Has anyone had orthodontics on the NHS?

[Crowler]

My 8 year old is going to need orthodontia - I just had his initial consultation last night. I was surprised to learn that his overbite would qualify for NHS treatment - I previously assumed we'd pay privately.

The ortho suggested I get an NHS consultation, but warned that they don't typically offer ortho before age 13. Anyone have any luck in this area?

thanks.

My 10yo DD currently has a twin block appliance via her NHS ortho but my DS had to wait until he was 13 to get his fixed brace, it depends what needs doing and the child's development. My DDs treatment works best if it is done while the jaw is growing in puberty even if she hasn't lost all her baby teeth yet. It's worth having the NHS consult.

Yes, my DD has had extensive orthodontic work on the NHS, which began when she was 13, and ended when she had just turned 16.

It was very successful but involved ridiculously long waits in children's clinics which were always on a school day, and she missed days and days during KS4 which was a bummer.

Yes, waiting for 13 is not an ideal option because you lose the traction gained by a growing jaw.

OddBoots did you get an ortho referral from your NHS dentist, or do you just book directly with the ortho?
thanks!

ah thanks Linerunner. So the clinics are busy/late, basically?

Dd2 had a block brace and then a train track brace.

She started with it aged 10 iirc and then had the final brace off last july just before she turned 12.

All on NHS. The end result is superb. I think the orthodontist decides when the time is right. Baby teeth being gone is a factor I think. Dd 1 also had a brace but had hers in at 13.

Mine was via my NHS dentist. For what it's worth the appointments have sometimes been at awkward times but we've never been seen later than 5 mins after our appointment time so I think that varies from place to place.

Crowler, I actually wrote a snippy letter to the CEO of the hospital trust and they did improve on the staffing / waiting times, but the children's clinics remained during school hours.

Our referral was from a NHS dentist, and we attended the maxillo-facial unit at a large hospital.

Dentist referred in both cases. The orthodontist takes a look and decides on timescales and when to begin.

Thanks everyone so much for your replies. I'm obviously keen to get this done on the NHS if possible. Overbite is 7cm.... any thoughts on this? I didn't realize it was so severe, I took him because his top teeth are not nicely aligned and thought it would be a straightforward "cosmetic" set of braces. Not so.

Glad you caught it early.. My dd who is now 16, has a 9mm overbite (do you mean 7 cm?), which qualifies for NHS treatment, but she has to have the jaw broken and moved, which is whole other story.... Not sure we will go ahead.

Ay-Ay-Ay! That sounds pretty ghastly! Sorry yes I meant 7mm.

Fucking hell.

I'm no expert but dd2's top teeth were significantly forward. I didn't really notice it at the time but looking back at photos from then I can see it would have become quite noticable as an adult if we'd left it. She was a big thumb-sucker when small and the orthodontist said that that hadn't helped.

She needed blocks in first to realign her bite before they could move the teeth with the train track brace.

Def go for NHS if you can. Both my dd's must have had the equivalent of quite a few quids worth of treatment, but they're delighted with the end result even if it was tough going at times during.

DD is currently having NHS orthodontic treatment, including treatment for an overbite.

She started the treatment when she was 13.

We were referred by our NHS dentist who, at the time, thought that they may well say that DD would need to wait a while longer before treatment started as she still has some teeth to come through due to losing teeth quite late compared to her friends.

However the orthodontist started DDs treatment straight away. He was keen to get the treatment underway so that she's not left wearing a brace when all her friends are having theirs removed and could happily work around the teeth that are appearing.

You can ask to be referred to a specific orthodontist - we asked for one in the town we live in, as opposed to where our dentist is, as I was aware that you can spend a lot of time going to appointments. As others have said NHS appts. are usually during school hours but you can make them for beginning or end of the school day, around breaktimes etc to cut down on time lost at school.

My DD needed a general anaesthetic at one point.

I was definitely glad that was done in a big NHS hospital.

BananaNotPeelingWell - it was the same with DD's overbite. I'd never really noticed it but now when I look at photos from before treatment it is quite obvious! (She was never a thumb-sucker though).

thanks guys! Are any of you are in London, by chance?

No, sorry.

DS had orthodontic work done on the NHS. His orthodontist did private and NHS work. He was old skool i.e. "I'm a highly qualified medical practitioner and thus a Superior Being and more important than anybody else".

Private got the choice of appointment times. NHS fitted in where they were told.

He was such a nasty piece of work that I wanted to change but found that the industry closed ranks and wouldn't transfer in someone else's clients midtreatment - we were stuck with him until the end.
Make sure you like the orthodontist and his work before you start!!

Orthodontists all work in different ways so it's very hard to transfer between without starting all over again.

There's no NHS age limit to starting treatment, it should be done when it's right for the patient.
beachy 9mm is one heck of an over jet. Why do you think you won't go for the surgery?

My daughter was 8 when she started orthadontic treatment on NHS. She had an adult tooth that was growing wonky and starting to push another adult tooth out. Really glad to get the treatment on NHS!

I have two DC having ortho treatment ATM,

D's is 13 and he started treatment recently after a 2 year wait. He goes to a private clinic and we have never had to wait for our appointments. Lots of availability. The dentist estimated his treatment would be around £2000 privately.

Dd is 9 as is having her treatment done in the local dental hospital. The appointments are a nightmare. We regularly have to wait an hour after appointment times. Then you have to wait while the students have a look first then the ortho has ago. Its basically a whole day appt each time.

Is 9 mm really that bad? Round here, it has to be at least 6 mm before NHS will look at you; and DS had a 15 mm overjet before treatment started, so 9 seems pretty middling from that perspective!

I think we must be lucky with ours - he is NHS but lovely. He has a great manner with the patients, can always fit you in if a brace 'breaks' and never seems to be running late.

The only downside is that appts. are in school time.

My dd2 is 10 and is starting her orthodontic treatment - she's an incorrigible thumb sucker (was sucking in her scans!) and the first step is 6 months with a preventer device to break the habit. We've seriously tried everything else for the last 5 years!! There will be realignment treatment later.

We're in Glasgow, getting treated at the Dental Hospital. Referral was from her general dentist, who re-referred when the first guy we saw didn't want to treat - her consultant now (and his followers!!) is great. All free on the nhs. Actually, I didn't realise anyone had to pay privately for children!

Yes are NHS appointments are all in school time, but they are really quick and efficient and never more than 10 minutes behind (and that's rare).