jad n rich

Just saw that post after I had written the other reply.

In qld and vic, cleft pal kids are seen at the cities main childrens hospital, you need a referal from your GP for this. Waiting list apply for all appointments and especially surgery.

The staff are usually led by a team of specialists, about 8 in brisbane, and the students from the university, we have had students do one dental surgery and we are lucky enought to be getting another one done by a specialist himself. The staff are fabulous BUT they are so overworked and overbooked. The Units cover the WHOLE of the state they are based in, we have met people from nortern NSW to Darwin at the qld hospital, travelling from cairns is nothing, no choice. In WA people would probably travel similar distances.

Because of the waiting lists, times and sitting around the hospital for days ( several different appointmets will often come in the same week but not same day) , I wont put an angry sign as I have explained the situation but hell fire its bloody hard if your working and dont want your child off school 4 days in a week. Anyway many people try to combine private treatment with the hospital treatment, eg we are doing audio and surgery for that private, just too long a wait. Dental ops at the hosptial, braces will be intersting, the hospital will do them, but with traffic the drive is often 2 hours each way, his braces will need adjusting each month, think petrol costs, parking costs, time off work costs. Keep repeating thankfully we do not come from cairns each time, making it into a 2 day trip. Speech therapy, dont bank on it, our only assistance was a pack of photocopies, and a log in code for a computer programme, but no actual speech directions or therapist. Because of that he now needs more surgery to control air escape, a therapist could have corrected it.

So you will get help, to ease the situation if its like qld and vic, you will probably need to supplement it with private care. Lots of people do that, we know One nurse, one audio, one doc all with cleft kids and all of them do the same as us.

PM me if you want any further info, but J's only had a small (5 cent size ) cleft in palate, no facial, so our situation is not as complicated as most.

ozzieeagle

This is where I get confused, some people say it's free treatment in the UK, others say it costs ? I've got no idea about the UK system these days, especially when it comes to Children.

Nu-Shooz

If they are under 16 they get free treatment. My daughter just scraped in before she turned 16, so i guess she was lucky. Prices on the NHS are still cheaper than private.

St.Georges Girl

I have heard that said before and I also know of a parent who queried that and was told that an orthodontist doesn't want to take on a job half way, so will tell a parent that the braces their child has are all wrong.

I would get at least 3 opinions eddie. I've never heard of anyone being asked to pay up front before. Which one did you go to?

I think you should get at least some of that work done under Medicare. I'd ask your doctor if I were you.

Nu-Shooz

This is correct. My daughter was half way through her treatment in the UK. The Orthodontist said here that he wouldn't finish another mans work, but to start the whole process again. We said forget it.

rabsody

My 11 year old daughter has had to have braces for the same reason - overbite - and it's costing us $5,500!!! I could not believe the price anyway, we had to pay $2k upfront and $200 per month thereafter for 18 months-ish.

You can claim 20% on all medical expenses for the year once they exceed about $1500 on your tax return though, which is better than nothing (get a statement from medicare to submit too, if you are anything like us you spend a fortune on doc's visits etc).

I think it's highly unusual this mob want all the cash upfront. Shop around for a more flexible practice.

Good luck!

St.Georges Girl

They are just after your money, just like the butcher of a dentist in Woodvale who told my OH he needs all his fillings renewed, then takes out a tooth and leaves him in the waiting room bleeding quite badly. I was horrified when I walked in there and saw the amount of blood, so horrified that I wouldn't pay until I took my OH to a hospital. He didn't need his fillings re done either.

JenniGee

Not any more Nu-Shooz

My daughter is 12 & we have to pay. It depends on whether the orthodontist assesses the child as having a medical need. If the child has difficulty eating or speaking, they get free treatment, if it's just goofy/wonky teeth, then they class it as cosmetic & we have to pay

Not funny

PaulandNic

Yeah dental work here is terrible! ... I was quoted similar for 3 root canal's and a few fillings! ... and that was thru a friend and 'mates rates' ...

I had half the work done to a tune of $2.500 ... the rest can wait till I go back to the UK! ... won't be long at this rate!

God bless the NHS is all I can say! ...

St.Georges Girl

Why won't it be long Paul? What's wrong?

eddie007

If you read my post accurately I said what if 'they' get run over by a bus, not 'he' ... clearly meaning the dentist...

As for the car quip, anyone who reads anything I write here knows that I drive a 1982 toyota corrolla, This was my 'new' car when we got here 7 months ago... we are paying rent here as well as a mortgage in the uk, with 4 children to feed and clothe.. having to pay for child care and as for new clothes... gave those up 11 years ago... as did my husband.

Second job? yep okay I could do that, but I work a 70+ hour week at my one job with 8+ hours travel on top of that... perhaps you could suggest when I might fit that in?

Oh, and as for studying for 6 years.... and having several jobs... well I used to live in a shoe box in middle o't road too.

You say that you "don't mean to offend", ... well obviously you are blessed with an exceptional arrogance and unusual talent if you can write what you did and put your hand on your heart and honestly say you do not 'mean' to offend..

Ozzidoc

I hear what you are saying, however arrogance is certainly not a word that has EVER been used to describe me, my personality or my behaviour. I would suggest that I am being a poor communicator if that is how you are interpreting my posts.

And I'm sorry to hear how tough your situation is.

jad n rich

So basically the NHS still covers childrens braces unless you want it done for cosmetic/vanity reasons. So pretty much how it always was then.

earlneath

Definitely seem to be lots of dishonest dentists around. As with any other expensive purchase, get a few quotes / second opinion. Anyone who says you must do it now and you must pay up front is definitely dodgy. My wife and I went to a dentist recently who was definitely on the make, she asked me to wait outside and then proceeded to do 4 x-rays of my wife's front teeth for no apparent reason, recommending getting implants instead of repairing or replacing a perfectly good crown at the back that has lasted 20 years, and she was making rather curious small talk - what job does your husband do, you moved here recently - did you buy or are you renting? We'll be going somewhere else to check out her diagnosis.

Then again we did have a terrible experience in the UK with a dentist there.

It seems that, strangely enough, not everyone who goes into dentistry does it because they want to help people!

moonpig

The situation in the UK is firstly if you are lucky enough to belong to a NHS dental practise Congratulations. We're really lucky because we do. I think that we are all 2 out of a handful left. If you miss an appointment or haven't been to the dentist for a visit within a specified time they take you off the list and will only only accept you back to the practise as a private patient.

As regards braces my daughter will certainly need one in the future. The dentist has guidelines to follow, if you fall within that criteria (must be extreme and not just cosmetic) you get a referral to the specialist. You get that within a few months, once the head honcho decides that you are worthy you go onto another list.

This is the best part - you cannot be referred as a candidate until you have all your adult teeth and no baby teeth (wisdom teeth excluded from this obviously), average age 14. Once you get on the visiting list after being accepted you will be waiting approximately THREE YEARS! If you reach the age of 16 whilst on the list you will automatically be removed as too old and no longer eligible for free treatment. Brilliant isn't, what a wonderful country we live in.

I used to look at people with bad or crooked teeth and think why didn't they ever get a brace when the treatment was there for them. In the UK I guess good. straight teeth will be a thing of the past and only for the affluent.

My daughter will definately be getting a brace in the future, I'll just have to scrape the money together and save for the next few years. I don't think that it's an option not to. A good smile is everything.