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Teenagers

Parenting teenagers has its ups and downs. Get advice from Mumsnetters here.

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Original poster

Orthodontic treatment

21 replies

misspigg87 · 02/05/2023 08:39

Hi my teen has been under the care of the dental hospital for a few years & due to Covid being of the hold ups the treatment is taking so long. My child is 17 & while there is no age limit for dental treatment she’s had enough
We’ve been told she’ll need a dental expander for around 6 months then all going well will be fitted with braces . I am grateful that we can have this treatment on the NHS but I was recommended a private orthodontist so we are thinking about going privately.

Has anyone else done this ?

OP posts:

Waitingforsummer75 · 02/05/2023 08:42

DS had private orthodontic treatment. We were told the treatment would take 2 years with the NHS orthodontist, it took 8 months privately.
It's not a cheap option, upwards of £4k but I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Sweetladyjane · 02/05/2023 08:43

I went private for my daughters orthodontic work as the wait on the NHS was going to be several years. It’s worth shopping around a bit on price - we were quoted over £5.5k in our home town but went over the border at 25min drive away and are now only paying £3.5k. The clinic isn’t as luxurious but offers exactly the treatment. Plus they do a payment plan which means it’s affordable.

Littlemissprosecco · 02/05/2023 08:48

Dentist here!!
it takes a certain amount of time to move teeth, they can’t be moved any faster without pain or damage. Treatments which are considerably faster than others are probably slightly different treatments with slightly different end results. It doesn’t mean either is better or worse, just be awate

Littlemissprosecco · 02/05/2023 08:48

Aware!

Frostytiger87 · 02/05/2023 11:07

Thankyou for your replies this particular orthodontist came recommended. I think most people aren’t able to get work done on the nhs so have to pay privately . Given the choice I’d also like the reassurance of being able to see someone if there’s a problem . The dental hospital is great but trying to contact them via the phone is a nightmare so I usually email them

memenotea · 02/05/2023 22:11

We have gone privately. We were at the arse end of a 2 year nhs wait, went for a private consultation and treatment started 4 days later! She’s due to be finished before she’s even have got to the top of the waiting list!

Original poster

misspigg87 · 06/05/2023 09:04

Yes that was our problem , Covid didn’t help now my child is 17 & wants to start treatment .
The other problem with the dental hospital is that if there’s a problem I can’t just phone them it’s an email & waiting for a response.

OP posts:

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 06/05/2023 09:07

My DD’s was delayed. She’ll be 17 in July and has just got the braces she should have had at 14.

Original poster

misspigg87 · 06/05/2023 09:10

Aw , I don’t know about your dd but mine thinks that all kids have been there had braces & treatment is finished . People get braces at all ages including adults but my child’s worry is uni & braces , I think at this age they are very conscious of their appearance

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mizu · 06/05/2023 09:22

Similar here but DD 17 has now had her braces on for 2 years . Hospital orthodontist and SO slow.

Her teeth look great now but every time she goes to an appointment they say next time might be the last time and it never is.

They say one of her teeth needs building up so they have to contact our normal dentist ( which has gone private since we last were there just before the braces) and that is taking months.

I finally called the hospital dentist this week and they left a message saying so sorry, everything is so behind and they'll try to send the letter to our dentist this week.

No way we could have gone private for braces but goodness knows how much her tooth will cost to build up now our local dentist is private!

chipshopElvis · 06/05/2023 09:23

I have two teens. DS qualified for NHS treatment and DD didn't, but the dentist recommended braces and we've gone private for her. DS is two years older and will have his braces fitted shortly. DD was seen and had hers fitted rapidly so is already wearing them. If you've already done the waiting that's the worst bit with nhs. Other than that main difference is that the private orthodontics place has wizzier scan/xray machines and DD didn't need impressions but DS had moulds taken. Oh and the 4k cost of private!

EversoDisorganised · 06/05/2023 09:38

DS started his privately age 16, he had a removable expander thing for that year, followed by removable twin blocks for 9 months or so then fixed braces for the last year, finally had them removed last month, it has been a long haul even though it was private. The university worry is a valid point - mine started uni in September, luckily only an hour and a half away but he has a fairly full timetable and it has been a right old juggle getting him to the appointments.

