Going private for child's braces

[bridgetjonesmassivepants]

Hello, my son was referred to the orthodontist, had two teeth out due to overcrowding. Didn't hear anything so phoned up the dentist and have been re-reffered to the orthodontist again. There is an 18 month waiting list and the site he'd attend is 45 mins from our house but 2 hours nearly from my work.

I'm worried that even when we finally get to the orthodontist that I am going to find it near impossible to get him to appointments every six weeks or so. We live rurally so he can't get himself there on a bus etc and my husband and I just cannot take time off work for this. (Think jobs where you are assigned holidays)

If we go private there are 3 possible sites within 20 mins of our house and he could start treatment in a month or so and we would have more control over appointment times.

Is it worth the £3000? Son is nearly 13 at the moment so will be 14 and a half if we wait.

If you can afford it, yes, 100%.

I've done it with my daughter and she is so much happier to get her teeth sorted asap. Hers were crooked with big gaps.

100% worth it. We went private and paid £4000 for DD’s braces a few years ago. The change in her confidence was amazing and it was such a positive experience. She had appointments every 4 weeks on average and a few emergency ones when she broke brackets off so being able to choose an orthodontist 5 mins away from her school made it really easy and stress free. It’s also the case at most practices that ‘high demand’ appointment times (before/after school) are reserved for private patients which meant in the entirety of her treatment she only missed a single lesson.

My son was in NHS braces and we were offered private by the same company. There was quite a bit of difference for the money. We had to wait longer for appointments, which was particularly bad when the orthodontist got Covid and my son ended up waiting an extra six weeks between adjustments because she had to make up appointments with all her private patients first. We also weren't allowed appointments at convenient times so he would miss less school. If you persistently damage your braces (my son kept popping blocks off) then they can charge you to replace them whereas that would be included in the cost for private. We were told that he needed permanent retainers on both arches but that isn't available on the NHS and the orthodontist isn't allowed to do any additional work for nine months after completion of treatment so we have to wait nine months and then pay for the permanent retainers. Generally speaking we got a lower standard of care and fewer options on the NHS versus private. I'm not sure whether that would be the case for other orthodontists. We couldn't afford to go private though so we had to take the deal. On a side note, be very cautious if the orthodontist wants to remove premolar teeth. It's a quicker, cheaper route to straight teeth but it gives poorer outcomes than expansion because of the associated bone loss.

We went private because the NHS clinic was miles away and I would have had to negotiate time off work to take him whereas private clinic he could walk to from school. Got his permanent retainers included and pretty happy with the result, ie all done by end of year 8. We would have been doing it all in year 10 otherwise. Great if you can afford it, still worth doing on NHS if you can't.

A friend of mine did it for her DD. I remember her saying there was a payment plan she used so it wasn't thousands in one go.
If you can afford it, private would be more suitable for your circumstances just so you can get to work on time. Treatment takes a long time so there will be a few appointments along the way.

totally worth it.
as you say it's quicker treatment at more convenient locations for you. will be great as well for your dc to attend on their own (depending on age of course) for the many appointments.

If you can afford it yes it is worth it. We were told DD would have to wait 2 years for an available slot once first assessed at the orthodontist as the NHS funds had been already allocated for the next 2 years to patients already on the wait list. She was in full growing stage and needed twin blocks to expand her jaw. We decided she needed the (extensive) work to start when she was growing. Cost £3500 and paid £1500 up front and then the rest in instalments over the next 2 years. It took about 2.5 years in total because of small Covid delay.
Also had a fixed retainer on lower teeth.

Yes, definitely worth it. My daughter is having her braces removed in a couple of weeks, if we’d waited for the nhs she might not have even had them fitted yet. If you can afford it, go for it.

DD also missed no school at all as all the appointments were after school and a 10 min walk from home and booked on a day one of us could go with her. She went on her own for the last few appts as it was covid etc and was older.

