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Original poster

Parents have to PAY for ORTHODONTIC treatment

57 replies

drosophila · 17/11/2006 08:36

A friend took her DD to the orthodontist having been referred. She was told that she would need a brace (teeth overlapping) and that the NHS would not cover it. That will be £1800 they said. If it were 6 mths earlier the NHS would have paid. I was a little shocked at this. Anyone any advice I can pass on.

OP posts:

tissy · 17/11/2006 08:38

how long did the referral take?

Could the dentist have reasonably predicted more than six months before, that the treatment would be necessary? If so, then they may have a case against the dentist, i suppose.

Original poster

drosophila · 17/11/2006 08:43

tissy, that's what I thought. I mentioned this to her and she was going to ask her dentist.

OP posts:

Original poster

drosophila · 17/11/2006 10:04

Anyone???

OP posts:

LadyMuck · 17/11/2006 10:09

Doesn't sound right? NHS won't cover it if it is purely cosmetic, but if she needs a brace then it is usually due to overcrowding which I though the NHS did cover?

I'd get a second opinion. Slightly OT but ds1 has had difficulty with his molars - my dentist referred, and the advice was to remove all 4 molars. I changed dentist, and got referred to the neighbouring hospital who have saved 3 out of 4 teeth. Both were NHS.

lou33 · 17/11/2006 10:22

we got in just before the deadline for referral so dd1 had her braces for free

they said only the worst cases are going to be free now, they have a grading system in place to decide who qualifies or not

i hope my other kids have perfectly aligned teeth

sandcastles · 17/11/2006 12:18

The rules have now changed. The governmeent have now decided that unless it is extreme it won't be done on the NHS.

Comeoveneer will be able to better advise, but dentists won't even refer the cases they know aren't eligable.

hth

daisy1999 · 17/11/2006 12:26

will dental insurance cover it?

NotAnOtter · 17/11/2006 12:30

gosh this is scaring me!

Original poster

drosophila · 17/11/2006 12:31

She said that the dentist showed her pictures of kids with really crooked teeth and said that those kids wouldn't be covered either. Why don't they have a grading system that pays more as the problems get worse IYKWIM. If you have a couple of kids then you potentially have to cough up a few grand to sort their teeth out.

OP posts:

sandcastles · 17/11/2006 12:34

The 'powers that be' don't think it matters & don't feel it is necessary to offr this as a free service anymore.

I feel for the families who really won't be able to afford treatment, their children will go through their teens with crooked teeth & this will lead to cleaning issues, and they may well lose their teeth earlier than expected because of difficulty with cleaning!

sandcastles · 17/11/2006 12:36

Daisy1999, I don't think so, no. Well, the ones I had experience of (was a dental nurse for 15 years before having dd) certianly didn't cover it. It may well be that the companies will revise this, due to the lack of government funding, but I wouldn't count to heavily on it!

RTKangaMummy · 17/11/2006 12:41

IMHO she should complain but don't know who to though.

DS has been referred to orthodontist cos of his teeth are very wonky

He has been having appointments but was told he had to wait until his baby teeth have all gone

Which they now have

So hopefully he will now be able to have a brace won't he?

I hope so - cos he is desperate - he is teased about them soooooo much

sandcastles · 17/11/2006 13:15

RT, he might still get thru as he was clasified as 'under treatment' before the changes, but I really don't know tbh.

If she wants to complain, she should, of course!

Here is some info on how to direct your complaint, by NHS direct. You are advised to do it in house 1st of all, with a Practice Manager.

Sorry if it's no help, can't find much else relevant here in Oz! Otherwise contact you Primary Care Trust.

nutcracker · 17/11/2006 13:18

OMG that is awful. I had to have braces and hate to think what would have happened if my parents had needed to pay.

If any of my 3 need them there is just no way I could afford it.

We don't have a dentist at the mo as our last 2 got rid of us.

fairyjay · 17/11/2006 13:44

Dd's brace was covered by the NHS, although I understand that we were extremely lucky to get it through.

I think there are sort of five grades of crookedness (!), and only 4 and 5 are covered by the NHS.

GoingQuietlyMad · 17/11/2006 13:55

Oh b*gger.

I have awful teeth and dd1 is sure to need a brace because hers are as bad as mine.

I have been thinking about whether I will ever afford to get mine done, am gutted that they have decided to charge.

SO, we will go the way of America, where braces are a status symbol because it shows your parents can afford to buy them.

saggarmakersbottomknocker · 17/11/2006 16:16

My dd has had her brace for about 10 weeks now. We're not paying although she was referred a few months ago. He rated her problems as moderate to severe so not sure if thats made a difference. We have NHS dental treatment for the day to day stuff too.

Her friend has just been for her referral appointment and has been told that it'll cost £2500

GameGirly · 17/11/2006 16:36

My daughter was referred 18 months ago, saw the orthodontist who said her problem was moderate to severe and that yes, she therefore qualified for NHS treatment and to come back in a year. When we went back, she said you have 2 choices: you can either go on the NHS waiting list and wait indefinitely, or pay privately £4k. She recommended private treatment because my daughter started her periods 2 years ago and therefore has little growth time left, if any. She knew all of this at the first appointment so why wasn't my daughter put on the waiting list then. I'm sure we were told she was ... I'm so cross. We don't have £4, let alone £4k!!

southeastastra · 17/11/2006 16:39

the whole situation is ridiculous! my ds(13) is just finishing with his brace, there's no way we could have paid for it! and it has made a huge difference.

7up · 17/11/2006 16:42

blimey, thats worrying. my ds will hopefully be having hisbrace end of next year, having teeth out this month getting ready for it. definitely could not afford to pay and his teeth are awful, 12year old

Furball · 17/11/2006 16:51

Unbelievable - What will they whip out from under us next? How on earth are parents going to be able to afford this, it will just push people into debt or force their children to have crooked, protruding or overcrowded teeth. Ok so you might just scrape it through with one child but what happens for the 2nd and 3rd? Bloody crazy!

GoingQuietlyMad · 17/11/2006 20:06

I can't believe they have sneaked this in with so little publicity or debate. It is outrageous. Are we now facing a generation of lower income families with crooked teeth?

Labour have seriously messed up the NHS now.

Original poster

drosophila · 17/11/2006 20:27

Thing is 3k or 4k is a lot for middle income families as well so politically I would have thought it a no no.

The other thing my friend told me was that her DD has perfect bottom teeth and the dentist said he has never seen such straight bottom teeth so he imagined that she would only need a brace on the top ones. Guess what, the orthodontist say she needs one on each. The cynic in me wonder if it just a money making thing.

OP posts:

RTKangaMummy · 17/11/2006 21:01

Thanks Sandcastles for the info

I don't understand these prices people have been given

I have got top and bottom braces atm and mine is £1250 + £150 for the top ones to be ceramic {ie white/clear not metal}

Ok my orthodonist has done me a deal because I was priced for them to be done a couple of years ago but for various reasons I didn't BUT he is keeping the same price

Mine are prob going to be on for about 2 years

IMHO some of these prices are a bit of a con

7up · 17/11/2006 21:04

so i wonder if my ds is getting his free then, nothing has been mentioned about paying.

hes having teeth taken out to make way for the brace so really treatment is starting this month

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