Dentures on the NHS? Anyone know anything

Hootie19

My 21 yer old daughter is in hospital at the moment. She went to the GP on Tuesday as the right hand side of her face was very swollen and her eye was closing.

She was given two different types of antibiotics, but by Thursday night, the swelling was increasing.

I took her to A&E very early Friday morning, and she was admitted as they thought she should have IV antibiotics (A&E doctor worried that the infection was sitting very close to the sinuses and he was worried that the infection could carry up into her brain - I think that's what he said, anyway!)

Anyhooo - she was on the ward by 8am. The IV antibiotics weren't started until 8pm. Apparently the ward didn't have any "in stock" and had to order them. No clue where they were ordered from that they took 12 hours to turn up.

Anyway, they doctor saw her again this afternoon, and has decided that the problem is "broken roots" in her mouth (I wasn't there at the time - this information came from her boyfriend) and that she would have to have two teeth removed and the fluid drained. This would be done either this evening or tomorrow morning.

We went for evening visiting and in the short time she was awake (she has slept soooo much - I've spent about 12 hours sitting watching her sleep during visiting hours) she said that she actually has to have 4 teeth out and this will be done tomorrow morning.

These are four back teeth, so not going to affect her smile, as such. But I can't imagine how she'll cope with half her back teeth missing. How will she be able to eat? Will she be able to have some kind of denture on the NHS. She is only paid NMW and is hourly paid rather than salaried. This is quite a new job and unfortunately although she was led to believe it was full time, it has turned out to be far less than full time. Which means that she can't afford to pay for anything, and unfortunately we're not in a position to help her financially.

McKneff

Does she live with you.
If so i dont think there will be any help with the NHS.
If she was a householder on a low household income she would possibly qualify for help but a single person - dont think so.

Budget for abour £200 plus I'm afraid. NHS 3rd band cost.
Hope she feels better soon.

GotToChange

Hi - I do hope I am right with this and not giving you duff information; anyway - there is a form that you can get from your GP's surgery, I think it's called a HC1 or at least that is what you will get. It entitles someone on a low income (again, I'm not 100% sure of the definition...) to free NHS treatment. I think you can claim retrospectively but may be wrong anywaythe cert itself doesn't take long to come so maybe your daughter's mouth will have settled down by the time it comes.
This is the number to call if you have any questions (M-F 8-6, Sat 9-3)-0845-850-1166 so you could possibly check her eligibity over the phone. I seem to think that they only require proof of the (low) income and that's all; there is no requirement to be a houesholder or paying rent etc. (I don't think....) There can be no harm in checking.
I hope that things are all OK and she feels much much better soon.

x

McKneff

But if the op.s daughter works full time even on mw she would have a reasonable wage , if she only paid board and lodge, she would have a lot more disposable income that say a family with children, if you see what i mean.

Hootie19

McKneff wrote: »

Does she live with you.
If so i dont think there will be any help with the NHS.
If she was a householder on a low household income she would possibly qualify for help but a single person - dont think so.

Budget for abour £200 plus I'm afraid. NHS 3rd band cost.
Hope she feels better soon.

Thank you for replying.

No, she doesn't live with us. She's living with her boyfriend (whose income I don't know, but I don't get the impression it's that much).

Hootie19

GotToChange wrote: »

Hi - I do hope I am right with this and not giving you duff information; anyway - there is a form that you can get from your GP's surgery, I think it's called a HC1 or at least that is what you will get. It entitles someone on a low income (again, I'm not 100% sure of the definition...) to free NHS treatment. I think you can claim retrospectively but may be wrong anywaythe cert itself doesn't take long to come so maybe your daughter's mouth will have settled down by the time it comes.
This is the number to call if you have any questions (M-F 8-6, Sat 9-3)-0845-850-1166 so you could possibly check her eligibity over the phone. I seem to think that they only require proof of the (low) income and that's all; there is no requirement to be a houesholder or paying rent etc. (I don't think....) There can be no harm in checking.
I hope that things are all OK and she feels much much better soon.

x

Thank you for this information GotToChange - duff or otherwise

I will definitely look into it and give that number a call on Monday for her.

I hope she feels better soon too - I'm sure that once the infected bits are sorted, she'll soon turn a corner. I do hope so - it's heartbreaking to see her looking so completely wiped out

Hootie19

McKneff wrote: »

But if the op.s daughter works full time even on mw she would have a reasonable wage , if she only paid board and lodge, she would have a lot more disposable income that say a family with children, if you see what i mean.

Thanks (again) for this

She's definitely not working anything like full time - some days she works an hour in the morning and an hour in the late afternoon. Hardly the full time position implied at her interviews with them! I dunno - I'd guess at less than 20 hours a week (she's not been doing the job that long).

As I said above, she's living with her boyfriend, so sharing household costs etc.

McKneff

Then she needs to apply for help on the grounds of low income.

best wishes and i hope she gets better soon.

emlou2009

are they her back teeth or her wisdom teeth? are they all on one side or spread around?

i know its hard seeing your daughter in pain, but i would see how she gets on with chewing food before you panic for her about how she will eat - most people only chew on one side, so if all the teeth are removed from one side she will most likely be able to chew on the other, or if they are spread around then she will most likely adjust quickly, and personally i'd prefer to do that then have dentures

HurdyGurdy

emlouy2009 - it's two teeth on each side. And not wisdom teeth.

She went down to the theatre at 10am and we've not been able to get a reply from the ward yet to see if she's ok. Sigh - I thought you were meant to be able to fret less about them when they were grown ups!

McKneff

HurdyGurdy wrote: »

emlouy2009 - it's two teeth on each side. And not wisdom teeth.

She went down to the theatre at 10am and we've not been able to get a reply from the ward yet to see if she's ok. Sigh - I thought you were meant to be able to fret less about them when they were grown ups!

:rotfl:Dont be daft
i still fret about mine and they are 41 and 36

She'll be fine
Annie