Has anyone paid for their child's braces?

[Zaragirl84]

Have had a bit of a shock, told today ds won't qualify for orthodontic treatment on the NHS so we would need to pay.

Could ask to be referred elsewhere, however everywhere seems to have a minimum of 3-5 year waiting lists, and at 13 have been told that it would be much better to get the treatment now.

So we are looking at paying £4000. Has anyone else had to do this?

Yes I paid for both DCs braces. No it is not cheap. Was it worth it, yes they both have lovely straight teeth.

Did you get turned down for NHS treatment too?

We got turned down for NHS treatment so had to get it done privately. It cost 2k - 500 up front and then 100 a month until paid off. He just had. The braces taken off in march and his teeth look great. I'm glad we did jt

Yes had to pay for one of my DC, wasn’t quite bad enough for NHS, cost about £2700, paid in instalments. Was worth it

DD did qualify for NHS, but the waiting list was 3 years, and as she was 14 at the time (with treatment being 3 years) we just couldn't wait, so we put off re-doing the bathroom and used the £4K we'd saved on her teeth.

Glad we did, at 17 braces are just off and teeth are great. Had we waited the treatment would only just be starting and DD would have to come back from uni every time for adjustments, which is not practical

Yes we paid, DS qualified for the NHS but the orthodontist waiting list was over a year (just pre COVID) and he was 13, all teeth through and he wanted it done. Our dentist had also messed up by delaying the orthodontist referral so it would have been an 18 month wait overall.

I think you could pay by instalments and it was about £2k. He was treated at the same orthodontists as he would have been under the NHS (I did some research and they seemed the best anyway). Paying privately also gave you more choice of appointment time as well.

Thanks. Yes I think Covid has made it worse. Ds had to have some milk teeth out before he could be referred so not seeing the dentist delayed the referral.

Just getting my head round it as it wasn't the news I was expecting.

Yes, braces for three DC cost us in total somewhere in the region of €10k, some of which was tax allowable. Not in UK though, very little free orthodontic treatment here in Ireland, but worth every cent. It was all payable in instalments, so not too bad.

Yes, we did. She didn’t qualify for NHS but I would have paid anyway to avoid a delay. She was an early starter at just turned 12; had them removed 2 years later and now at 14 her teeth are really beautiful. I’m so jealous!

It cost £2500 iirc with a small discount for paying up front; paid a bit extra at the end for fixed retainer wires. She’s promised to look after my investment

DD18 had NHS orthodontic treatment a few years ago but to be honest it wasn't great. Twin blocks and then train tracks, not a pleasant experience at all. Her overbite is still there and her teeth have moved back since treatment finished as the practice didn't fit retaining wires behind her teeth at the end of treatment.

DS14 was referred for NHS orthodontist treatment 2 years ago but wasn't ready for treatment then as he still had adult teeth yet to descend. In the intervening period, the orthodontist has shut down so we would have to be referred to another practice and start again at the bottom of the waiting list. That could be 2 years plus of waiting.

So I've decided to pay for them both to have private treatment. Both have had X-rays and consultations with the orthodontist then detailed scans of their teeth (no horrible plaster moulds to be made) and are now awaiting the arrivals of their Spark retainer sets. So no painful twin blocks or train tracks for DS.

They have an app on their phones that they will use to scan their teeth regularly and it will tell them when to move to the next retainer.

Yes it's bloody expensive, but it has been such a different experience to the NHS treatment that I throughly recommend it if you can afford it.

DS was treated privately as our dentist starts orthodontist treatment before all of their baby teeth come out. Orthodontist treatment in our area has a huge waitlist and wait until all their teeth are out to see if they're eligible which means treatment takes longer than starting it when they're younger. DD is nearly 8 and is having her first appointment at the end of this week. We paid about £4K for DS and it looks like it'll be same for DD.

Expecting to pay this- sort of money in next year - DD will need train tracks but our dentist says although she can get an initial NHS appointment to look at what she needs, she won't qualify as medical need as they have really tightened the requirements up for that. We got on waiting list before COVID and still waiting, but it's OK as like me at her age, her last milk teeth haven't come out and I'm not sure they'll do braces before they do.

Yes. They had an interest free loan option though. We were let down by the NHS as midway through DC1 the dentist was struck off (he should never have kept his NHS contract after his first warning) and their alternative didn't work for us. And we have 4 DC so only paid full price for one, the others got a discount as they had us over a barrel could all squeeze them into one appointment time as they are close in age so had overlapping treatment.

What are the criteria for getting it on NHS or not? We've been told DD will need them when her adult teeth are all through and I'd been assuming it was on the NHS

Out dentist forgot to refer Pre covid and there was a 2 year waiting list. We got referred earlier this year and DD just about qualified for NHS braces and luckily the waiting list went down to 6 months so we've only wait that length of time from dentist referral to first orthodontist appt to fitting of braces.

Try and get the dentist to refer before the last milk teeth fall out because they'll have fallen out by the time it comes round to your first orthodontist appt which can take months

We are in a 2 year queue still when we’re referred about 2 year ago so it feels a long wait. I asked to be if it was likely DD needed braces as a friend warned me about the wait , so I hope we don’t then realise she doesn’t qualify and that she should have gone private all along!

Pre Covid the dentist wouldn't refer him until all of his milk teeth had fallen out. Once we actually got a catch up when they reopened, we were told ds would have to have some milk teeth out as they wouldn't fall out on their own.

Dentist did then refer him and he got seen within about 10 weeks, however the orthodontist has refused treatment on the NHS for this years funding.

I think that we can ask to get re-referred somewhere else, but I've rang round orthodontists most of the day, and they all say they have waiting lists of up to 5 years, by which point he'd be 18. That's if we could even get anyone to accept him.

@CatchThatCat that's what worries me, we get referred somewhere else only to be turned down again and have wasted time.

Although dd absolutely qualified for NHS treatment, we paid because we understood there was a long waiting and dd was 13 and her overbite was so prominent that it was beginning to impact on her confidence. Treatment started and we discovered there was no waiting list and her friend received the same treatment at the same time by the same orthodontist. Felt we had been screwed by both dentist and orthodontist. He did a good job otherwise I would probably committed a crime I was so angry that we had been taken for ride. I was so incensed I complained to PALS, of course with no impact.

Yes. DSis had to pay £4k for DN when she was 16.

Yes, nearly £4000. £800 deposit and then monthly instalments, interest free finance organised by orthodontist. Retaining wire fitted top and bottom after treatment finished which you don’t get o. NHS.

Gosh. Is there anyone who has qualified for NHS braces? My child didn't.

Wow, £4000 is such a lot😳 My daughter currently has metal train tracks which we paid around 2 thousand for. We didn’t bother to wait for an NHS referral as we were warned that COVID was causing huge delays and that she was unlikely to qualify for nhs treatment anyway.

We got a 5% discount because my husband is a blue light card holder. There were options to pay monthly if we’d wanted too. I don’t know why my dd’s were so much cheaper than most others on this thread though?

Both of mine qualified but we didn’t want to wait the 2-3 years. So we paid for both and are now £9k poorer (and ds1 is still going since his situation was complex)