HSE braces waiting list

Cherrycola

My daughter has just qualified for braces with the HSE, her jaw/bite is out of line apparently, and also her top incisors are protruding as they grow down, so much so that the 2 baby teeth there still havent fallen out. She is just gone 13

They say the waiting list is 2 years, so my question is should we wait and hope she gets called within two years, or do we go private?
We dont have any health insurance, so it will be out of our own pockets, (fairly empty pockets i might add!)
Is is better for her to have the braces sooner rather than later?
And what are the chances she could still be waiting in 10years time??

flahavaj

Cherrycola wrote: »

My daughter has just qualified for braces with the HSE, her jaw/bite is out of line apparently, and also her top incisors are protruding as they grow down, so much so that the 2 baby teeth there still havent fallen out. She is just gone 13

They say the waiting list is 2 years, so my question is should we wait and hope she gets called within two years, or do we go private?
We dont have any health insurance, so it will be out of our own pockets, (fairly empty pockets i might add!)
Is is better for her to have the braces sooner rather than later?
And what are the chances she could still be waiting in 10years time??

She'll be waiting longer than 2 years, at least if you're in Dublin she will, the wait is at least 3-4 years.

Some cases are seen more quickly, but they're usually the cases that are "urgent" ie where waiting that length of time would do some kind of damage to the teeth, or really severe cases. So if she's in the "non-urgent" category she shouldn't suffer any negative effects from waiting, (apart from the fact that waiting is very annoying obviously!).

Bear in mind if you go privately and you're called for HSE ortho treatment halfway through, the HSE won't take over someone else's treatment and finish it off for free, its one of the other.

I don't think you'll be waiting 10 years mind you, things are bad but but not that bad I hope!

kkth0360

13 is a pretty good age to start orthodontic treatment - it is generally accepted that the best time to start is near the beginning of the pubertal growth "spurt" (the accelaration in growth that occurs during puberty), and this is particularly important for certain types of bite problem which rely on this growth for success.

The timing of this growth spurt varies and is very difficult to predict on an individual basis, but in girls it begins on average between 10 - 12 years of age, and lasts about 2 years.

So, at age 15 (assuming a 2 year waiting list) your daughter is likely to have passed this stage of development meaning that certain types of treatment would be less successful or impossible. In addition to this, you may find that a lot of her peers and classmates will have braces on during the next couple of years, and some children find it easier to cope with treatment at this stage, rather than later on when fewer of her friends will be in the same boat as her.

However, many types of treatment are just as successful when carried out a bit later, and indeed treatment of some specific bite problems are actually better left until 15-16 or even later. I think the best thing for you to do would be to discuss your daughter's case with the orthodontist who assessed her at the HSE, and ask whether they think it would be better for your daughter for her treatment to start straight away, or if it is ok to wait for a couple of years without compromising the outcome of her treatment. Once you have this information you can weigh up the options and decide whether you should consider private treatment for her.

Hope this helps

Cherrycola

kkth0360 wrote: »

13 is a pretty good age to start orthodontic treatment - it is generally accepted that the best time to start is near the beginning of the pubertal growth "spurt" (the accelaration in growth that occurs during puberty), and this is particularly important for certain types of bite problem which rely on this growth for success.

The timing of this growth spurt varies and is very difficult to predict on an individual basis, but in girls it begins on average between 10 - 12 years of age, and lasts about 2 years.

So, at age 15 (assuming a 2 year waiting list) your daughter is likely to have passed this stage of development meaning that certain types of treatment would be less successful or impossible. In addition to this, you may find that a lot of her peers and classmates will have braces on during the next couple of years, and some children find it easier to cope with treatment at this stage, rather than later on when fewer of her friends will be in the same boat as her.

However, many types of treatment are just as successful when carried out a bit later, and indeed treatment of some specific bite problems are actually better left until 15-16 or even later. I think the best thing for you to do would be to discuss your daughter's case with the orthodontist who assessed her at the HSE, and ask whether they think it would be better for your daughter for her treatment to start straight away, or if it is ok to wait for a couple of years without compromising the outcome of her treatment. Once you have this information you can weigh up the options and decide whether you should consider private treatment for her.

Hope this helps

This is exactly my thinking on it, so thanks for that.

We have decided we will probably take her to our own dentist and see what he has to say with regards to all of the points you have raised, and go from there.
I too think it would be easier for her to have braces now, when she is less image conscious and has friends in the same boat. One of the girls even said to her today that she would be getting her braces off when she is only getting hers put on! :eek:

Thanks for your replies, much appreciated.

Dixie Chick

Cherrycola wrote: »

This is exactly my thinking on it, so thanks for that.

We have decided we will probably take her to our own dentist and see what he has to say with regards to all of the points you have raised, and go from there.
I too think it would be easier for her to have braces now, when she is less image conscious and has friends in the same boat. One of the girls even said to her today that she would be getting her braces off when she is only getting hers put on! :eek:

Thanks for your replies, much appreciated.

