Free Dental Treatment For Children?

Anya

I asked about this procedure for my son, and I got told that it was only done if the grooves in the back teeth are deep and can't be cleaned properly. My little boy still has his baby teeth but he has had alot of problems with them. Me and my sisters all had the coating done when we were younger and didn't have to pay. When his second teeth come through I am definitely going to try and get his done as it will be too late if he gets a hole in them. If I have to pay I have to pay but considering all the problems he has had so far I feel that it should be covered. If his second teeth come through and don't have deep grooves - I am going to have to fight for getting them done as I know that if he didn't his teeth will go bad again.
I never used to be worried about going to the dentist, but I now dread going with my children as each time I go I get a lecture about how my little boy is on a high-sugar diet. Each time I insist that he is not (everything I buy that can have reduced sugar - I get, he has sweets once a week, plenty of calcium in his diet, and full fluoride toothpaste) and that he has vulnerable teeth - like his dad, but she won't have any of it. It's so annoying. They no longer fill milk teeth either - they just yank the teeth out even if there is a hint of a hole (to save them having to have them taken out later)! I spent last year so stressed about my little boys teeth! Grrr - getting mad again now just talking about it!!

Toothsmith

Spendless wrote:

Just wondered. Why would it make a loss? Is that because the NHS would pay less than the charge being made?

Sort of.

The NHS pay less than the cost of doing it.

The expenses at my practice are about £170 ph.

That means that to pay all my staff and the overheads etc taking into account holidays and time off for further training, and accounting for replacing and updating fixtures and fittings each working hour of the practice neets to gross £170.

It generally takes a half hour appointment to fissure seal 4 back teeth on a 7 year old. Possibly 15 mins if it's a really cooperative child. That means that it would cost the practice £42.50-£85, not including materials, but that would be less than £2 and the gloves, disinfection proceedures between patients, and disposables have already been accounted for in the £170.

The fee on the NHS for fissure sealants is £9.80 per tooth. So in an ideal case, the loss to the practice would be a few quid. If it's a wiggly child, it could be nearer £50!

Toothsmith

Anya wrote:

I asked about this procedure for my son, and I got told that it was only done if the grooves in the back teeth are deep and can't be cleaned properly. My little boy still has his baby teeth but he has had alot of problems with them. Me and my sisters all had the coating done when we were younger and didn't have to pay. When his second teeth come through I am definitely going to try and get his done as it will be too late if he gets a hole in them. If I have to pay I have to pay but considering all the problems he has had so far I feel that it should be covered. If his second teeth come through and don't have deep grooves - I am going to have to fight for getting them done as I know that if he didn't his teeth will go bad again.
I never used to be worried about going to the dentist, but I now dread going with my children as each time I go I get a lecture about how my little boy is on a high-sugar diet. Each time I insist that he is not (everything I buy that can have reduced sugar - I get, he has sweets once a week, plenty of calcium in his diet, and full fluoride toothpaste) and that he has vulnerable teeth - like his dad, but she won't have any of it. It's so annoying. They no longer fill milk teeth either - they just yank the teeth out even if there is a hint of a hole (to save them having to have them taken out later)! I spent last year so stressed about my little boys teeth! Grrr - getting mad again now just talking about it!!

Low sugar is not sugar free, and if you are the size of a bacteria living in the mouth, it's still a feast.

Sweets are not the only thing that rot teeth. Anything containing sugar can do that. But I'm afraid sugar is the ONLY cause of tooth decay. Even a 'weak' tooth would not decay without it.

The mouth can repair the teeth with the calcium and other wonderful stuff in saliva, but it can only do this if it gets good 4-5 hours of no sugary attacks 3-4 times a day.

So, the rule to try and stick to is not to worry about the stuff kids have at meal times. There's bound to be some sugar there somewhere, so you may as well have a whole load. The thing to stick rigidly to is no sugar between meals. Thats not only no sweets, but no biscuits, no sugary drinks, no fizzy drinks, try and avoid acidic pure fruit juices as well (The only 'safe' drinks are milk & water) If anything must be eaten in between meals, be absolutely sure it's sugar free. It really is best not to eat at all between meals though from a dental point of view.

The final thing to bear in mind is that the salivary glands shut down at night. So anything sugary being consumed within half an hour of bedtime could well be stuck to the teeth all night (even after brushing!) This is a very dangerous time to eat anything sugary.

Hope this helps

Anya

Why won't they fill their teeth any more? When I was little, pulling them out was the last resort - is this a cost thing as well?

Maisie

They do still fill children's teeth. My grandson had a small filling . His first (he's7) It came out after a couple of months
The dentist said the filling was too heavy for the tooth and had cracked the tooth..

He had to have a bigger filling as part of the tooth broke off.

I wasn't very impressed with the work done on him.

Toothsmith

Anya wrote:

Why won't they fill their teeth any more? When I was little, pulling them out was the last resort - is this a cost thing as well?

Yes.

Baby teeth can be filled very successfully, but the fees are appalling. No excuse not to do it though in my opinion. Just what tends to happen on the wonderful NHS.