Hi-
I'm moving with my family to London in May. My youngest daughter needs braces and will have to have them put on and tended to after we leave. Should I be scared? She needs them relatively soon for a serious overbite that needs to be corrected whilst she's still growing. If dentists are so scarce, are orthodontists too? Does anyone know how much a private orthodontist would cost? Does NHS even cover braces if you're lucky enough to get on in a timely manner? I'm really starting to worry because she really needs this fixed!
When we moved to the UK, my daughter was one year into her second phase of orthodontic work. Not to scare you, but finding an orthodontist, private or NHS, was a nightmare. Every ortho I called explaining the situation to told me that they had a waiting time between six months and one year, even for private care which I was willing to pay for. Finally after speaking to about 20 different orthodontist offices, I found one who could see her in three weeks and was willing to take her on halfway through her work when I said I was willing to pay privately. Otherwise all of the orthodontist wanted her dentist to send in a referral and then we'd have to wait the six months to one year which we couldn't do since she already had the hardware in. NHS will sometimes cover orthodontic work it's medically necessary and not just an aesthetic/cosmetic thing. My daughter's mouth and teeth are very messed up and fortunately the NHS is paying for her treatment. How much do I love that? In the states even with good dental insurance we were still going to have to pay $2500 out of pocket!
My advice is to just keep calling around once you get here. And if you can, pay privately (the charges are nowhere near what they'd cost in the US!) because you might have better luck finding an orthodontist to take on your daughter sooner. And you might even find that the ortho will put the tab on the NHS like I found out.
The best of luck to you! I was reduced to tears through this process because my daughter's braces were neglected for a few months while I tried to find her an orthodontist here in the UK. I thought for sure by the time she got in with one that her teeth were going to be ruined from not have any adjustments for a few months. Fortunately, everything was okay.
