Wisdom teeth extraction

[blas]

I'm almost 25 and I still have all four of mine. I didn't have all four of them until I was about 20, I was a late bloomer as far as teeth went. I didn't get my first baby tooth until I was nearly a year old (by that time, most babies have several teeth) and I didn't lose my last baby tooth until I was a teenager.

Our dental insurance covers visits and cleanings completely (they may have snuck in a copay with our new insurance, as I saw they snuck in a copay for eye doc visits which used to be free), but everything else is covered very poorly.

The dentist can find nothing wrong with my wisdom teeth, they are all straight and there's plenty of room for them, but this dental office is obsessed with having them pulled just because you don't "need" them, I guess is their theory.

Either way, it'll be $300 out of my pocket (as it is an oral surgery) that has to be paid in full at the time of the surgery (it may be more, like I said, our benefits stayed about the same but the prices went up), and I really don't want to tap into PTO for something like that.

I'm keeping them until the dentist can find a truly valid reason to get rid of them. For now, they are just trying to scare me by saying I should have them out before 30, or it will be harder and more painful to extract them. They've even tried to sell me by saying since I have very straight teeth with nice long roots (save for my two gap teeth in front on bottom, they are slightly crooked), it'd be "easy as pie" to take them out.

[Sapphire Silk]

I'm keeping them until the dentist can find a truly valid reason to get rid of them. For now, they are just trying to scare me by saying I should have them out before 30, or it will be harder and more painful to extract them. They've even tried to sell me by saying since I have very straight teeth with nice long roots (save for my two gap teeth in front on bottom, they are slightly crooked), it'd be "easy as pie" to take them out.

I think that's very sensible. There is NO reason to expose yourself to the risks of medication interactions, dry socket, infection, or normal post op pain if there is nothing at all wrong with your wisdom teeth.

With many people the wisdom teeth either become impacted (preventing them from erupting and putting pressure on other teeth) or crowd the mouth so badly that the other teeth become crooked. This can affect your bite, and a bad bite can lead to jaw problems. Crooked teeth are more susceptible to tooth decay.

But some people's wisdom teeth come in just fine on their own, the teeth are usable and healthy, and the person has no problems at all.

[Seshat]

There is no valid reason to remove healthy teeth that have plenty of room.

[dalesys]

There is no valid reason to remove healthy teeth that have plenty of room.

Greens fees.

(US, where the money is (mostly) green.)

[laborcat]

I don't know if I am extremely lucky, or just odd, but my wisdom teeth haven't come through yet at 38 and my dentist says they may never. Sounds like I got a good deal going, though, if I never have to have them removed.

[SuperDan]

Sounds like I got a good deal going, though, if I never have to have them removed.

Wisdom teeth not erupting can be bad, as they can still impact below the gumline and digging out unerupted teeth is much more of a process than pulling erupted ones. I'm in that boat now. I have one partially erupted and the rest are unerrupted, but the bottom two are impacted and the top two are getting to be impacted. I'm trying to figure out if I have enough in my HRA and FSA to cover oral surgery this year without need to pay out of pocket, or if I need to just continue to put up with it til after the wedding.

[Eisa]

Mine were impacted, I think. My top ones were coming in mostly ok, but my bottom ones were coming in aimed at my other teeth like submarines or something. I got put completely under for it, with IV sedation or whatever. I remember waking up a bit in the recovery room going "gagugghghadhadhghfka" basically. And had to go home and sleep for hours. They gave me Vicodin for the pain, and I needed it, but I'm also a bit of a wimp with pain. They also...I dunno how they did this exactly, but both sides of my jaw were swollen and super bruised up. I got it done the Friday before I started college...I looked like I'd gone a couple rounds my first week!

But it wasn't too bad, I didn't get dry socket or anything like that. I believe I had a lot of jello. Jello gets very boring after a while.

[Sakka]

I've had all four of my wisdom teeth removed. First one side then a couple months later the other. There just wasn't enough room in my mouth for the top teeth. For the bottom teeth, one side was coming in sideways, pushing against my already crowded teeth while the other was trying to come in at an angle.

I got one side done at my normal dentist and the other done by a teaching surgeon from <major metropolis> who would travel into the area every six months or so just to do this surgery.

I kinda remember the surgeries. Mostly as pressure in my mouth, my jaw vibrating in an unpleasant way from some of the tools, and the sound as a couple teeth were dug out of my gums.

One surgery, I was wonky but otherwise okay. The other one, I was definately drugged as I was not coherent, repeating myself, etc. Shortly after getting home from the major of the two operations, I was rather restless in the house and had a couple computers to repair in the basement. I had the comp completely taken apart, replaced a couple parts, etc. ... I have no idea what work I actually did, except that it was working much better afterwards, and I think I lost a bracelet into the case, but didn't hear anything rattling around inside later.

