chickenlover Posted March 7, 2008 Share Posted March 7, 2008 ok, so after having a really bad month i havent been on for a while, but im back and im here to moan!!! I took my son for his 6 month check at the ortodontist today to be told that they had ran out of funds and he would either have to be reffered to a new ortodontist or i would have to pay £1800 for him to have his braces! Being a mum of four and struggling day in and day out to have enough money to feed,cloth ect them there is noo way we can afford to pay that much. the ortodontist explain to me that if i do get him reffered we have to start at the bottom of the new ortodontists list and that could mean a 3/4 year wait for his braces and seeing as my son is 13 by then he would be 16 and would not qualify for free nhs treatment, im soo fuming that we have wasted the last 2 and a half years going to see this ortodontist for absolutly nothing. Its my sone that is getting the brunt of this massive mess up by the goverment, and the ortodontist should have sent a letter out to everyone telling us they had run out of funds instead of leaving it until our next visit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chocchick Posted March 7, 2008 Share Posted March 7, 2008 What stage is his treatment at? Is there someone you can raise this with like local papers or MP? It sounds like you can't take either option. Is there some kind of cheap dental care plan that could cover it? I saw orthodentists from about 11 years old until my final discharge while I was at university! I never paid anything (maybe as I was in full time education?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clucky1 Posted March 7, 2008 Share Posted March 7, 2008 I have experienced a similar situation before. My daughter was initially told that she would need orthodentic work. We were quoted (even with the NHS discount) an extortianate amount. I wasn't sure anyway if she needed the work done - I just had these nagging doubts for some reason (not that I think dentists are miney-grabbers...). Anyway I got a second oppinion from a different unnconnected dentist and it turns out I was right. Not sure at what stage you are at but just bare this in mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted March 7, 2008 Share Posted March 7, 2008 Crikey.....that is dreadful for him. I don't see how they can abandon a patient in the middle of a course of treatment. I'd make a huge fuss. It makes any treatment the poor lad has already had a complete waste of money.....how can that be justified? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillfamily Posted March 7, 2008 Share Posted March 7, 2008 In our area we knew there was a long waiting list for NHS treatment so when my son was in Yr6 (5 years ago) we had him referred. We had an initial consultation and we were advised what treatment he needed (quite lengthy and complicated) and how long the waiting list was (2-3 years). After 2 years, having heard nothing since, I contacted the orthodontist to find out how far up the list we were. Because of Gov cutbacks and changes to funding for Ortho treatment the waiting time had increased and it would be at least another 2 years before he would be anywhere near the top of the list, meaning lots of appointments during his last GCSE year something which I had been trying to avoid by having an early referral. I was also told that under the new Gov guidelines there was a chance that when DS finally got to the top of the list the treatment he needed may no longer be able to be done on the NHS as only the very very very most serious of cases would be eligible. I asked if there were any other options and was told I could either wait and hope or pay for private treatment. So,..........one very large bank loan later, my DS has lovely straight teeth. Not the option I wanted but he could still be waiting now, 5 years after he was first referred. I have to say this isn't the options the Orthos want either...........ours was very unimpressed with the new Gov funding and guidleines Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubereglu Posted March 7, 2008 Share Posted March 7, 2008 I shall try and enlighten you on why this happens-as my dentist had to explain a few years back when he wanted to fit me with a plate. Basically they have to tell the government roughly how many patients they treated the year before for orthodontic work and whether they would still treat that many patients the next year. However them being clever don't realise that each year is likely to be different. So by the time he wanted to fit it they had run out of funds and had to wait til the next financial year...hence I've only recently have had dental work and am 15, (it doesn't help that I had rather stubborn teeth that took a while to come out!) I however had to be placed near the top of the waiting list as my front teeth on both upper and lower parts of my mouth are extremely crowded as my mouth is too small. I also have an overbite making the whole problem a lot worse and will later need, (once my bottom jaw is sorted out train tracks). All in all the whole system is not clever. Luckily I have a very good dentist who also does orthodontic work which I receive on the NHS-but this is only because I was a member of his old practice, as new patients have to go private-this would cost a fortune. Hey, ho, that's my story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Posted March 8, 2008 Share Posted March 8, 2008 Cleo in on the NHS waiting list for the second half of her treatment at the moment. We were told it works on a points system, & only the cases with the highest points will get free NHS treatment. Cleo qualifies as her teeth are the most crowded my Orthodontist has ever had to deal with We were told she would begin treatment by January,but we haven't heard anything as yet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jules. Posted March 8, 2008 Share Posted March 8, 2008 I was treated by a specialist in Liverpool 25 years ago. I was the second worst case of overcrowding he had seen in his career ( & he was not long off retirement). My treatment was all free, but that was then, this is now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted March 8, 2008 Share Posted March 8, 2008 If I were you I would ring up your PCT. Ask what the policy as regards provision of NHS orthodontic treatment on the NHS is. If you can find out from your orthodontist what your son's IOTN (index of treatment need) is in advance it might be handy as you may find that there is a limit (the PCT may provide ortho treatment for IOTN's of above 3.5 or something like that). If your son is entitled to ortho treatment by virtue of his need (IOTN above the PCT provision criterion) then they may be able to find you an orthodontist to carry out his treatment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickenlover Posted March 8, 2008 Author Share Posted March 8, 2008 this all really just desgusts me, that we cant get the treatment our children need, i am going to write to our local mp and probally the paper too, i cant express how annoyed i am that the last 2 1/2 years on the ortodontists list has been compleatly thrown out of the window. i am going to make the biggest and loudest fuss i can Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clucky1 Posted March 8, 2008 Share Posted March 8, 2008 YOU go girl ! Best of luck. Local papers are often good with this sort of thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickencam Posted March 10, 2008 Share Posted March 10, 2008 This is interesting because my son has been told that he will need work doing in the next couple of years and when we went for his most recent appointment the orthodondist said that she would put him on the waiting list now even though he still has 3 baby teeth to lose. He is nearly 12 and in yr7 so we will have to wait and see. YD has very overcrowded teeth and she still has a lot of baby teeth so I am hoping that she will get an early referral, she is 9 and in yr4 I think it is so wrong that dental work is no longer done through the NHS, it has a bearing on other medical conditions and the fact that it is nearly impossible to even get children seen on an NHS basis now is even worse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...