Tell your MP to #FixIt4Free
We are urging you to write to your MP and ask them to support free dental repairs to teeth damaged by seizures. Join our campaign!
What can I do?
The cost of dental treatment for people who have damaged their teeth during a seizure can be very high. Our data backs this up: 58 per cent of respondents to our recent survey said they have been unable to afford dental repairs after a seizure.
This is simply unfair. People should not be punished for injuries sustained due to their medical condition.
We believe that people with epilepsy who have damaged their teeth due to seizures should not have to pay large sums of money for repairs. They have a disability, and we believe they should have this treatment for free. No costs, no rising fees. Just free treatment for damage caused by a medical condition.
We want to push this issue up the political agenda. One powerful way to do this is by writing to your MP and encouraging them to support our FixIt4Free campaign, which calls for free treatment for dental repairs after a seizure. You can see a template email below.
If you are willing to include your own experience with dental harm as a result of a seizure you can put this in the paragraph where it says [INSERT YOUR OWN EXPERIENCE HERE].
You can find your local Member of Parliament and their contact information here: members.parliament.uk/FindYourMP
Do let us know on campaigns@epilepsysociety.org.uk if you hear back from your MP, and we can provide additional support and information. And don't forget to sign our petition!
Template Email
Dear [MP NAME],
I am emailing to ask you to support the Epilepsy Society's FixIt4Free campaign, which is calling for free dental repairs for teeth damaged by seizures.
I live in [INSERT ADDRESS] in your constituency and have epilepsy.
58 per cent of people with epilepsy who responded to a recent survey have faced dental repair costs they could not afford. And this is not a niche issue. 69 per cent of people with epilepsy have broken or chipped their teeth, while almost a third have lost a tooth. We all know that NHS dental treatment can be expensive, but for people with epilepsy there is a particularly unique problem: the need for repeated and costly treatment due to teeth damaged during a seizure.
[INSERT YOUR OWN EXPERIENCE ABOUT EPILEPSY AND DENTAL HARM HERE]
e.g. I have had epilepsy for X years and currently take X medication. Over the years I have broken teeth/chipped teeth/lost teeth/damaged my jaw (delete as appropriate). It has made me feel X. I have spent X of money on repairing my teeth/I cannot afford to fix my teeth (delete as appropriate).
We believe that epilepsy is the only medical diagnosis where an individual can repeatedly fall over and suffer damage to teeth as a direct result of their condition. Yet, currently in all four nations of the UK, people have to pay for restorative treatment. This can be extremely costly. While some may qualify for the NHS Low Income Scheme, four-fifths of people with epilepsy do not.
And there is no clear end point to this treatment. A person with epilepsy could pay thousands of pounds to repair their teeth, only to have a seizure and break their teeth again the very next day.
The Epilepsy Society's FixIt4Free campaign is calling for the NHS to provide free dental repairs to teeth damaged by seizures. You can read more here.
I'm backing this campaign and ask for your support as my local MP.
You can do this by tabling a Parliamentary Question or writing to the Department of Health and Social Care in support of a medical exemption from dental repairs needed due to epileptic seizures.
Please do let me know if this is of interest and I can provide you with further information.
Yours sincerely,
[NAME]
[ADDRESS]
[PHONE NUMBER OR EMAIL]
Alternatively, you can download a copy here. Remember to personalise it!
What is FixIt4Free?
Simply put: we are calling for free treatment for dental repairs after seizures.
Having heard many stories over the years from our supporters about the prohibitive cost of dental repair, we decided something needed to be done. While the NHS does have some payment exemptions for dental treatment – notably for pregnant women and under 18s in England/under 26s in Scotland – there are currently no medical exemptions. Programmes such as the NHS Low Income Scheme cover costs for some people, although only the very lowest earners. 82 per cent of our survey respondents are not eligible for this scheme.
We have already been in discussions with the team of the Chief Dental Officer for England, representatives from the Department of Health and Social Care, MPs and leading members of the Scottish Parliament. For this campaign to be successful we need to lobby senior politicians and decision-makers, while also building a grassroots movement.
We want you to join us! Write to your MP, share our infographic on social media, read our personal stories and perhaps consider sending us your own thoughts on free dental treatment.
You can reach out on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or on campaigns@epilepsysociety.org.uk