Braces help anyone?

[ashley_gee89]

So I live in the uk. When I was 15 I still had 5 baby teeth, so my dentist took them out and referred me to an ortho because he said my adult teeth would force their way in (not enough room) so I needed a brace. I got bullied enough at school without adding braces so I opt'd not to get them.

Since about age 18 (I'm 23 btw) im really self conscious about my teeth, I don't have my pic took, not even with my kids and it's really getting me down. I have also suffered headaches ever since I can remember which I believe, from research, is because my teeth aren't straight and I have an overbite (top teeth further forward than bottom when teeth are clenched) and these headaches are THE WORST. I also grind my teeth urgh.

Anyway, it started getting me down so much I asked my dentist to refer me to ortho, I went for my appt on Mon. I do not qualify for NHS help and therefore they want £3,700 for braces. I can't afford that, I am likely never going to be able to afford that, even monthly payments of £275 is too much for me.

I went to my gp and told her how much it was getting me down etc and she just said it wasn't anything to do with her, she has no say in dental.

My question is, do I have any other options?

It makes me want to cry thinking about having these teeth forever, I was so happy at the prospect of getting them fixed . Also, without them, I am probably going to lose the bottom left front tooth as that's pushed back and the surrounding teeth are pushing it out. So fed up

 

[ashley_gee89]

Anyone?

 

[MaskedKitteh]

Satalking as I'm trying to sort my teeth out too. I haven't seen ortho yet.

My story is that, when I was 13 I was told that I didn't need braces by an ortho even though my dentist was insistant. I begged and begged my mum but she said no.

Now I', 20, I have a 6mm overbite, a my upper and lower teeth are about 5mm out of symmetry, I also have a deep bite, a small degree of crowding and a snaggle tooth!

I'm looking at grade 4 probably,

Grade 1

Grade 1 is used to describe almost perfect teeth.
Grade 2

Grade 2 is for minor irregularities with the teeth, such as:
slightly protruding upper teeth
slightly irregular teeth
the position of the upper and lower teeth is not entirely symmetrical, such as a mild overbite or underbite, but this does not interfere with the normal function of the teeth
Grade 3

Grade 3 is for more marked irregularities with the teeth that do not usually need treatment for health reasons. For example:
upper front teeth that protrude 4mm less than normal
the upper teeth are slightly out of position which only interferes with normal function to a minor degree (less than 2mm)
irregularly positioned teeth that are 4mm or less out of line
the back teeth do not touch each other when the mouth is closed (this is known as an open bite)
the lower teeth are overlapped by the upper teeth (this is known as a deep bite), but this does not interfere with normal function
Grade 4

Grade 4 is for severe irregularities with the teeth that need treatment for health reasons. For example:
upper front teeth that protrude more than 6mm
the position of the upper and lower teeth is more than 2mm out of their normal location in terms of symmetry and is interfering with normal function
lower front teeth protrude in front of the upper teeth by more than 3.5mm
irregularly positioned teeth that are more than 4mm out of line
deep bite that interferes with normal function
Grade 5

Grade 5 is for severe dental health problems, such as:
when teeth are unable to come through into the mouth due to an obstruction, crowding, additional teeth or any other cause
a large number of missing teeth
upper front teeth that protrude by more than 9mm
the normal development of the skull and/or jaw has been disrupted, e.g. by a cleft lip and palate (a birth defect where there is a split in the roof of the mouth, the top lip or both)

I'm hopeful I might be able to qualify for NHS as I have a LOT of jaw pain and clicking due to the fact they are so unsymetrical.

 

[justagirl5]

Hmmm... that's a tough one. I had a fairly similar situation: my mom didn't get me braces when the ortho told her to at 16 for reasons I'm not really clear on, and I suffered from horrible daily headaches for years because of my teeth. I ended up having to pay for my braces out of pocket (about $6,000), which I did in monthly installments. Did you talk to the ortho about your financial situation and see if there was any way they could extend the terms of the payment plan so you could pay less per month? Have you tried to take up a donation from family? (I actually got braces twice, and the first time I got my mom, dad, and grandma to pool the money - the second time I had to pay myself - but that's a long story of its own). One thing I would suggest in the meantime is to go to a drug store and get a night guard. It's a plastic thing that you wear over your teeth while you're sleeping. It will keep you from grinding your teeth, which will at least help with the headaches (because yes, your teeth are what is causing the headaches - I almost never get headaches now that I've had the braces and now retainers, and it used to be literally every day). Good luck!!

 

[MaskedKitteh]

Thanks for the advice. What happened to me is that my dentist was insistent that I needed braces but my ortho was terrible and ONLY checked how bad my overbite was. Nothing else! I bugged my mum to seek a second opinion but she refused, she thought I just WANTED braces for some reason.

I'll look into getting a mouth guard as I do grind my teeth

 

[Angelbaby_01]

We had insurance when I was a little girl of age 7 and my parents started the whole process. I have too many teeth for my jaw as well. So my parents lost the insurance due to personal issues and they left the whole process. The governement dentists only want to remove the teeth and didn't want to give me braces so I said I will wait until I can pay for everything myself. Now at 24 years, almost 25 I am getting my braces. My hubby is going to help me as the insurance doesn'tcover it. They say it's cosmetic and the law changed about ten years ago. I will be going in December and can't wait. We need to pay a certain amount in advance and then each month we will be paying a small amount for the next two years whilst my braces are still on.

 

[ashley_gee89]

Well she graded every area of my teeth a 2, front was 1, even though my top 2 go in the way, my bottom left is pushed back and the right side of my mouth is far worse than left so god knows how they graded equally :-/

 

[urwithsushil]

Hey Ashley..

 

[ashley_gee89]

Lol.. uh hi ?