NHS Adult Orthodontic treatment UK - Criteria

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#1 Post by **Duffle** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 5:22 am

Lucy,

How frustrating!! According to Guy's terms and conditions I would have qualified for treatment on the NHS and Guy's is far closer to my home than my ortho is, in fact I have change at london Bridge station to get to my orthos!!! Nevermind.

Tania

#2 Post by **franco** » Sun Jul 09, 2006 7:21 am

Hi Lucy, I had read your diary before I made my post last night. That's the worst of being referred to the wrong place or not having the referral made; it takes months to find out what's going on.

The above post was very helpful. That is the first time I have ever tried to measure my overbite and it is definately over 6mm. I would estimated it at around 8 or 9mm. (over 9mm is listed as being in great need of treatment on the Guy's website.)

Well, now I know I do have a bad overbite. Hopefully, someone will agree to stick some metal in my gob. Nice photos by the way, only I couldn't zoom into them.

Oh no. I meant to post this in the other thread. Silly me

Sun Jul 09, 2006 8:03 am

Im glad im under 18!

#4 Post by **babymetalmouth** » Sun Jul 09, 2006 9:06 am

lol me too, its a pain in the bottom for adults, If anyone here is from england and has kids with wonkey teeth GET THEM IN EARLY!!! They may hate it at first but they will thank you in the end,

#5 Post by **franco** » Sun Jul 09, 2006 12:02 pm

Exactly, it just wasn't the done thing in inner London when I was a kid. I remember a girl mentioning my teeth to me when I was about 9, but since no other kids ever had braces I never thought about it again. It probably would have led to bullying. I think even if they were offered to me back then I would have refused them.

#6 Post by **babymetalmouth** » Sun Jul 09, 2006 3:22 pm

My brother who is now 18, he waas strongly recommeded to have braces a long time ago and he didnt becuase he had enough bullying becuase of dislexia, now he wishes he had them becuase his teeth have got worse.. he keeps saying things to me about mine, but i think its becuae he knows my smile is gonna be amazing and he passed the opertunity.

I understand when someone sais about bullying I suppose, but then If it was offered on a plate like he had it, He must have been mad not to, Id take all the laughs, and names, becuase in the end its worth it!!

I know its harder for people in london becuase theres so many people there!!

I hope it all works out and Im going to keep my fingers crossed!

#7 Post by **franco** » Sun Jul 09, 2006 3:35 pm

Tell him to get them done. I'm 28 and I'm determined to get them done.

#8 Post by **babymetalmouth** » Sun Jul 09, 2006 3:55 pm

Lol i did!! His reaction was, I dont carem id rather have wonkey teeth than have train tracks....

Sometimes I swear my mother chnged us around when we were young, so I was the youngest... I mean train tracks?!!?

They dont even look like train tracks?!?! Well not any I have seen anyways....

#9 Post by **KriegeR** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 5:16 am

When I went for my initial consultation, I was asked all sorts of questions about my bite, with some of the following being included:

Why do you want your bite corrected?
What do you perceive are the consequences of not having treatment?
Does your bite cause functional problems, or are you just concerned with how it looks?
Does your condition cause any pain or discomfort?

These questions and many of the others that they asked seemed to be direct 'stabs' at getting me to slip up and say something that would allow them to turn their backs on my condition and say, "Well we perceive that you are only wanting this for cosmetic reasons so therefore you have to pay!" At the end of the day I aren't having this done for cosmetic purposes. I'm having it done because I can't bite together, and because my teeth at the back are starting to wear and this will just get worse without surgery.

I can see why the NHS do this to be honest, but it's a bit draconian. I'm sure there will be people out there who will try to 'con' their way into an NHS procedure, but it's a bit unfair on those like me who are in genuine need of orthognathic surgery.

#10 Post by **KriegeR** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 3:06 pm

I kinda expected plenty of questions to be honest, but when you are lisping away at them through a huge gap in your teeth, cosmetic might come into play, but functional is surely the more obvious one!

My first consultation after being referred by my dentist was about an hour and a half long, and it was a little bit like a combination of a physical examination, and an interrogation session. My consultant, surgeon, 2 orthodontists, and a group of 5 medical students were all in the room. I was asked if I minded the medical students being there, but it didn't really bother me to be honest. I'm all for more doctors and nurses so I thought they might as well use me as a case study.

The first part was a physical examination, obviously to assess exactly how severe the problem was. There was a lot of, "Bite together please", and "Open a little wider" whilst assessments were going on.

Then came the interrogation session. It wasn't as bad as that might sound, but there were a LOT of questions asked regarding my view of the problem, what I thought about it, why I wanted it correcting and other similar questions.

After this the consultants retired to a small room next door, and returned about 5 minutes later to announce that they were going to perform my correction on the NHS, as they deemed it severe as opposed to cosmetic. I knew exactly what they were assessing to it was obviously a relief when they announced this.

#11 Post by **Dark_angel** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 3:21 pm

To tell the truth i had the questions like what do you feel your problem is, is your bite a problem etc and i was only around 16 when i was assesed and would qualify for NHS treatment whatever.

Im so glad i managed to get my treatment all sorted out before i hit 18 as i couldnt imagine having to pay thousands for it.

#12 Post by **franco** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 1:18 pm

This is all very useful guys because I'll know what to say when I am eventually seen. I wonder what they'd think if I complained that my teeth cannot meet at the front. Is that such a strange request - that I would like to be able to put my upper and lower front teeth together which I cannot physically do right now?

Anyway, further to my previous post about not getting braces when I was a kid. I was just telling my mum I plan to get braces soon and she really surprised me by telling me a dentist recommended it to her when I was a kid and she declined. Apparently, she thought it "was not necessary". Crying over spilt milk and all that, but I had no idea she ever even thought about braces for me, let alone refused them.

Tue Jul 11, 2006 1:27 pm

I had to be on the waiting list for 3 YEARS. After 3 years i went to my dentist and asked him WHEN i would be getting my braces. He wrote another referral letter and MONTHS after, I got an appointment at the orthodontists for impressions etc. Another 3 months later I got my braces. Apparently I had been on the waiting list so long they had 'forgotten' about me!

#14 Post by **Mart** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 6:50 pm

ditto, my ortho had cancelled an appointment to discuss my problem at the beginning and promised to organise another, after weeks of nothing i called back to find out i'd been forgotten. everything since has been fine.