Just finished braces for ds1 and ds2 privately. Didn't qualify for nhs for either, which I was furious about for ds2 because told I would, years ago, because of overcrowding. I saved hard for ds1, I managed to get my company to pay for ds2. The service was impeccable, but then so it should be for £3k each time. Took a year, every 6 weeks, appointments after school. Fixed retainers, and 2 sets of plastic retainers each, incase it breaks or gets lost. Really pleased.

My daughters orthodontist used all the conveniently timed appointments for the private patients. If you can afford it, definitely do it.

I've done one privately and one through the NHS. They told us eighteen months too but it was a three year wait.

Also, we don't get any choice in the appointments at all. They are texted to me after the app

Whoops...

after the appointment and they are very contrary if you try to change them. And you absolutely can't have after school or in the holidays because they keep those for the private patients.

If we could easily afford it, we would have done it that way. I had to raise quite a stink to get his braces started over a year ago which had been repeatedly delayed at their end and THEN covid hit which shut everything down for an extra year.

Waiting lists on the NHS for orthodontists in our region are insane right now. 4 year waits some have been told! It's a terrible system, frankly. more dentists and orthodontists need to be trained up and supported and the government needs to ensure everyone has access to care.

Please be sure that your child really needs braces. There are a lot of unnecessary braces being worn. They were suggested for my DD and she turned them down as they would have interfered with her playing the oboe. She is now an adult with children and a good job, and her very very mild protruding teeth have not stood in her way and do not bother her at all.

Another DD had a second tooth lying horizontally in the roof of her mouth and because of that her front baby tooth had not shifted. Orthodontist wanted to do surgery to take out the first tooth and drag the second one gradually down by the use of a head brace and springs that could be tightened. I sought a second opinion, and the second tooth was removed from the roof of her mouth and the first tooth left in peace - she still has it; as well as two children! It gives her no trouble and she was spared all that trauma.

It is worth asking the question: what happens if we do nothing before embarking on lengthy (and expensive if you go private) treatment.

Gosh it's really shit isn't it that nhs is years wait and poor service. I fully understand if you can afford to pay that you get preferential treatment over appointments etc and get it done much quicker. But the whole dental system in this country needs an overhaul - they need to encourage more people to train into dentistry and pay them well enough to retain them so there are more nhs dentists available.

We moved areas 4 years ago and are still driving back to our old dentist in another county as can't get the children in with a local dentist or even on the waiting list. The amount of stories of people ending up in a&e needing emergency dental treatment which could be avoided if everyone had access to an nhs dentist. It's only going to get worse as lots of people simply can't afford to go private but can't get an nhs dentist either. Sad situation.

No experience with this but came to say it seems like a no-brainer to me. That place on the NHS could be used by someone who needs it.

I can't understand why going private is frowned upon with the idea that we should all use the NHS in solidarity. If we can pay for private I think we should use it and leave the NHS for those who need it. And your sons teeth are important. I wouldn't give it a second thought.

Our NHS braces experience has been absolutely fine. Hardly any delay in referral, after school appointments every time.

Yes, I think we'll have to go private. We need to be able to get him to the appointments if nothing else.
His teeth are quite bad, they are nowhere near in line and are badly crossed at the front, it's not a minor correction.

Also, quite interesting about paying and saving the NHS money. As a family we paid nearly 100, 000 in tax last year, obviously this means we can afford to go private but it is a bit annoying when you pay in so much and then can't get back.

Other son needs a couple of fillings, waited 8 weeks for an appointment, dentist was ill so back to the bottom of the list and another three months to wait, five months in total!

I believe the government would rather we all went private, fine but then cut the taxes. I don't like paying for a service I can't use/ isn't available to me.

Plenty of people want to train to be dentists; there aren't enough places for them. And for those that do train, many don't want to work for the NHS and just go private.

I think if their education is subsidised by the taxpayers (it is, otherwise they'd be paying a lot more for the training), they should be required to work for the NHS for X number of years, tbh. Ditto for people who go to medical school, which is also heavily subsidised by the taxpayers.