NHS braces - Adult - After Accident?

[MikeD]

Hi,

Desperatly been looking for an answer to this online without any luck!

I'm a 20 year old student, and 2 days ago following an adverse reaction to a vaccination at my doctors I fainted. Smached my face pretty bad against the stone floor. Damaged a lot of my teeth (2 needing root treatment and 5 or 6 chipped) but I can get this seen to on the NHS for a reasonably low fee (although the 70 pounds per white filling is proposterous). However the problem seems to be with braces. The info i've read online suggests I can't get them on the NHS. My teeth are pretty messed up now, not meeting properly (jaw shut results in a gap large enough to put my tongue through on the left side) and I have a tooth at the bottom of my mouth that has moved slightly behind another and the pressure is actually quite painful. In addition I have one sticking out on the top row. Prior to the accident I had pretty much perfect teeth. Now as far as i'm concerned I need braces both for cosmetic reasons (because I don't want messed up teeth from now on) and for practical reasons (surely my jaw should close properly? :S). But yea, I don't have 1000s to spend on them.

So does anyone know if there are any rules arround accidents? For example does everyone who gets in a car crash and has a few teeth damaged have to pay 1000s out for braces?

Any advise on this would be much appriciated!

Thanks

[Jen8626]

Hi Mike, the best thing to do is probably consult with your own dentist to see if he can refer you to NHS orthodontist and to take it from there, your dentist should know if you're eligible for NHS treatment. All I know is that NHS do not offer orthodontists for over 18's.

Jen

[sauerkraut]

All I know is that NHS do not offer orthodontists for over 18's.

Jen

That's what a lot of NHS dentists may tell you but it's incorrect. There are quite a few adult NHS patients on here. Whether you're covered depends on clinical need. If you search around a bit on this board you should find a link to the criteria but I don't know how they apply to accident victims, I'm afraid.

[Larah]

An adult can definately receive free orthadontic treatment from the NHS...I'm 26 and have just started my journey with braces. I believe that eligibility for treatment depends on severuty of the problem. As other people have advised, I would ask your dentist to refer you for a consultation with an orthadontist and see what comes of it. If you don't ask you will never know!

Sorry to hear about your accident and good luck!

[Jen8626]

That's what a lot of NHS dentists may tell you but it's incorrect. There are quite a few adult NHS patients on here. Whether you're covered depends on clinical need. If you search around a bit on this board you should find a link to the criteria but I don't know how they apply to accident victims, I'm afraid.

Sorry I meant to say it does depend on the severity of your case. Like I said, best speak to Dentist to find out more.

[sauerkraut]

Yes, I agree asking the dentist is a good starting point. Just a gentle warning that unfortunately not all dentists seem to be that well informed. When I lived in the UK I was told flat out by my dentist that adults don't get NHS orthodontic treatment. I initially put that down to a one-off instance of poor advice, excused it by thinking it was a long time ago, etc. But there have occasionally been other UK members posting on here in the past couple of years saying they've been told the same thing -- one person, IIRC, hearing it from more than one dentist (i.e. not, "Sorry, your case is not severe enough" but, "Sorry, over-18s aren't covered.").

Spose I'm just saying really that if the dentist says you aren't eligible, listen carefully to his reasons... and dig further if you're not convinced.

[MikeD]

Ok thanks for the advice guys, will have to wait and see what happens as I found out today my jaw is fractured, so nobody is gonna go near me with braces until thats healed up unfortunatly :-( Not the best week! lol.

But yea cheers for the advise, my dentist told me flat out that I was too old, so I'm going to look for a second opinion once I'm healed up :-)

[sauerkraut]

Ouch, poor you! Hope you heal up quickly. If I were you I'd ask at the hospital treating you for the broken jaw what they're going to do about fixing the teeth and bite. Adults getting NHS orthodontic treatment often get referred to hospitals anyway -- although that may be because the severity of their case means they need orthognathic surgery.

Here's a useful link meanwhile, which confirms treatment can be available for adults (but it looks like it might be a bit of a postcode lottery ) and refers you on to the Index of Treatment Need.

http://www.bos.org.uk/orthodonticsandyo ... edonthenhs

Hope you feel better soon.

[peaches]

Sorry to hear about your jaw! When I read your original post I wondered how you managed damage your teeth so badly without breaking your jaw. I broke mine in three places 6 months ago (also from fainting) and it was not a fun recovery. Got through it though and have pretty normal functioning now. Are you getting wired shut and/or having surgery?

There are some good jaw recovery blogs out there, some of my favorites are: shockandjaw, segwaysarebad.blogspot (message board won't let me post the full url).

[sunshine72]

my dentist told me i was too old too (39 in a few weeks) i have been asking him for 6 years!!! finally the ball is rolling and i have seen the NHS orthodontist twice now and it looks like i should be in braces in about 6 months......

tbh, i think my dentist was reluctant to refer me for fear i would be refused treatment by the NHS orthodontist and then he would look bad for referring a worthless case?? just my own opinion tho with the things he was saying....

dont be put off asking him about it again, and even approach any adults you see wearing braces and ask them about it...i did!!

[goldenoldie]

Hi
I have had braces now for 7 months all thanks to the NHS. My dentist referred me to a dental hospital in London for periodontal treatment as my front teeth were becoming mobile. I had 3 years of NHS treatment and now they are doing orthodontal treatment (I am in my late fifties by the way!!!) Go back to your dentist and asked to be referred. Good luck.

[MikeD]

Thanks for the advise everyone! Will defo put the pressure on once I've got the jaw sorted (and start saving just in case lol).

Peaches, nothing so dramatic for me thank god, it's a minor fracture, natural heal just gotta stick to a soft diet. However I did decide after 7 days to risk chewing a piece of chicken about an hour ago and found another one of my teeth is broken, bad times =/ lol. Ahh well, back to the dentist tomorrow for the 7th consecutive day, I'm begining to feel like family lol.