Chunkybuttfunky · 06/05/2023 18:33

If shes being seen soon for the expander I don’t think there would be much point going private. If they need 6 months to expand the pallet then it’ll take 6 months if you pay or not.

If you’ve been told there’s still a delay in starting treatment then would it be worth seeing if you can get in with another orthodontist? My teens are at 2 different orthodontists. One got an appointment 6 months after referral and had braces fitted 2 weeks after the appointment. The other waited nearly 2 years and we’ve only just started with the expander.

ComeIntoTheGardenMaud · 06/05/2023 18:38

We went privately because, by the time DC decided they wanted their teeth straightened, it was going to be very late to join and get to the top of an NHS waiting list.

dig135 · 06/05/2023 18:42

I've had one NHS and one private (as he didn't qualify). I'd say it's not like private healthcare in terms of a big difference v using the NHS.

Same orthodontist, same type of brace, same length of time (waiting list was manageable as his dentist referred him early enough).

ComeIntoTheGardenMaud · 06/05/2023 18:50

Just remembered that one visible difference at our orthodontist was that the most convenient, after school appointments were reserved for private patients and NHS patients got the daytime, requires absence from school appointments.

34and3 · 07/05/2023 13:28

We've gone privately. Never even bothered joining an nhs list. £5000 for white brackets Damon braces. She was given a camera attachment to her phone so every 2 weeks sends a scan to the orthodontist. It's brilliant.

GracieGracieGracie · 07/05/2023 13:43

PHOTOS BELOW.

Dd qualified for NHS treatment but due to a number of factors we chose to go privately. She's 16 and has literally just this week had her fixed brace off after two years and all manner of things in her mouth to move/expand/pull her teeth into place. It cost £6000, BUT

top class treatment, the best of the best.
you can stagger the payments over the course of the treatment so you don't have to have the money upfront.

Honestly, go private if you can. It's so worth it.

Jules0702 · 10/05/2023 22:40

My dd had braces through the NHS. We’d heard that it took ages so we were prepared to go privately but it was surprisingly fast and the orothodontist said that the end results would be the same so we opted to go with NHS. Her treatment was 2 years and we didn’t have to wait too long for the odd emergency appointment.

I also worked for a few months at an orthodontist’s office. They also had NHS and private patients. Their waitlist was one year for NHS patients and within a month for private patients. The treatment was also quicker as the wait for an NHS appointment was usually 8-12 weeks whereas private patients were 6-8 weeks. Also, private patients only saw the orthodontist whereas NHS patients saw clinicians for their adjustment appointments. That’s not to say that they were better or worse but only the orthodontists could make treatment decisions. The clinicians had to work on prescriptions from the orthodontists. It also makes a difference where the office is. If i had a choice, I would go to a quieter office instead of in a busy city as they usually have more patients.

Good luck!

Original poster

misspigg87 · 12/05/2023 15:40

Thankyou all for your informative replies and advise , my child has an appointment at the private orthodontist next Monday so we will see what he advises and pricing .

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ittakes2 · 12/05/2023 16:13

I have had rather extensive experience with braces / Invisalign on teens the last few years including one who was eligible for NHS but we went private.
One thing I have learnt the hard and expensive way is that not all orthos are equal - and that sometimes if a quote is cheaper there is a reason.
I assumed all orthodontists will automatically correct a child's bite - not so - if you ask for your child's teeth to be straight your child's teeth could be straightened but they may still be left with what is technically an acceptable overbite or underbite. But that overbite might be too deep so your child can not wear permanent retainers ie the wire behind their teeth and they have to wear removable retainers at night for the rest of their life instead.
And the ortho can tell you they are now straight....but they might be straight up and down but they are still very different heights.
It was not me that pointed these things out to my ortho - it was other orthos pointing them out to me once we started treatment so after treatment technically 'ended' we had to get further treatment. The long term consequence of an 'acceptable' overbite is wear and tear on teeth and will not be seem until the child is middle age or elderly.
So whatever you do get two quotes and also ask each of them if your child has an over or underbite and if they say yes but its 'acceptable' ask the price for what it would be for there to be no overbite or underbite.

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