Scots May Be Forced To Pay For Orthodontic Treatment

Thu, 03 Jan 2008

Thousands of dental patients in Scotland could lose out on free orthodontic treatment following the news that the number of NHS services are set to be cut.

People suffering with ‘borderline' orthodontic problems could be ineligible for help, with a high possibility of only those with the most severe cases being eligible for government-financed treatment .

A consultation process is due to take place in Scotland to discuss ‘prioritisation of need', which may reduce funding and drastically cut services, according to the British Orthodontic Society.

Last year, the cost of providing orthodontic treatment in the Scottish NHS general dental service was £12.1 million, with just under 15,000 patients fitted with at least one fixed brace or another mouth device.

Scotland already suffers from one of the worst dental health records in Western Europe, a record which would only worsen if cuts in services are adopted.

Speaking to the Sunday Herald, Robbie Lawson, Scottish representative of the British Orthodontic Society Robbie Lawson said: "It is in the pipeline that funding for orthodontic care will be drastically cut back. We can guess the outcome will be that a significant number who currently qualify for free care will not."

"The index of need will go from one to five, where one is low need and five is high need. We guess that a three or perhaps four will be considered borderline. This would also apply to post-restorative or dental accident orthodontic treatment ."

Lawson added: "One of the problems with this is that the perception of need is often with the child . Some children with very misaligned or protruding teeth may not be bothered, while other children with what might be termed a low need may be very self-conscious about their teeth ."

"Research shows that children can be bullied very badly about their appearance and teeth. It is psycho-social reasons that drive the need for orthodontic care ."

The BOS representative concluded that if plans to drastically reduce funding are given the go-ahead, it will greatly affect "Scotland's poor dental record".
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