence. I will pay for DS if necessary because I don't want him to grow up with the same issues as me.

@Dunrovi

My daughters were referred before they were ready by our NHS dentist. So by the time we had sat out a two year waiting list, all the baby teeth had gone and we were ready to go. Canny.

That's similar to us - DD was losing her baby teeth quite early and the (private, not NHS) dentist identified very early on that she'd need a brace. Dentist already aware of the (then) 18 month waiting list for an assessment appointment so referred her early knowing that by the time she hit the top of the list she'd be ready. In fact, the first assessment appointment was cancelled but she was in school Year 6 at the time. She eventually had the appointment in Year 7 and the brace fitted a few months later, she qualified for NHS treatment (orthodontist agreed immediately after looking at her teeth).

I had my teeth fixed on the NHS as did pretty much everyone i was in class with at senior school. I'm 35. It's awful what's happening, I had years and years of treatment but it helped my mental health so so much and do we really think someone with straight teeth doesn't have an advantage over someone with crooked teeth in scenarios like interviews?!

I think it's just horrible for the dc who will have to live with it for life or until they can afford it at which point who knows what damage is done.

@Itsabeautifuldaytosavelives123

Same thing is happening to us - we have just been told that as dd has no filings and perfect teeth, other than a tooth needing pulled down and fitted in that she is unlikely to grade high enough on a scale that qualifies for NHS treatment. I asked if she had fillings and holes would she grade higher, they said yes, that the system is very unfair.

Someone who needs fillings and has holes because of overcrowding making it difficult to keep clean would obviously grade higher.

It’s not, as you seem to be suggesting, about someone who doesn’t look after their teeth grading higher.

FurCoatNoNickers

Sorry to jump in, but may I ask what is the average age for the initial referral? The dentist has said both my DC's will need a brace. DD is 11 ( year 7) and my DS, age 10 ( year 6). I get the feeling that my dentist is stalling though, on doing the referrals but I'm not sure why? She thinks my DD is a borderline case as to whether she will get it funded but she feels my DS fully meets the criteria for funding. I've got no idea how the orthodontic system works. Thank you.

My DD was the first in her year group to have braces in mid year 6-her adult teeth had come in over her baby teeth so she was like a shark with a double layer of teeth. Unfortunately she takes after me and has a small jaw so had to a) have her baby teeth removed and b) have some adult teeth removed, priori to braces being applied. Fortunately, as it was all so bad she had NHS care. She in now in Year 13 and still wears her retainers overnight because if she doesn’t then her teeth still try to move back😪

The problem is over the years the NHS have been cutting back. NHS dentists will try and label as much as possible as ‘cosmetic’ so people will pay privately instead. I know two people who had accidents (one at work and one whilst doing a sport) and they were both told that they couldn’t have the missing front teeth replaced as that was ‘cosmetic’
For those saying ‘just pay’ there’s more people than ever relying on food banks so they can’t just pull £2.5K out their arse and probably can’t afford to be in any more debt.

My boys both qualified for NHS. They have a over bite? Just as well as my 13 year old has a front tooth growing out at 30 degrees and the other had a tooth turned to the side by 45 degrees. I think they both have too small lower jaw

We have been offered the chance not wait the 6-12 months and go private. If you can get it done by either means do it. My sons teeth are extremely hard to clean as so wonky.

We were put on the waiting list over 3 years ago - the dentist said she thought she was borderline but given the then-18-month waiting list it was better to get on the waiting list in case. Five minute appointment last week - overbite measured at 7mm which meant she qualified for NHS treatment but it was up to her - at 9mm it would have been strongly recommended. She said no - it doesn't bother her, and she plays a wind instrument.

Sorry to jump in, but may I ask what is the average age for the initial referral?

DD1 was 11 when she got hers but had lost all her baby teeth and needed longer treatment (small jaw, overbite). DD2 was 13 and still had a baby tooth left but hers is “just” cosmetic. In Australia so have to pay but also no wait times.

They both had 1-2 consultations in the 18 months in the lead up.

Re time for referral

Where we are ( Scotland) you can self refer to the orthodontist so did this about age 10, went every 6 months until they agreed it was ok to proceed, so started a few months before 12 birthday. Done and dusted a few months after 13 (fortunately just before first lock down). The early start meant blocks worked really quickly and shorter time with braces.

So when the NHS denies treatment, is there no appeals process? Here at the service is denied you can appeal the denial both with private health insurance and also with Medicaid.

Our son needs extensive work to separate teeth and bring down and then some adult teeth not appearing at all. Having to go private as the wait so long. £165 a month for 18 months interest free.

Oh and he's nearly 16 and been under NHS ortho since he was 13 but the pandemic has lengthened wait times and we didn't want to wait til he was 18 as then would have had to pay anyway. So unfair when it's not cosmetic

@Phyllis321

DS has severe hypodontia and his last appointment was cancelled/shifted. I pray we don't have to pay, it will cost the earth to sort him out

Snap. We've gone private

I was told for years my daughter would need a brace to realign her jaw and straighten her very misplaced teeth. When my dentist retired the new dentist asked if I had any issues. My reply was now that she was 13 when would the process start for braces? She said she didn't think she needed them. I wrote a letter of complaint to the practice manager and low and behold we got a date through. Importantly when I mentioned the situation to the orthodontist he was literally flabbergasted. He even got another member of staff in, and without mentioning our situation, asked if my daughter required braces. She just said "definitely...why are you asking". Yes my daughter required lots of corrective work but it may be worth taking it further and see how you get on.

@Puddypuds very similar story to what happened to our dd. Unfortunately we didn’t get nhs treatment as we had yet another house move (armed forces). We ended up paying £3,500 for our dds treatment. That was about 18 years ago.