Insurance for children at school

xxdeebeexx

My son had a nasty accident at school which has resulted in him damaging his teeth. He had emergency treatment immediately after the accident and then over the weekend we saw a private dentist who detailed the possible repairs. It appears that the cost will be in excess of £8,000 and treatment will last over many years. We are hoping to be referred to a dental hospital in London that specialises in Paediatric trauma repairs. We are hoping to be accepted as NHS patients. If this is possible I belive that they supply the labour while we pay for the 'parts'.
What I really want to know is whether or not schools have an insurance that I could claim off to help meet the cost?

The accident happened only a few days ago and I'm not thinking straight yet.
Any other suggsetions would be fab.

TIA

Dx

blue_monkey_2

I'd post your message over on the Healh moneysaving board, there are a couple of denists over there.

I thought kids got free NHS Dentistry, you just have to ring around and find one with an appointment.

What has he got to have done that is costing 8k?

I believe you can also give Guys Hospital (I think) a call as it is a training hospital, my friend has been seen there for free but she said there was a bit of a wait.

blue_monkey_2

http://www.guysandstthomas.nhs.uk/services/ambulatory/dental/dental.aspx
Links for the page on Dentists at Guys, on the right for the referral form I think - is this where you are waiting for a referral on? This might be of help then.

http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/articles/article.aspx?articleId=1786

rach29

Also look at the London Hospital Dental Unit in Whitechapel, I get free treatment there but you have to be referred by your Dentist I think.

Dont know about schools insurance but when my daughter started Secondary school we were asked to pay for insurance by the school who took a block policy (I think) to cover all the kids but paid for by the parents.

Good Luck

mattymoo

Some schools take out a personal accident policy for the pupils. Normally mentioned in their prospectus but their is no legal requirement for them to have this cover.

They will have public liability cover but to claim under this you will need to prove negligence and that isn't always easy.

Toothsmith

xxdeebeexx wrote: »

My son had a nasty accident at school which has resulted in him damaging his teeth. He had emergency treatment immediately after the accident and then over the weekend we saw a private dentist who detailed the possible repairs. It appears that the cost will be in excess of £8,000 and treatment will last over many years. We are hoping to be referred to a dental hospital in London that specialises in Paediatric trauma repairs. We are hoping to be accepted as NHS patients. If this is possible I belive that they supply the labour while we pay for the 'parts'.
What I really want to know is whether or not schools have an insurance that I could claim off to help meet the cost?

The accident happened only a few days ago and I'm not thinking straight yet.
Any other suggsetions would be fab.

TIA

Dx

I'm really sorry to hear about this. How old is your son?

Accidents that damage the adult teeth when they are young can be a real swine.

Your best bet is to be referred to a specialist teaching dental hospital. This is where such extreme cases are best delt with.

If you are referred here, then the treatment will be on the NHS, and like the 'proper' NHS (as opposed to NHS dentistry) it will be free at the point of delivery.

It is possible to get dental insurance for kids. Denplan do a policy, but I can't remember it's name.

If you are with a dental practice who have opted out of the NHS for kids, and have kids on Denplan, then there is an insurance component to that which covers accidents, and for an extra top-up, can be upgraded to include implants should they be necessary.

Other private schemes have similar insurance components.

I'm afraid for you, it's a bit like bolting the stable door after the horse has bolted.

I can't for one moment imagine that he won't be seen by the hospital, but if he isn't, then I would keep him out of the NHS general practice system.

He needs time, experience and things doing well. Find a private paedodontic (kids dentistry) speciaist.



For anyone else reading this thread, I would seriously think about some sort of insurance for your kids teeth. And also - if they play contact sports - make sure they have a proper (dentist made-to-measure) gumshield. True it can cost around £50 whereas you can pick them up in a sports shop for less than a fiver. The quality of the two, and the protection they provide are worlds apart. (A bady fitting sports shop one can actually do more damage).

One in 6 kids ill suffer some sort of dental trauma during their childhood. One's as extreme as the OP's are rare, but they do happen, and can be very expensive to fix properly.

Toothsmith

As for the school insurance paying up - I suppose it would depend on the circumstances of the accident, and possibly even how they delt with it.

xxdeebeexx

Thank you so much for such an informative reply. My son is 12 and has snapped off the top left incisor just at gum level. The private dentist suggested that he should be referred to Eastman Dental Hospital in London. He believes that the possible treatment may be a post crown followed by a sticky bridge/ small denture if or when the crown fails. (He pointed out that post crowns could last for years or months but will fail eventually) He then suggested that at 18-20 an implant.

I am worried that NHS crowns may be inferior to private crowns - not necessarily the quality but colour match as in NHS glasses ie a set range.

To be honest I am desperately worried and very very sad. I have spoken to the school today but seem to be shrugging their shoulders as if I am fussing over something trivial.

Dx

mattymoo

There is a limited colour range in NHS crowns. You might be lucky and get a good match though.

Toothsmith

If he is referred to the Eastman, he will get top quality treatment from top quality people using top quality materials.

The hospital system is funded in a completely different way to general practice.

At dental hospital, dentists are trained to provide the best care for their patients, and are shown how to use the best materials and techniques.

It's only when they get out into the farce that is NHS dentistry that they have to learn to compromise, to work faster than they should and to cut corners in order to make the practice work financially.

The dentist you have seen seems to have suggested all the options available to you both. The 'sticky' bridge is a particular favorite of mine. They work very well, do very little damage and are much cheaper than an implant if your finances can't stretch to one. As your dentist said though, the post crown may well last a fair while.

It all depends on how well formed the root of the snapped tooth was - and at 12 it could go either way. the root carries on developing for several years after the tooth has come through. If it's fully formed, the tooth can be successfully root filled and a post crown could well last a fair while.

If the root is not fully formed, there are various 'tricks' that can be tried to encourage it to carry on developing - even if the tooth has died. If they work then again, the crown may well last a long time, if not, you'll be onto the bridge/denture option.

If he is going to be treated at the Eastman though, it's as good a result as you could have hoped for. It is 'the' institution in this country.

If you start some sort of saving policy now - then by the time he's 18-20, I bet you'll have a fair bit towards the next stage of his treatment though. And if the crown manages to hold out until he's off your hands and earning - then that's a pot towards a really nice holiday for you and your other half!!

How did the accident happen at school BTW, and what was their response?

Toothsmith

mattymoo wrote: »

There is a limited colour range in NHS crowns. You might be lucky and get a good match though.

Not technically true.

There isn't a pot of materials just dedicated to NHS. But this is often one way that an overworked and busy NHS dentist will try and explain it.

In truth, in order to be able to provide a crown on the NHS, the technician fee has to be as cheap as possible.

This means that an NHS crown will often not be made by the most experienced of technicians, and they won't be spending ages on it putting in all the little shades and colour differences that are found in natural teeth.

One pot of porcelain powder, build it up to something like the one next to it, fire, glaze, fire, finish - job done. Hardly job satisfaction for the better technicians either!