Metal Mouth Message Board

So I have taken the plunge and after my dental check up today asked for a dental referral but how do you occupy yourself while you're saving up and waiting. As I believe it going to be at least january before I can afford to start treatment, and quite frankly I can't wait!!
I think about it all the time and I really really am not very good at waiting!

**I meant I have got my orthodontic referrall

same here i'm trying to get on the nhs, it's been 3months since my consultation with a private/nhs surgeon yet i've not even heard a whisper from the nhs yet, it's quite depressing .

I know how you feel. I was meant to have a brace at 12 years old on the NHS. I am now 24, and about 2 years ago I started to seriously look into braces. At first I was looking into Invisalign... I knew I'd have to pay at least £3000 but I just didn't (and still don't) have that kind of cash. I was in contact with an Ortho who would need a deposit of £1400 and I was so keen to go ahead with it, but obviously I had to save up that £1400.

That was 2 years ago, I've managed to save up about £1000 and in the past 2 years the idea has entered and gone out of my head quite a few times, mainly due to my personal life.

I started looking into fixed braces instead a few months ago and took the first step and made my first consultation.

I will probably have to pay a deposit, but the rest can be paid by monthly payments (interest free). The next consultation I have, this practice doesn't require a deposit... you can simply pay monthly straight away. Of course, if I want to I can put down a deposit. I just wish I had found someone offering this kind of option 2 years ago!

Most Orthos offer a monthly payment plan. But I understand the deposit can sometimes be quite 'high' and if you haven't got it you haven't got it and would need to save.

My first consultation was on the 12th of August, I only had to wait a week for that. My next consultation is on the 20th September and my wait for that was 5 weeks from the day I booked it... I am quite impatient and it's only a few weeks away lol. When you're keen to get Ortho treatment started I totally understand why people would feel a bit impatient.

Money was my main reason it's taken me until I am 24 year old to get a brace.

I also know this feeling I got my X-ray back in April and chose my orthodontist in May. I booked in to see the oral surgeon for a consult and that is in two weeks!! I am ready to go now but am scared he is going to say it's another 3 months Or more b4 I can book in for the surgery! I have my fingers crossed but don't want to keep my hopes up. Least if you have a guestimate it is something to count down to! Waiting makes it so much worse

Urgh! I exactly how you feel. I just want to get it over with, actually just getting started.

First I got the referral and I went to see an orthodontist, he gave me a quote for AU$10,000 (exact figure is AU$9,930). I thought that was a bit high so I wanted to get another opinion. My dentist also recommended another orthodontist, it was a 2 month wait to see her. I waited, and lastnight was my appointment. Turns out she's not a fully qualified orthodontist, she's a dentist who sometimes does orthodontics. Which is a real big bummer. She basically charged me the consultation fee to say that my underbite is too complicated for her to deal with.

So I've made 2 more appointments with 2 other orthodontist. One's a week away, and the other is 2 weeks away. Sigh.

Hope everything with you goes well

Thanks all for your replies, I'm glad I'm not the only one who finds the waiting excrutiating!!
I have almost 1k saved by the time I'll have my consulation, but then I think I'm going to have to pay extraction costs on top of the down payment. I also think it may be a good idea to wait til after winter when my winter gas bill is paid off, cuz I'm already short on money and I'm not going to be able to afford the monthly cost and pay the no doubt huge gas bill, uuurgh just so frustrated and depressing.

Will your health insurance cover anything?

I'm in the uk and don't have health insurance

I'm on NHS, I was on the list ever since I was a young girl! Then after a few years I was removed from the list and had to get back on it (at the end) so it took years more. Last February I had a consultation and was told I had to wait at least 12 months before anything happens. By this time I would be almost 18 (then it would no longer be allowed on the NHS). I'd almost given up hope, but LUCKILY, I got a call 2 months before my birthday and my treatment was allowed to start. The wait.. all them years was hard. But I'm happy now. Good luck.

The NHS is SO slow isn't it - good job it's free (kind of)! I first saw the consultant at the hospital May 2009. They then 'ran out' of ortho appointments, so I couldn't see the ortho until October. Then there was a pointless trip to see a nurse to explain how to clean my teeth after braces were fitted. Then another three months until I could meet the surgeon. I my top brace fitted April 2010, bottom brace in June and then finally had it extended to my double teeth this week. And in all these trips to and fro I've discovered that my ortho has so many patients that even though she always says to rebook for 6-8 weeks time, the reality is you'll be lucky to get an appointment in less than 8 weeks.

I try not to get frustrated, because even if I could go and see the ortho every week, that wouldn't necessarily make my teeth move any quicker, but you'd need the patience of a saint not to get annoyed about it at all. I'm sure once the reality of going into surgery gets closer the days will whizz by...!

is it true that no one should have to wait more than 18 weeks to be seen on the nhs once refered by gp or ortho?.

venom wrote:is it true that no one should have to wait more than 18 weeks to be seen on the nhs once refered by gp or ortho?.

I'd like to know this too.

I emailed PALS (Patient Advice and Liaison Service) pals.nhs.uk last year just to ask about a brace on the NHS. The person who answered my email answered further questions I had, but in response to my question about how long one would have to wait for a brace on the NHS, this was their reply:

The current NHS waiting time for dental braces is about 4 years. After your dentist refers you you would have an appointment with the orthodontist for assessment and then go on the waiting list.

I have no idea if this is for ALL patients, or just people under 18.

I wasn't shocked by the answer, because 10 years ago when I was referred for a brace the waiting time was long too, I still hadn't heard anything by the time I was 18, and by then I would have had to pay anyway.

I forgot to add, the person answering my email didn't say whether that was the waiting times in my town, or all over the UK.

Also, I am only repeating what they sent to me. Although I can quite believe the waiting times are long (because they were when I was young), I'm not sure they would make someone wait FOUR years if there is a real need for a brace. I believe the 'rules' have changed quite a bit now. When I was young, there was no clinical need for a brace, I just had crooked teeth. I didn't have a bad overjet or anything.

This is why I am curious to see the answer to venoms post.

Hmmm...I'm doing it privately and I'm frustrated with all the waiting.

First it's waiting for the first consulation, then the wait for a treatment plan (a letter through the mail with a quote), then waiting for the second consulation, another appointment to get records taken (this is the 3rd orthodontist I've been too and he wants his own moulds and xrays etc if I'm going with him), and if you do start to decide to go with him/her there's the wait for the spacers, and that's before you get your braces on.
I decided to go ahead with braces in April, and I still don't have braces on.