Wisdom teeth extraction

[Food Lady]

I just had a root canal. I have insurance, so for everything (the procedure itself, X-rays, multiple visits, cleaning afterward) I paid a total of around $200. I'm not sure what's out there, but my dentist said, "You have really good insurance!" I guess so; maybe I got lucky.

[ParkingWitch]

You might also see if your county health clinic has a dental clinic. I got 3 of mine done for free.

[Seshat]

For those who are in Australia, there is a 'Dental Health Plan' that your GP can put you on if you meet certain conditions. It covers dental work under Medicare.

[fireheart]

Seshat, that would be the chronic disease management plan and I think it covers health conditions that can impact on your dental health.

Just had the X-ray today. One thing that struck me as a slight WTF: in the past, whenever I've had a dental x-ray done, this has involved me biting on something and having the machine whir around my head. EVERYTIME I've had those done, it's been without needing to take anything off, glasses included. Today I got told to take everything off that was metal: earrings, glasses etc.
Is that a new thing? can any of the X-ray techs here confirm?

(Oh and yes I've had the one with the card in my mouth and the machine pointed at my face. The one I mentioned above used to be done at my dentist's office, but apparaently they no longer do them)

[Sapphire Silk]

I just had a root canal. I have insurance, so for everything (the procedure itself, X-rays, multiple visits, cleaning afterward) I paid a total of around $200. I'm not sure what's out there, but my dentist said, "You have really good insurance!" I guess so; maybe I got lucky.

You must have an awesome dental plan.

Most dental plans suck. They'll pay for routine cleanings and x rays, and a fraction of any dental procedures up to a certain amount, usually a couple of grand for the entire year.

[Andara Bledin]

My dental plan pays crap all (like 10% up to $1000 annually) and doesn't cover most types of surgery or orthodontia. Oh, unless you wait until it's an emergency and you're in pain, then it'll cover a whole lot more.

So, in essence, they're encouraging people to wait until they're teeth are bad and require major work as opposed to doing any preventive maintenance. >_<

^-.-^

[Kogarashi]

My dental plan involves airline tickets to Texas and only covers whatever a regular DDS can do. But then, that's because my dentist is my father-in-law.

[ShadowBall]

I need to get mine out at the end of November...even though they aren't causing me any issues right now and never have. My dentist seems to think that my wisdom teeth - all impacted - might someday affect my other teeth, so I was told to get them out before the start of next year. One tooth is laying diagonal and is just barely visible and the rest are laying perfectly horizontal below the gums.

I am terrified and refuse to have nothing more than novocaine or nitrous in order to have four teeth cut and broken out of my head, especially with the risk of my jaw being fractured trying to get the teeth out. When I got a teeny tiny cavity filled a few months ago, I had novocaine and numbing gel and it still hurt. I'm scared as shit I won't wake up from the anesthesia, but I'll be damned if I'm going to be awake to experience my mouth being mutilated for what I feel is no goddamn good reason.

Thankfully insurance covers the entire thing (on my mother's insurance) because I'm sure I'd hear about how expensive I am if it didn't.

Oh, and when I got my teeth X-rayed, I also had to remove all metal stuff from my head. I never needed to do that when I had a normal X-ray, but when I had to be in the machine that orbited my head, I couldn't have any metal on me.