Claudia’s Story
After a lifetime of poor dental provision from the NHS, including preventable fillings and tooth loss, Claudia has moved to a private dentist to save her teeth.
“NHS dentistry is in crisis, especially for people with added needs like cleft. The NHS dentists I met never understood what a cleft was.
“Every time I had a check-up it was with a different person, which made it impossible to build a relationship with them, and really stressful having to explain my medical history all over again.
“The worst thing was they didn’t understand how a cleft affects your enamel, and your teeth growth.”
“The worst thing was they didn’t understand how a cleft affects your enamel, and your teeth growth. At one point I had to have five fillings because my enamel had broken away due to my cleft, and an infected tooth removed, all of which could’ve been prevented.”
Claudia, a secondary school teacher, was born with a unilateral cleft lip and palate.
While at university, she said friends who were studying dentistry told her they had very few lectures that included information about cleft during their five years of training.
“And even the tiny bit they were taught was misinformed, not understanding cleft is a lifelong condition and that we’re entitled to cleft care for our whole lives, not just as children. Speaking to them, I understood why the NHS dentists I’d visited didn’t understand my needs.
“It would be so simple to just add more informed lectures at dentistry school – and it would change the lives of so many people with cleft.”
“It would be so simple to just add more informed lectures at dentistry school – and it would change the lives of so many people with cleft.”
Until the age of 21, Claudia was under the care of an NHS cleft team, including an
orthodontist for braces used in her treatment package.
She said this caused added confusion, because dentists would assume her dental treatment was being covered.
“They always said ‘someone else is treating you so we won’t do anything’.
“Orthodontics is about teeth alignment and braces, not hygiene and decay. They check when they’re tightening your braces, and might see you need a filling, but that’s not their job to sort it or do a full check-up. That’s the dentist’s job.”
Claudia moved to private dentistry in 2022, after her NHS cleft treatment package finished when she was 21.
“After I finished the orthodontic treatment, I thought ‘no one’s going to be messing up my teeth anymore. I’m going to have to bite the bullet and pay for a dentist’. After three years, my teeth are actually healthy now – for the first time in my life.
“I’ve friends with cleft who had to pay for private treatment themselves. One of them had to get a job when she was 15, to pay for a dentist.”
“If I was still with an NHS dentist my teeth would be horrendous now. I’m very lucky my
parents can afford to pay for my dental treatment, as I wouldn’t be able to do it without them. Having a cleft means extra treatment and attention that costs a lot of money in the private sector.
“I’ve friends with cleft who had to pay for private treatment themselves. One of them had to get a job when she was 15, to pay for a dentist.
“Her NHS dentist had no understanding of cleft, and she was about to have jaw reconstruction which would move her teeth forward. He didn’t understand what she was facing, so she ended up getting a part-time job while she was studying – to pay for proper dental treatment.”
Claudia said her private dentist has attended courses on cleft dentistry, and is “so much more knowledgeable” than his NHS colleagues, and able to give her attention and help with oral hygiene specific to cleft.
“I don’t understand why this training isn’t done in every dental school. One in 700 people have a cleft, we’re a minority, but a sizeable minority that has increased dental needs.
“I’ve been advocating all my life that proper NHS dental treatment should be available for everyone with cleft. It’s so unfair it’s only available to those who end up having to pay for it.”