I suspect my dd is going to need braces, is this going to cost a fortune?

[MagNacarta]

She's almost 10, so I don't suppose that she'll have them for a while but I'd like to be prepared. I'd heard somewhere that this sort of thing isn't available on the NHS anymore so I'm wondering if we should get dental insurance so that when it does come up we'll be covered. Has anyone any experience of this?

My nephew is 15 and has braces and he has an nhs orthodontist. I am sure they are still available for free to under 16's or under 18 if they are still in FT education.

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Key features of NHS Orthodontics

NHS treatment is available to eligible patients aged under 18 years and is intended to provide treatment for those patients who require it on the grounds of health.

Such problems include severe protrusion of the teeth, severe mal-alignment or crowding of the teeth and congenitally missing teeth. Some less severe, but unaesthetic smiles may also qualify for treatment. Treatment for minor problems or cosmetic reasons alone is not usually available on the NHS. Patients desiring NHS treatment may be subject to a waiting list.

NHS treatment, like private, is carried out to a high standard by Specialist Orthodontists, however, is generally only available between 9.00-3.30pm and may not be available during school holidays.

For those patients not eligible for NHS treatment, we would be more than happy to discuss our other options of private care and their various finance schemes.

total orthodontics
< Key features
total orthodontics
< Eligibility
total orthodontics
total orthodontics
HTH]]

There is a scale for NHS help, as long as the protrusion is enough you will get help.

Going to a private dentist, yes it costs a lot, possibly around £1000 or more. My dds braces will be around £1600 plus other work she will have to have done.

If you think she will need braces ask for a referal asap as the NHS waiting list is very long in most areas. Cerain work can only be done when the jaw is growing and moving so getting her in early gives you the best chance of getting to the top of the list whilst she is still growing enough to have the work done!

I've just found this - ok it's the Torygraph, but it's saying what I thought I'd heard somewhere. Only 'severe' cases are being taken - DD's teeth are crooked and gappy, I don't think she'd be covered. I don't have a spare £2, let alone £2,000 for treatment - which is why I'm wondering about getting cover. Having said that I don't want to pay for something we don't need - aghhh.

article

Ah - interesting KingCIA I hadn't thought of that, I think I need to talk to the dentist next time she has a check up.

My son is a year in to his orthodontic work - he didn't qualify on the NHS - so we have had to pay private - I have paid interest free over 12 months and the total cost has been just under £1500.
He was borderline - if his teeth had been slightly worse it would have been all free - but as it was I have had to pay the lot. A sliding scale would seem much fairer. The orthodontist said that a few years ago he would have automatically been treated for free.

Dd qualified for help, she just has protrusion, no crookedness, no gaps or anything. The only reason we could not go with NHS is because the list was so long her jaw would have stopped growing before she got to the top of the list and she needs work on her jaw too (idealy).

My other dd has just qualified, same thing, no gaps or anything. I got her in much earlier given our problems with dd1 and can use the NHS help this time.

Private dentists do usually allow you to pay in instalments if that helps?

I'm worried about the same issue, my 8yo dd doesn't have protrusion but instead her teeth are crooked upwards into her gums - as a result of thumb sucking. They are severely misaligned. We have recently moved and are seeing our new dentist in a couple of weeks, and I am hoping she will qualify. I've always had slightly crooked teeth and I think it's horrible to live with - that article shocked me a little actually, that so many are now turned down, and it will make a difference to their lives, whatever the government say.
Best of luck MagnaCarta.

Thanks ladies - I'm busy googling and it looks like a lot of dental insurance policies don't cover braces. I'll keep looking and post back here if I find one - I've got three dc's and I can't yet tell with the younger two, but it'll be very pricey if all three have thier Dad's teeth .

Our dd has hers on the NHS. (I didn't think they were bad atall btw)
Similar to KingCanute- two side front ones had slight protusion.
It depends on your dentist referring you, and our dentist is lovely.
Our next dd apparently won't qualify, although hers are fine.
Good luck though, it's a huge chunk of cash.

My Ds (13) is having his done on the NHS. He just had some overcrowding and they were very slightly crooked at the front but not bad at all. If it wasn't free I would never have paid as they looked fine to me and I was really surprised we got them on the NHS.

Saying that, he was on the waiting list for 2 years, so if you suspect your DD will need braces, her own dentist needs to see her now (and s/he can usually tell if you have a case) and write to the orthodontist requesting she be put on the waiting list.

