Paying for brace on the NHS or not?

[applesareredandgreen]

Just been reading the thread on AIBU regarding the cost of having teenagers. Some posters were saying that braces are no longer free on NHS unless a lot of realignment was needed.

Silly question but would the dentist have made it clear to us if we needed to pay or would they assume we would be aware. I was under the impression all dental care was free for under 18s including brace. I'm panicking now that we will be presented with s huge bill at the end of treatment!

If you are having treatment, then it's free. I have read the thread you are referring to but I suspect that what they meant was the threshold to be offered orthodontics has risen. It used to be that almost everyone with even a slight misalignment or gals etc would be offered it but now, children have to have more serious/obvious misalignments to be offered treatment. They won't present you with a bill at the end!

*Haven't read not have!

Gals = gaps
Good grief! Sorry 😐

One of my dcs met the NHS criteria, the other didn't but he desperately wanted straight teeth, a payment plan had to be agreed. I don't think there's anyway a dentist would or even legally can spring a bill on you - even when I have paid treatment done I have to sign a form saying I understand the costs involved and that's for both NHS and private.

Surely if they were expecting you to pay, they'd be having you sign something beforehand

They would have made it clear upfront. DS is currently being treated by a private orthodontist who takes NHS referrals and our first session was an assessment to see if he qualified for free treatment - it had to be more than just a cosmetic need. As one of his teeth came through sideways, he qualified!

You would only have to pay if you go private. They would tell you whether you qualify for NHS or not and if you don't then a payment plan would be set up before treatment starts.

We went private for my daughter as the waiting list for NHS was 2 years round here and she didn't want to wait till she was 14+ before the did anything

www.bos.org.uk/Public-Patients/Orthodontics-for-children-teens/Fact-File-FAQ/What-Is-The-IOTN

Grade 4 and 5 qualify automatically for NHS treatment, grade 3 is done case by case.

It was several years before dd qualified for treatment as her teeth weren't 'bad enough' until then. If you had to pay I'm sure they would need to agree it with you in advance

Both my dd's were referred one sent locally one sent 35 miles away!
The first one qualified for NHS the second didn't but was re-referred to the other place as my dentist was sure she should qualify. Second place agreed and said the first was trying to scare me into paying privately

I had to pay for DD's treatment - she was c.1mm outside the NHS criteria and it cost me £2000 over 2 years. I paid in installments over that time. £500 on fitting, then the other £1500 over the next year or so. Am hopeful that DS's teeth are more crooked and I won't have to pay!

Believe me, of you had to pay they would have told you. We paid for DS's teeth, £180 a month for 18 months and had to sign loads of forms and set up the DD before treatment started. Worth every penny though, his teeth are perfect

We got a real bargain - ds's dentist charges under 18's half price - we paid £1700 on an ad hoc basis - I just paid a bit every time we visited. ds is really picky about his teeth and dentist said treatment will continue until he's absolutely happy!

When my Dd was referred to the orthodontist. They just got us to fill out the forms. When Ds went the orthodontist said he was borderline for treatment and therefore she would apply and let us know. He did get approved.

You only get free paediatric orthodontic care on NHS for defined clinical reasons.

Treatments outside those definitions need to be paid for.