Visit to NHS Orthodontist

[Teresa]

T had an appointment today at the local Hospital Orthodontist dept, have been waiting for 6 month's for this appointment,

 

anyway i dropped her off and she went in by herself which is what she wanted, she wore braces for three years, they

 

were taken off 14 months ago. On her last visit to the dentist she said that her teeth were hurting her and that they have

 

moved, dentist had a look and said she has wisdom teeth coming through, so T asked if she could be refrered back to the

 

orthodontist, Dentist said no problem as the Hospital Orthodontist said they would be happy to see her again. Not the

 

case, she didn't see the guy that treated her the first time, she saw a women and was told that they can't treat her

 

because of her age (19) and that she would write a letter back to her Dentist for them to fit a retainer, what good is that

 

going do it's not going to pull her teeth back straight, why send her an appointment in the first place.

 

Teresa

 

sorry for the rant

[Mumble]

One thing I've learnt with hospital department type people is that when they say 'we'll be happy to see you again', they mean a general 'we' rather than the specific doctor/consultant/whatever you saw. Apparently this is standard practise, but I've learnt that you can ask to see a named person if you have seen them before, although it does sometimes mean waiting longer.

 

I don't know about the orthodontics side, I never had a brace as I've been pretty lucky with my teeth, but I did have all my wisdom teeth out when I was 19 (Christmas eve, emergency appointment at the dentist when the bottom ones decided to grow sideways through my cheeks - ouch ). I haven't missed them and it gave enough room in my mouth so the other teeth didn't go wonky which may have happened otherwise, although I was a bit miffed that the tooth fairly doesn't come when you're old . Would this be an option for your daughter?

[NobbyNobbs]

i'm surprised they left them in her, my dentist seems to think his main job is to try and convince me i need my wisdom teeth out (mine do the same as mumbles, but so far have eventually dropped into place and straightened out... means months of very nasty ulcers though!). removal of wisdom teeth because they're causing other teeth to move is pretty common i think so this might be what your dentist will come back with

[chris54]

The removal of wisdom teeth is far less routine than it use to be and will now only be done if it is really essential.

At 19 she would no longer be treated Free as a child but would have to pay NHS charges.(She may be entitled to free NHS care due to circumstances)

 

At 19 she will still be growing so it may be a bit premature to remove teeth before her jaw is fully adult size.(You cant put them back!)

[Teresa]

Got to the bottom of thing's at last, her Dentist shouldn't have referred her in the first place because of her age i am now being told by the hospital PAL. So you were right Chris54, now we are waiting for the dentist to get back to us but don't hold out much hope of this, I think we will look for new Dentist. The appointment was a waste of NHS money and time.

 

Teresa

[Kazzen161]

There should be a dentist that deals with adults with special needs - probably based in a hospital.

[justine1]

Oh this is awful!Like mumble I had my wisdom teeth out all at once(age 17),it is the most painful experience of my life(and I have give birth naturally to four boys!!!) however the pain I had for two months leading up to the removal was very excrutiating.My face hurt all day everyday and even the strongest pain medication did not work.Originally my GP thought it was sinusitus but then referred me on.

 

I really hope she gets the help she needs.I am sure even if you do pay it may be at a reduced fee,hopefully!

[chris54]

I am sure even if you do pay it may be at a reduced fee,hopefully!

If you do have to pay, assuming you use an NHS dentist, there is a set scale of fees.

 

There are dentists in all area that treat people with additional needs. (Not just special needs), but these may not be the best chose. I think you just need a dentist who is under standing.

 

The dentist we use has a number of practices which have both a private and NHS section.The partners run the private part with salaried dentist who do the NHS work. We have all found the dentists (NHS) at this practice very good.

 

About 14 years ago I had 3 impacted wisdom teeth removed along with two others, under general anaesthetic. It was at a private clinic but paid for by NHS. It was a production line, In the chair knocked out, wake up, into the recovery room and the off home. All withing 3 hours.

For those who dont know, impacted wisdom teeth are those that never come through, no room. It only took 25years to become a problem.The forth one was apparently, too impacted to remove!!!

Shortly after that they stopped removing impacted wisdom teeth routinely.

Cant say it was that painful, but then I seem to have a high pain threshold.

[justine1]

I was referring to the cost of private treatment.My brother is registered disabled and gets free treatment on NHS.However he has had three bad experiences and prefers to go private and pay for treatment,but he gets to pay by monthly instalments(depending on what needs to be done),he is employed though(and gets high rate DLA) so I suppose they take it into account.

[chris54]

Its not that unusual to be able to pay for private treatment by instalment, One dentist we use before it went over to only private, offed a budget prepayment scheme. You payed a fixed amount each month to cover the cost of any future treatment, a sort of insurance.