Ooh, how interesting dd is coming up to 7 and we were told about a year ago she would deffo need braces when the time comes.

I have DenPlan policy for her but I'm not sure it covers braces.

I better start saving

Looks like I've got a while yet though, I thought she'd get them younger than the ages mentioned here

I would definitely ask your dentist to refer your DD to see orthodentist asap and see if they will do work on NHS, if so, she can get on waiting list immediately. Both my DC had/have braces on NHS and I would have said 2nd wasn't that need but being done anyway. Perhaps it depends on where you live?? Anyway my DD was on long waiting list but cos she hadn't started growth spurt it was ok, now she has started growing and also reached top of list so all worked out well.

Hope you get is sorted out - I couldn't have afforded 2 x £2000 either. Its a pain taking them out of school for appts but rather that than the money and some appts can be done in school hols.

when i was 15 i had braces put on, all my treatment was free, which was good as it lasted 8 years however i still have wonky teeth, i however did have a huge range of problems, i know my mum is still quite upset about what happened. I'm sure there are lots of good nhs ones around, but if we could do all again we would of gone private

The answer is that you can get NHS treatment or you might have to pay. Don't think (but a dentist might correct me) that you can get insurance for orthodontic treatment because you already know that you need it IYSWIM. Think you have to be "dentally fit" before they take you on for insurance.

Whether or not you can get braces on the NHS will depend upon the severity of the work needed. DD has just had her assessment and fortunately (!) her teeth were bad enough so that she qualified for free treatment. Otherwise I would have had to pay. Think it's around £32k to £3k - or at least this is what the orthodontist said to us.

£2k to £3k that should be ...

I echo what others say re getting your dentist to refer her to an orthodontist. My dd was referred about 6 months ago and was recently seen by an orthodotist who does both private and nhs. She met the criteria for nhs treatment so we won't have to pay. Just need to stop her sucking her thumb first as they won't start treatment till she does. Any tips would be great as I'm running out of ideas...she's the only child I know that likes the taste of that yukky stuff you paint on to stop nail biting! I spend my days saying "stop sucking your thumb"!!! She wants to stop but mostly doesn't even realise she's doing it till I tell her to stop.

DS has been seeing an Orthodontist since he was 9 due to various dental traumas from age 3!

At age 9-10 he was a dead cert for NHS braces but he didn't loose enough baby teeth to start treatment until he was 13. By that time his worst protruding tooth had "improved" as spacing in his teeth changed and we no longer qualified for free treatment under the new rules.

DD had hers for free under old rules, and DS's are much worse. The killer is that he has broken both his permanent fron teeth. They cannot be properly dealt with until they are straight (he has temporary filling building them up & frequently replaced) and they need braces to straighten them.

Cost just under £1800 as we paid in 1 lump sum.

Ours will cost 3k for a 13 year old.

kiddiz - no your dd is not the only one who likes that stuff - mine too. I tear my hair out, because I know they won't treat her until she stops, but she just can't. we have tried literally everything. She has dyspraxia and doesn't really know when she's doing it (off on another planet lol). So no tips, but full sympathy.

Get her name on the orthodontists list asap, as the ther posters have said. We went private with dd as the NHS waiting list was very long and I wanted to get her out of braces before the hormones really kicked in. Cost was about £1800 but we paid it in installments. The same orthodontist would have done the work if we had waited for NHS treatment by the way.

My understanding with NHS is that the orthodontist is funded by £X amount per year. Essentially once they have used that sum up on NHS patients, any new referrals go on a witing list for the next financial year.

The only other point to note is that you are only entitled to the steel train track type of bracing on the NHS - at least that wasthe case in my area. If you go private, you can pay a little extra for an aesthetic brace which is essentially clear porcelain and far nicer to look at.

Thanks to all of you, I haven't had any joy with insurance so I will be getting in touch with the dentist shortly.

Hiya, i'm a dental practice manager and dental nurse, any nhs dentist can refer a patient to an orthodontist. The orthodontist will always wait until the patients permenant dentition is through so if there are any baby teeth still hanging on you'll be waiting until these have come out. (still worth being referred to get the patient in the system though)
The orthodontist works on a points system and measures how badly the patient needs the correction and is available up to the age of 18.
I hope this helps

Why are you not speaking to the dentist as first port of call to find out what service is available on the NHS? My dentist referred my son to NHS orthodontist.