Just a small note to add that i am currently getting ortho treatment and I pay in installments or per visit so its more manageable for me that way, its possible you could find an ortho with the same practice

MackQ

At what age will the HSE remove a child from their waiting list? I heard 16 but don't know if this is true...

flowertree

If a child is placed on the hse w/l before their 16 birthday they will be seen.By thet i mean even if they are only eventually called over that age they will accept them

digzy

flowertree wrote: »

If a child is placed on the hse w/l before their 16 birthday they will be seen.By thet i mean even if they are only eventually called over that age they will accept them

it's crystal clear now!:D

rorrissey

My brother was on the waiting list for about eight years, by the time they finally rang us he was after getting his braces done privately. I was only on the list about a year and a half, I was just about to get it done privately and then they rang us... I was lucky I guess. :P

Devia

I was put on the waiting list aged 13 and never got called.

chucken1

My daughter was 13 yrs on a list She's 26 now.. OP..Get it done privately. I paid,its worth it.

cython

OP, it might help you in getting an answer to give a rough idea of where you are located, because there seems to be massive variation in the waiting list times, and while posters on here no doubt had to wait a long time, in some places I am quite certain 2 years would be an accurate estimate of the waiting list.

Cherrycola

Sure, we are under the midland health board.

suzerxxx

ive been on the list since primary school, i was seen in 1st year and told i would defo need braces and that i was going on another list and havent herd anything since, im 22 in a few months! thats over 10 years ive been waiting! anyone been called after this time?? and does anyone know if there is a number i can call to find out whats going on???

xxx

face2face

Dont' forget to take this up with any policiticans who call to your door. Access to dental treatment for those who can't afford to pay, is a total disgrace in this country. Gets overlooked because you won't die from it, but having bad teeth or a jaw that is not developing the right way can be very damaging to a kid growing up. It is not a luxury in my book. We are in the middle of orthodontic treatment with our 9 year old son, who has a lot of problems for one mouth - if we had waited to start he would have been looking at major surgery later on. It is a struggle to find the cash, but I would go without almost everything else to pay for it. Also what you can reclaim from revenue has been reduced. So I am waiting in the long grass for them to come knocking and they will get both barrels from me!!

Big_G

Self improvement in any form should not be taxed in any way. That's what I'll be telling them when they call to my door.

gossipgirl10

i was told from about the age of 10 or 11 by the dentist when he used to visit the primary school that i would need braces when i was older so was on the waiting list (western health board) and was seen by an orthodontist there probably around age 14. one of my teeth hadnt appeared so they did xrays and figured that if they pulled one of my teeth that the other tooth would come down in its place.

it did come down in its place but took about two years and since there was a gap there for so long the rest of my teeth moved so my top teeth were now totally off center.

id go back to them maybe once a year so they would see how i was progressing waiting for that tooth to fill the gap and then on one visit they asked me what age i was and i had turned 18 so the orthodontist advised us that if i wanted braces it was for cosmetic reasons and i would have to go private...

if i had known that they would eventually tell me that i would have gone private years before and had it over and done with when all my friends had their braces on.

Im 26 now and have had braces for almost 2 years hoping to get them off soon but i put off getting them for so many years for various reasons when i could have it all over with a long time ago!

so i would be wary of how long you may be on a waiting list and whether or not you would get the treatment you want in the end...

Cherrycola

I just wanted to update this for anyone who might be in the same boat as we were.
We went private and her treatment took about 2.5yrs in total and cost us €2.5k.
She got her braces off when she was 15.
She's 18 now, finished her leaving cert this month, and the only contact we've had from the HSE was a letter last month to see if we wanted to avail of some transfer system for people in the list 4yrs or more, but the closest dentist on the scheme was 1.5hrs drive away! Not ideal if you don't drive and have to attend appointments every 6weeks.

It's a disgrace. I'll be interested to see how long more until she gets called. Obviously we wouldn't be accepting any treatment but I just want to see how long it takes.

I'm starting to save now just in case my other two need braces!!

Anniemac1967

There is a cross border directive that allows you to get the hse pay for orthodontic treatment in the north all you need is a copy of the referral letter and make an appointment in the north with an orthodontist who will fill in forms for the she funding approval

Cherrycola

Anniemac1967 wrote: »

There is a cross border directive that allows you to get the hse pay for orthodontic treatment in the north all you need is a copy of the referral letter and make an appointment in the north with an orthodontist who will fill in forms for the she funding approval

Yes fine for anyone living close to the North, because adjustment appointments can be every 4-6weeks over 2-3yrs, so you'll rack up a few miles doing that distance from anywhere other than border counties.

btkm8unsl0w5r4

Anniemac1967 wrote: »

There is a cross border directive that allows you to get the hse pay for orthodontic treatment in the north all you need is a copy of the referral letter and make an appointment in the north with an orthodontist who will fill in forms for the she funding approval

I also feel that on long treatments like braces Brexit may well scupper those plans.

CherryCola, unfortunatly in these times of hospital trolley crisis, homelessness and massive national debt, straightening teeth is low on the priorities for the HSE.