NHS or private?

Message

#1 Post by **themagician** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 3:39 am

Hi everyone!

I am considering ortho. surgey but have not yet decided whether to go ahead or not.

However, im just wondering, because no one has mentioned price to me yet, how to find out whether youre eligible to have the surgery done on the nhs or not?

#2 Post by **crazybeautiful** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 5:40 am

It's usually a case of how bad your condition is and how it effects the function of your bite. If you only have a minor underbite/overjet, etc, then it will be classed as being cosmetic and you won't be eligible. And indeed if you want it just for cosmetic reasons then you would probably have to go private.

The best thing to do it to just get an appointment with an NHS practitioner and see what they think anyway. Or ask your dentist/ortho their opinions

#3 Post by **sauerkraut** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 6:41 am

I may be out of date with this, but when I first asked about orthodontics in the UK some years ago the automatic reply seemed to be that for adults absolutely nothing was ever covered under the NHS. I have since discovered that that is not the case, and as CrazyBeautiful says: if there is sufficient clinical need then the NHS should pick up the tab. I did once see (online; possibly on this forum?) a factsheet setting out some of the criteria they use to determine the levels of clinical need. Sorry, I can't for the life of me remember exactly where I saw it. Anyway, maybe UK dentists are better informed nowadays. But if you should happen to get the feeling (like I did) that you're being fobbed off with a blanket response, then it might be worth your while to probe further!

#4 Post by **bubsy08** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 8:26 am

I asked my nhs dentist to refer me to the ortho at the hospital, I had my appointment last week and they said I need surgery and made and appointment for me to see another ortho and a surgeon both NHS

#5 Post by **themagician** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 12:53 pm

thank you for your help everyone!

my problem is very slight and i am a little embarrassed to admit i would be doing it purely for cosmetic reasons! I havce an overjet of 6mm and am currently wearing braces, but it was my dentist, not ortho, who encouraged me to consider surgery, as it would apparently make my face more symmetrical and just better all round!But my profile has bothered me for a very long time.

like sauerkraut i felt i was just being given blanket responses because my condition is not severe, hence why i turned to you people who have first hand experience!

bubsy08,i think i will do what you did and see if i too can be referred.

does anyone know roughly how much these kind of operations cost privately? Just out of sheer interest! Im guessing since its major surgery quite a lot.

Thanks for all your help again!

#6 Post by **jayye** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 4:16 pm

hi, I dont have any answers for you, but just to say Im similar to you, mine is mainly for cosmetic purposes although my previous experience with braces when i was younger was apparently done wrong so I may be eligible for nhs, not sure yet Im just starting out in all this.
Good luck

#7 Post by **Kerry** » Wed Mar 18, 2009 8:55 am

they consider people who have an overjet over a certain mm, mine wasnt as noticable before surgery but its now about 8mm and i qualify for surgery on the nhs