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So his teeth haven't come down at all well. Hes just turned 13 and one baby tooth to still drop out. Been referred to local brace type dentist from his usual dentist and it would appear there is a waiting list and nhs money has run out etc. Pay 1800 pounds today and you can come back tomorrow to start treatment or go on to waiting list for 18 months and probably still have to pay anyway.
We are really unsure of what to do as dear daughter got referred via same practice to same specialist 2 years ago and was sorted foc and now genuinely has a Hollywood smile. Do we have to Pay, should we pay immediately, second opinion, do the nhs still do kids teeth at all?
Help!
do the nhs still do kids teeth at all?
Yep, my 14 year old daughter, and pretty much all of her friends, all have received NHS orthodontic treatment.
9-ish month wait. No charges.
It appears that braces are cool.
Doesn't matter, it'll just revert as they age. My teef are a right jumble after having train-tracks & all sorts for years.
Ok
A few things to note.
If he still has one baby tooth to come out, he's not properly ready to start treatment despite his age. To start immediately this baby tooth would need to be taken out, then you'd have top wait for the permenant one underneath to come through before the treatment can properly start.
There is no disadvantage to waiting from a dental view. Time is only of the essence if he will not cope socially with having a brace when his peers have finished theirs.
The NHS rations orthodontic treatment. There is a "wonkiness scale" the Index of Orthodontic Need. It's based on the number of millimetres of crowding, the angle of the teeth in the jaw, the measurement of the overbite etc. There is little dentist discretion in this and in my experience, most orthodontists will try to get you to score high enough if they can. If you score enough points on this, NHS treatment should be offered. Practices are often busy so there may be a wait but that's only a problem if you're impatient. If you don't score enough wonky points ( the practice should be able to tell you where your son sits on the scale) You may not have straight teeth but the NHS will not fund treatment. In this situation, the Practice will offer to do the work privately then it depends on how you and your son feel about their appearance.
The rules are made by the government and not the dentists. I'm guessing that they are a super busy practice so have a reasonably long wait for treatment and at the moment they are unsure which side of the wonkiness scale cut off he's going to end up. Its hard for them to tell until that final baby tooth has gone and the new one has arrived.
see here:
In most areas, I think you need to score 4 to qualify for NHS treartment
On a wonkiness scale he is definitely up there. Please excuse the builder description here on in. The pointy tooth at the front on the right has actually come out the front face of the gum over the original one below, it must sit 10mm higher than the others. His front lower teeth are all pointed slightky backwards and today's charmer said his jaw was misaligned.
He also implied that if we waited for said baby tooth to fall out we probably wouldn't be eligible for nhs treatment anymore.
As for it not being long term I'd disagree, but you must use a retainer as dear daughter has near perfect teeth now but without the retainer in she can feel movement in as little as 2 days.
Put a 200mm rotor on his front wheel and he can get it all sorted in A&E for free.
i'm not an orthodontist and I cant give you anything more than general advice over the net. I would suggest you phone the practice and ask them to explain the situation again. The scale is fairly black and white. I don't think the baby tooth affects the score. He either qualifies - in which case if it were me, id wait and get it free. Or he doesn't qualify in which case regardless of how straight you think his teeth aren't, the government view is that any improvement would be purely for cosmetics and they wont fund it so you will have to pay if you want them done.
Like I said, as far as I know, the dentist has very little "opinion" input into the score, its mostly done by measurement so it "is what it is"
The practice should be prepared to walk you through it again if you tell them you don't understand what the situation is
Sorry i have nothing to add but being the most nervous dental patient known to man, me, today i had 2 fillings and the pre filling stress was completely unfounded, i did not feel a thing.
Stress caused by an overambitious dentist 10 years ago on a root canal filling, most pain i have ever had and took about 10 sessions to correct, fortunately at dentists cost not mine.
Good luck with your sons teeth.
I still have two baby teeth in my thirties so I wouldn’t go rushing to take them out in case nothing follows...
As for it not being long term I’d disagree, but you must use a retainer
Rather seems you actually agree, but are aware of the need for a retainer, unlike my parents.