Hello - braces confusion after consultations

[Jetgirl99]

Hi everyone! I've been reading this board for a little while and have finally been to a couple of consultations with orthodontists. I'm based in the U.K so would be paying privately for my braces.

The two consultations basically confirmed what I thought - I have a class III malocclusion and would be quite a complex case to treat - surgery would clearly fix my bite and braces alone would not.
The first ortho suggested braces and surgery but both privately - way out of my price range - I was hoping in the UK, if you needed surgery, it was pretty much a referral to the NHS but it seems not. They also suggested braces alone, removing two teeth at the bottom and one at the top (I had a decayed tooth removed in 2008) to make a gap to correct my midline but that I would either be left with a gap or could get an implant or a bridge to fix that - to me that just sounded like masking one problem with another and I'd still have a rubbish bite!

The second ortho today was much nicer - got very good vibes from them - they agreed that my bite could only be corrected with surgery due to an underdeveloped upper jaw. They are checking to see if the practice owner can complete a hospital referral for me. However, another option from them, to get a half decent cosmetic appearance would be braces on top only - this doesn't seem very common.

Has anyone been through a similar assessment? It feels like unless I can pay in full for surgery too, I'm stuck with my awful smile and terrible bite! Totally willing to pay for braces privately but with all the research I had done I really thought if your bite and appearance were complex enough, you'd be referred to the NHS. It seems silly to have lovely straight teeth but an awful bite going on behind that!
Feel a little bit like I'm stuck looking the way I do!

[Tyrantblade]

All you can do is hope and wait to hear back about that hospital consultation.

At least in the UK there's some hope for you, in the US the government isn't covering our Health or Dental care, so it's either out of pocket; or hopefully covered by insurance (but sometimes not, or we have to pay a huge deductible first and then insurance helps).

I would hate to be one of the people needing oral surgery since I would be one of those people with bad dental insurance (i currently have none, but only need a cleaning next month and permanent implants which insurance apparently doesn't help with anyways)

[Dureena]

I had a similar experience as a Class iii. I consulted with a few private orthos and they glossed over "to get a perfect result" you'd need surgery, but I had no inclination that it might be available on the NHS.

I was a week away from extractions and had already paid a hefty deposit (they reimbursed me) before I found out I'd be a candidate on the NHS. The ortho that referred me was a mainly NHS practice (for kids), but also took private patients.
The actual referral shouldn't that much of a problem, your dentist can even refer you. Although that might vary between trusts.

[Jetgirl99]

Hi Dureena, thanks for your reply - it's good to hear from someone in the uk process. May I ask, when you were about to begin your treatment, had you paid your deposit for both braces and the surgery? I had been budgeting for at least £4.5k for braces but when they told me an additional £7k on top for surgery, I couldn't help be a little surprised! (I know that doesn't compare with the amounts that seem to be charged in the states!)
Were those similar prices to your treatment? Strangely, the ortho who quoted those prices and promised to call me back have yet to do so!

[Dureena]

I was just going to have braces treatment going down the private route, costs was around £5k. £7k does seem rather cheap for surgery, was that one for one jaw?

[Jetgirl99]

They never specified! It was just 'you need surgery' and 7K was a figure they used based on previous experience. To be fair, both consultations have come back with the same answer but the more detailed examination and explanation actually came from the private orthodontist who will try to refer me! They suggested that it was my top jaw that is the main issue, being underdeveloped and I think a little narrow.
I guess now it's a wait and see, I'm back at my own NHS dentist next month anyway, I can push the referral question with her then although she was quite dismissive when I mentioned it on Monday. Part of me thinks that having had this bite for 34 years, despite it being awful, that it is just out of the realms of possibility to change!

Funny story though - my midline is a whole tooth off - the orthodontist thought she was counting wrong as it's perfectly in line - just with the wrong tooth!