I looked like a chipmunk for at least a week or two after each removal, a fact that a couple friends reminded me of consistently. Especially as I couldn't fully open my mouth for almost a month without pain. While a friend who also had his wisdom teeth removed was fully recovered in almost a couple days.

[Fish Taco64]

I had all four of mine removed a few months ago, the bottom teeth were causing me a lot of pain due to coming in sideways.

I ended up with two dry sockets, the clots of the left side of my mouth just never formed right. They were absolute misery until I discovered a wondrous thing called Clove Oil, which makes the pain go away in about a minute.

[Android Kaeli]

I KNOW I need to get all four of mine out because they are impacted something terrible, but the major problem is the fact that it costs so damn much to do it. Even if I get one tooth taken out at a time, even going as cheaply as possible, I'm looking at $500-$700 dollars per tooth. And this is what I've been told by several dentists as well.

[Sapphire Silk]

I KNOW I need to get all four of mine out because they are impacted something terrible, but the major problem is the fact that it costs so damn much to do it. Even if I get one tooth taken out at a time, even going as cheaply as possible, I'm looking at $500-$700 dollars per tooth. And this is what I've been told by several dentists as well.

Dental care is insanely expensive. Dental insurance doesn't cover squat, and dentists are under no obligation to treat you and can demand cash up front.

Still, that sounds like an awful lot. I paid about $800 per tooth to get two teeth root canaled, and that didn't include the permanent caps. That's a lot more intensive that pulling a tooth. However, it does make more sense if the wisdom teeth are impacted.

[trailerparkmedic]

I KNOW I need to get all four of mine out because they are impacted something terrible, but the major problem is the fact that it costs so damn much to do it. Even if I get one tooth taken out at a time, even going as cheaply as possible, I'm looking at $500-$700 dollars per tooth. And this is what I've been told by several dentists as well.

Do you have a dental school nearby? They aren't exactly common, but they tend to be cheaper since it's students doing the work. They're supervised, of course, and I didn't have any problems when I used the local school for some fillings.

[Android Kaeli]

Dental care is insanely expensive. Dental insurance doesn't cover squat, and dentists are under no obligation to treat you and can demand cash up front.

Still, that sounds like an awful lot. I paid about $800 per tooth to get two teeth root canaled, and that didn't include the permanent caps. That's a lot more intensive that pulling a tooth. However, it does make more sense if the wisdom teeth are impacted.

It is a lot and dental stuff is quite expensive. However because the way my wisdom teeth are laying, I'd have to get them cut out so I'd probably be closer to $700 per tooth.

trailerparkmedic -- I have no idea if there's any dental schools nearby. Even if there WAS one, even if it was $200 cheaper then the lowest cost, I still wouldn't be able to afford getting any of my teeth extracted.

[Sapphire Silk]

Do you have a dental school nearby? They aren't exactly common, but they tend to be cheaper since it's students doing the work. They're supervised, of course, and I didn't have any problems when I used the local school for some fillings.

I can't believe I didn't think of this.

Android, check it out. These programs are designed to work for people with no money to pay. They'll charge you based on your ability to pay. It could be even less than $200 per tooth, and they may work out a payment plan.

Don't nix it before checking it out. Routine dental work at the dental clinic run on my community college's campus is $5 per visit (for a teeth cleaning). More advanced procedures cost more, but not much more. You can get a real deal.

The downside is, the procedures take longer because students are working on you. But they are supervised by trained dentists, and they won't let students hurt you.

Really . . . if I needed that kind of dental work, I would choose this option. My last major dental procedure was more than I could afford; paying it off was difficult. If I have to go through that again, I"m going to the dental clinic on campus.

[Slayer]

I had my top wisdom teeth removed about a month ago. I'm having the bottom two removed in a couple of months since they're not affecting my other teeth at the moment. I'm 26.

Though I didn't pay nearly as much as what I've read o_O I paid around $150 for each wisdom. The top left had to be broken (it was already cracked because of how it grew) while the top right was extracted whole.

My bottom ones are half showing, but even then, it shouldn't be more than $200 per tooth. I don't have insurance.

My sister's friend paid $1500 for all 4 which I thought was excessive. Then again, I don't know her circumstances. I can't imagine $700 for ONE tooth. Crazy!

I had local anesthetic (syringe) and lots of loud music. I was able to eat soft foods that night and ate at a buffet the next night with family (very slowly though and it was one of the rare times I sat for 2 hours in a restaurant without getting annoyed and wanting to leave).