Dentist £££

heuchera

brook2jack wrote: »

The information in the above link is somewhat confused. The iotn criteria of grade 3 , 4 is for children only. Even so many health commissioning groups will not fund grade 3 even for children. The relevant part from the link posted is

"NHS orthodontic care is not usually available for adults, but may be approved on a case-by-case basis if needed"


No general practice orthodontist has a contract for over 18s. The only place an adult would be treated is in hospital as part of treatment that includes orthognathic (jaw) surgery because of gross discrepancies. The vast majority of orthodontic treatment for over 18s will have to be private.

I would go by the official information in the NHS link rather than some random on an internet forum, to be honest.

mal4mac

brook2jack wrote: »

Braces are NOT available on the NHS for adults except when their problems are so severe they need surgery to correct jaw discrepancies.

That isn't what it says on the NHS web site. It says:

"Orthodontic treatment is available free on the NHS for under-18s who need it. Treatment is also available on the NHS at the standard charge for complex dental treatment (just under £219) for adults who need it. However, adults who want orthodontic treatment to fix minor cosmetic problems aren't eligible for NHS treatment."

If you have what you consider a *major* cosmetic problem, check out a few NHS practices, to see if they agree. To avoid paying £20 a time to every surgery in the area for a check up, visit the surgeries and have a chat with the receptionist, look for signs of "good NHS dentists at work" (e.g., charges up on the wall for everyone to see, receptionist open and helpful...) That should help you narrow the field. If the dentists are unhelpful, the next surgery you should visit is your MP's.

brook2jack

If you read the NHS link heuchera provided it says adult orthodontics are not usually provided and may be approved on a case by case basis. Here is the salient point from a NHS referral form (link below if you want to read the whole thing)


REFERRAL FOR NHS ORTHODONTIC ASSESSMENT
Please complete this form for any patient in need of NHS orthodontic treatment that meets the following criteria:
1. Patient to be less than 18 years of age at the point of referral (see guidance)
2. Patient must meet the requirements of the Index of Treatment Need (IOTN) 4, 5 and 3 with an aesthetic
component of 6 or above (SCAN) to be eligible for NHS treatment.

Unfortunately the BOS (British orthodontic society) website is down at the moment , which has excellent advice. General dentists do not make decisions about who does or doesn't have NHS orthodontics, a specialist orthodontist does. You cannot refer an adult to a NHS orthodontist (see links below ) , you can only refer to a hospital if they have severe problems needing surgery in conjunction with braces. IOTN is a strict set of criteria which should not vary from orthodontist to orthodontist.
This explains IOTN http://www.chapelroad.co.uk/PDF's/IOTN.pdf




http://www.solent.nhs.uk/_store/documents/referralfornhsorthodonticassessment.pdf

Further links here http://www.sath.nhs.uk/services/Orthodontics/eligibility.aspx
http://rms.kernowccg.nhs.uk/content/Orthodontics%20V3%20180413.pdf

Apollonia

mal4mac wrote: »

The worst NHS dentists like to do the minimum, to maximise their earnings. They might leave off doing the filling, and when the decay & pain gets bad enough do an extraction - which they can charge more for, but takes about the same length of time.

A filling is a Band 2 charge and an extraction is a Band 2 charge. Leaving a tooth until extraction is the only option will NOT make more money for the dentist - the payments are exactly the same.

FBaby

I would go by the official information in the NHS link rather than some random on an internet forum, to be honest.

You will definitely not receive NHS treatment for braces for cosmetic purposes, end of.

Even kids now struggle to get funding. My daughter's teeth were horrendous, but at the first visit was told she didn't meet the criteria. The business was then bought by another owner and they invited her back. They did a much thorough assessment, including testing her speech and she manage to meet the criteria on that basis (and I have to say that her speech changed significantly afterwards).

heuchera

FBaby wrote: »

You will definitely not receive NHS treatment for braces for cosmetic purposes, end of.

Have you read the link?

GlasweJen

I'm IOTN 4 and couldn't get braces on the NHS.

brook2jack

heuchera wrote: »

Have you read the link?

Did you read the link properly ? I quote from it



"NHS orthodontic care is not usually available for adults, but may be approved on a case-by-case basis if needed"

That case is if orthodontic treatment is necessary in conjunction with orthognathic surgery. Read the links I posted which include NHS referral forms which state you cannot refer adults for orthodontics except for severe problems.

fbaby is quite correct adults cannot get orthodontics for cosmetic problems and , to a lesser extent, neither can children.

heuchera

brook2jack wrote: »

Did you read the link properly ? I quote from it



"NHS orthodontic care is not usually available for adults, but may be approved on a case-by-case basis if needed"

That case is if orthodontic treatment is necessary in conjunction with orthognathic surgery. Read the links I posted which include NHS referral forms which state you cannot refer adults for orthodontics except for severe problems.

fbaby is quite correct adults cannot get orthodontics for cosmetic problems and , to a lesser extent, neither can children.

Yes I've read it, and nowhere does it mention surgery.

The fact that FBaby's daughter saw 2 different dentists and got 2 different outcomes shows that the system is not that consistent.

I stand by my advice to go by official links rather than what's been typed by anonymous people on a forum, though!

brook2jack

And if you read the other links posted with NHS referral forms you would read that the only adults who can be referred for orthodontics are those who are

12) Possible surgical case: for severe skeletal discrepancy, defects of cleft lip palate, craniofacial anomalies and impacted canines.

http://rms.kernowccg.nhs.uk/content/Orthodontics%20V3%20180413.pdf

Impacted teeth mentioned in 9b are also something that requires surgery.

This is one referral form from one ccg but it follows a standard format.