Heya from a newbie

[aveggiewriter]

Hiya,

There are some similarities and some differences. The NHS has its uses and so much health care that you would need insurance or else have to pay a fortune for, is free and available fairly quickly, although there are waiting lists for many things. Dentists are an exception to the usually high standard, I think, of the NHS service and not something at which the NHS excels.

Because dentists who work privately earn so much more, they have nearly all gone private now and NHS dentists are like gold dust. The few that there are, you normally find are full and not taking on new patients. The one that opened near me a few weeks ago is unique and a miracle to me. I couldn't have planned it any better if I'd designed my dream dentist.

What will happen is that the dentist will refer me and I will probably go on a waiting list, according to how severe the dentist says my teeth are. I'm not sure if there is a separate list for adult and child patients because the NHS do not pay for braces for adults. Eventually, I should get invited to an appointment through the post when I reach the top of the list and one becomes free. Where it will be depends on how many orthos there are in this area.

It could be only a few weeks. It could be months. Maybe the fact that I'm not a free patient will work in my favour. Maybe the free patients and the children will get priority. I don't know. If I could pay private prices, I'd be able to just book myself in at a private practice offering orthodontics and start with the first consultation. But I need an NHS one so I have to wait for an NHS appointment and the only way to see an NHS ortho is to get an NHS dentist to refer you there.

The good news is that once I'm in the system, when I've had the moulds and stuff done and get my brace date, my adjustments and stuff should be quite regular. As for my wisdom teeth, I won't know until the x-rays show what stage my wisdom teeth are at. Because any extractions I'll have will be healthy teeth extracted for reasons of alignment and not bad ones like my Mum's having and there's currently no sign of problems with my wisdom teeth, the dentist isn't qualified to say.

I agree- it'll all be worth it in the end and braces are better than implants.

Alex

[drgnchsr36]

Heya,

Ahh, I see. It's so different. I guess most would get braces as kids if it's free. I'm wondering if it's a lot less, most of my friends had braces as teenagers. I guess my bite just got worse over time, none of my other dentists thought it was that bad.

Good luck with the whole process!

About wisdom teeth, I wouldn't extract them unless they need to. Usually for crowding purposes? I only had mine done since there were no matching bottom ones (I was lucky and only born with my top wisdom teeth) - plus they were so far back that I wasn't reaching them while brushing .. so I'm glad that they're out.

[aveggiewriter]

Hiya,

Perhaps it is quite different, I don't really know. When I said 'kids', on the NHS you are considered a kid up until you turn 18 and until you turn 19 if you are in full-time education. I'm 19 but not in full-time school so I don't qualify. Most people who have braces on the NHS do so between 11 and 14, sometimes up to 16. That's the most common age to be going through treatment. The good thing is that even if you don't qualify for free care on the NHS, as I don't, the costs you do pay are lower.

My older sister has a private dentist as there are no NHS dentists near her (NHS dentists like doctors, only take patients living within a certain distance). She pays £10.50 per month, just to be a patient at the dentist and that entitles her to just two check-ups a year, including a quick clean. That's over £1000 a year to go just twice for about 20 minutes a time. If there were ever any problems with her teeth- such as a cavity- and she needed treatment, she would have to pay for that separately, in addition to her monthly payments. It's scandalous.

In contrast, my Mum and I don't have to pay anything just to be patients at our dentist. We had initial consultations, which included basic X-rays for £16.50 each. Routine check-ups and cleans, which they recommend you have every six months, cost about the same. Our treatment visits for a filling/extraction and a thorough clean, scale and polish will cost about £30 each. We'd be looking at maybe £75 each as a guess privately, on top of monthly fees. When I have braces, it will be about £2500, spread over 12-18 months. You could double that if I went private.

The dentist I had when I was younger seemed clueless as to the future problems I would have with alignment. He always said 'Wait. Wait and see.' I think he maybe would have intervened when I was in my early teens but then he went private. Now, some children have treatment while they've got their milk teeth, with temporary apparatus, to reduce further problems. Then a few years break to allow their adult teeth to come and more treatment with braces, if needed. If he had intervened earlier, I may not be like this.

I'll take advice regarding my wisdom teeth. Every family member I have has had at least one extracted. We're not a lucky family. If it will be at all helpful, I'll happily have them out, especially if it'll be easier than cleaning them. The biggest thing I need at the stage is patience. You have to be very patient with the NHS. I know I'm incredibly lucky to have an NHS dentist and waiting a few weeks at a time is normal and the best option I've got.

Speak to you soon.

[drgnchsr36]

Heya,

Yeah, it's a bit different here. We pay insurance. Kinda depends what's available to you I guess. For me, none of my dentists growing up thought I had a problem. I had an overbite, but wasn't bad and my teeth were straight. Even in my late 20's, no one mentioned to me that a deep bite was bad. Not until I switched dentists. Funny thing is that the oral surgeon also mentioned that I had a severe deep bite and seemed a bit taken aback that I hadn't fixed it. But, here.. usually insurances pay for cleanings 2x a year and x-rays once a year (I think). Anything else, insurance may help pay..but more than likely you have to pay a bit out of pocket. My wisdom teeth extractions were almost 2k. I had to pay almost $200 out of pocket. Not too bad considering.

Braces on the other hand are only covered up to $1,500 and the rest is out of pocket. Thankfully we have a flexible spending plan that I can take up to 3k out of my paycheck and get reimbursed for it.

I sorta wish I could have solved this as a kid, but braces didn't seem like an option since my teeth are so straight.

Frackin' bite messed it all up! :p

I think getting wisdom teeth is almost a rite of passage ... most people have them taken out when they're around your age. My dentist thought I was quite old to still have them. :p I was stubborn about keeping them though unless there was an issue.

[RunningMad]

[quote="aveggiewriter"]Hiya,

Things do take a while on the NHS. I can't afford to go private though. Even on the NHS, I'm looking at £2000-£2500 for two years in full braces, because I'm too old now to be eligible for free ones.

[RunningMad]

Oh dear I'm new to this forum lark!

I live in the UK and wanted to say that I although I'm 41 my NHS dentist told me that because the dental hospitals had run out of patients under 18 it is free for braces for anyone now? I would have thought this was nationwide unless its because my teeth are all over the place...

Anyway just thought you ought to know and anyone else in the UK who might read this.

I have upper & lower metal ones, if I had wanted any others such as ceramics etc I would have had to pay for them though (so I didn't). Mine are on for 2 years now. I had to pay for 2 extractions (£45 which I thought was quite good) but that's all so far.