Daughter mentally affected by crooked teeth - orthodontist refuses to treat on NHS

angelfire

Hi all, I have just returned from the orthodontist with my 15 year old daughter, who, since the age of about 9, has had crooked teeth, fangs etc. Over the years we have visited the dentist with her and basically been fobbed off. Her teeth have, to some extent, corrected themselves - that is to say, the fangs she had at the front have moved down, but they are all still very crooked and 'rabbit' like.

Anyway, we have just been told by the orthodontist, that she does not qualify for NHS orthodontic treatment, she can, however, have them sorted privately at a cost of £1800! I'm stunned that a child, who is quite badly affected by this, can be refused? She won't smile in photos, is teased at school, wears her hair with one long fringe half over her face, and generally has lowered confidence because of her teeth.

Does anyone know if there is anything else we can do? £1800 is an awful lot of money when as far as I'm concerned, we've already paid! She has friends at school with braces where their teeth were fine to start off with! It's the age old annoying fact as well, that I've paid tax and NI all my life, even whilst being a single parent, yet as per usual, were' told we don't qualify! It's so annoying!

any help appreciated xxx

bertiebots

Can you contact your local primary care trust and ask for their opinion. I had problems with my dentist a few years ago and they helped me sort of (long story). You can find the details on nhs direct.
Failing that I am afraid I would have to say ,if you have the money ,get it done. If your daughter is being affected so much by this then waiting is just prolonging the agony, not right I know, but the best for her confidence in the long term. It wouldnt be right for her choices in life to be affected by feeling so self conscious.

Toothsmith

It's a fairly rigid clinical assessment using a scale called IOTN (Index of orthodontic treatment need.)

'Mental state' doesn't come into it.

If she's a borderline case, then one orthodontist might treat where another one wouldn't, so it might be worth trying to get a second opinion.

angelfire

Toothsmith wrote: »

It's a fairly rigid clinical assessment using a scale called IOTN (Index of orthodontic treatment need.)

'Mental state' doesn't come into it.

If she's a borderline case, then one orthodontist might treat where another one wouldn't, so it might be worth trying to get a second opinion.

Thanks Toothsmith. she was referred a few years ago by our old private dentist. We've since changed to an NHS one, so do you think it's worth taking her there for a check-up and to see if they can help?

I understand their assessment, but the orthodontist sat there with a perfect hollywood smile, telling my daughter that, yes, each and every one of her front teeth are crooked and DO need correcting, but she was unable to offer it for free. Instead, she sat there and went through our other 'options' - the cheapest of which, was the £1700 i mentioned above.

The thing is, my daughter also has very naturally yellow teeth, which only compounds the problem. I really feel for her!

angelfire

bertiebots wrote: »

Can you contact your local primary care trust and ask for their opinion. I had problems with my dentist a few years ago and they helped me sort of (long story). You can find the details on nhs direct.
Failing that I am afraid I would have to say ,if you have the money ,get it done. If your daughter is being affected so much by this then waiting is just prolonging the agony, not right I know, but the best for her confidence in the long term. It wouldnt be right for her choices in life to be affected by feeling so self conscious.

Thnaks for your reply, I think we may go to our GP and see if there is anything further that can be done, or visit our new NHS dentist as suggested. We can't afford £1700 for treatment...

welshdent

GP wont be able to do anything. Its unliley that the new dentist will be able to do anything outside of referral to a different orthodontist. NHS dentistry and NHS medicine are COMPLETELY different so GPs wont be able to say much other than go see a dentist. They dont even have transeferrable, central records. Who referrs you, be they private or irrelevant makes little difference as to how you can be treated. I suspect most if not all practice based orthodontists will offer private and NHS work. The orthodontists are now as toothsmith stated, bound by something called an idex of treatment need. If your daughter does not meed that banding then there isnt much they can do - unless borderline as already stated. Its completely independent of being a single parent or having paid NI unfortunately. I have seen people pay a lot more than £1800 for ortho so it does raise an eyebrow as to how severe her alignment is viewed. If she is borderline/low need then I suspect even hospitals wont accept because we have had letters telling us to stop referring such cases to them. Something to consider if seeking a second opinion is waiting list time to be seen. Is she is 15 there shouldnt be much problem getting in undr 18 but my local clinic has a 2 year waiting time for NHS referrals just to be seen let alone start any treatment. One further away has just brought in an 18 month wait time becuause they have used up their funding for the year ... and will then have to manage the spill over

Toothsmith

I'm getting a bit of a bad vibe from her being told she 'needs' it.

Most decent orthodontists, if a child fell out of the NHS treatment categories, would be telling the parent and child that they didn't really 'need' it, and that any improvement would be minor. Because in the vast majority of cases, kids who do really 'need' it still do qualify for NHS treatment.

There are some things that DO look a bit weird, but don't qualify, but not very many.

I think another opinion would be good.

Toothsmith

welshdent wrote: »

I have seen people pay a lot more than £1800 for ortho so it does raise an eyebrow as to how severe her alignment is viewed.

That's a good point.

If it was on the more severe side, it would be dearer than this.

Emsky*

I agree a second opinion would be a good choice, at the age of 19 I finally got a brace after years of waiting because my NHS dentist wouldn't give me the treatment, so got a second opinion & got it done. Always worth a second look.

tsabo

By the time I lost all my baby teeth there was a three year waiting list for NHS treatment and I was 16 at the time. I'm currently having Invisalign treatment on just the top arch. Would this be an option? There are really good payment plans etc.

loulou123

The waiting list on the NHS can be very very long, i waited for almost 3 years from 1st seeing the orthodontist to actually getting the braces fitted. I did look into paying privately (and was actually advised to consider this as my problems were so severe) but was quoted over £12,000 (although this did also include the cost of major jaw surgery) and this was 7 years ago!

I was an adult when i had mine fitted (aged 26ish) and as an adult its incredibly hard to get the NHS to pay, but as my teeth were so bad and causing me problems eating and alot of pain in my jaw and teeth i was accepted. As far as i know mental state and how your teeth actually look (to a degree) are not important to those making the desicion (not that im saying that should be the case) and it is based purely on the degree that something is wrong with your teeth/bite etc.