Thumper I was told that affecting the other teeth in the future was the main reason for removing them now. You are lucky that your removal is easy. Feel good!
@thumper1 I also have Aetna and my total cost for each kid was the $20 copay plus meds! The oral surgeon was listed under medical, not dental. The office did a pre-authorization to confirm my cost! What a bargain!
@Happy2Help were your kids’ teeth fully erupted? Mine are. Impacted or not fully erupted would be fully covered.
My periodontist says the wisdom teeth are affecting bone loss, etc…in my neighboring molars…and the wisdom teeth need to be pulled…to protect the neighboring teeth.
But that isn’t a choice when submitting to the insurance!
For 2 kids, 1 tooth partially erupted, 7 impacted… only $20 copay each!
@thumper1, when D got her bony impacted wisdom teeth out the medical insurance paid first and then dental. But if yours are impacted by soft tissue only it might be only dental. Anyway, between the three they will hopefully pay.
If not, we used to make payments on our OS bill when H had to get his wisdom teeth out and we didn’t have insurance.
Back then it was about $800, for D twice that much.
@TytoAlba, you might want to make an appointment to see the OS soon, because they are usually very backed up in the summer. So we had to make the appointment for June in January. Bring xrays because the OS will want to see what he is dealing with when he schedules the time for the surgery.
With my older kid we put the 20% that was not paid by dental through our medical and we were reimbursed.
Everyone…my wisdom teeth are not impacted at all! They are fully erupted teeth…just like the molars next to them.
Because they are fully erupted…and not sideways either…my oral,surgeon office says the extractions might not be covered…at all. They will submit, but not positive it will get covered.
Guess it’s viewed as elective.
Are they fully erupted in functional positions?
Fully erupted, and perfectly functional…just interfering with bone issues,and deep pockets to neighboring teeth.
Well if they don’t pay you can try having the Periodontist write a letter as to why he feels it is necessary to remove them. Xrays can also help.
Aetna might deny it at first, but if you give more information they have been good in my experience in revising claims.
I’m going to discuss this with the oral surgeon. He won’t be doing anything until after the teeth are out. Sometimes it’s more complicated extraction than the surgeon thinks.
It is what it is. The teeth need to come out. They are coming out.
The consult today was $244. I’m guessing insurance won’t pay for that either.
Does anyone else use a regular dentist instead of an oral surgeon? Mine were removed at 18 by my childhood dentist, a DDS, and my daughters’ by our family dentist, also a DDS. As I said earlier, the extractions were handled easily and covered by our dental insurance. No anesthesiologist, no hassles with who will cover, no extra X-rays.
I was almost killed by a dentist in my mid-teens, and have had awful anxiety about going to a dentist or periodontist. The dentist was so afraid he had permanently injured me with his botch job that he brought the medicines (pain and anti-swelling?) to my mother in the evening himself. I don’t know that she could pay, but he brought them to the door and looked in on me as well.
My oldest has a perfect smile, never any braces, the most beautiful teeth I have seen. And then there is the wisdom tooth issue that I was told may be too near a bone and/or nerve and so should come out (right on schedule as the rest of you were told it seems, just before he turned 18). I am petrified to do it, but I am listening to you guys and I will have to dig deep and see if it is something I can impress upon him. He can now make the decision.
Probably some do in the case of simple extractions. But, for third molars, simple extractions are probably less common than complicated ones that would require an oral surgeon, since those which are accessible for simple extraction may not be problematic enough to advise extraction.
I never had wisdom teeth and my son (17) also has none. My husband had his bottom ones removed by a Navy dentist. They refused to touch his top ones because they roots were too close to his sinuses. He still has them and they haven’t bothered him in years. My oldest daughter had her 3 removed at 17 1/2 before her senior year. There were no roots so it was a very easy recovery for her. My youngest daughter (14) has 4.
The prospect of getting wisdom teeth out terrifies me, I won’t lie. I haven’t had anything beyond a cleaning, ever, so I’m really hoping I don’t have to have them removed. Looks like these next six months are the target time period, so hopefully I get through it. Fingers crossed!
White space, don’t worry so much. My son was 17, had his 4 removed on a Friday. He hosted a poker party that evening. He took Vicodin for the first time. The following weekend, he left for college. Many of his older friends had prepped him about the procedure and the narcotic.
Wow!
@whitespace, my daughter never had anything other than cleanings or having her permanent molars sealed (simple painless procedure) either and she had her four wisdom teeth removed last summer about three weeks before college started for her. She had no complications and was at a family reunion two days later. She only took the prescription pain meds for one day.
To answer the question about oral surgeon versus regular dentist, I think it has to do with the ability to use anesthesia in the oral surgeon’s office. Our dentist can numb you up or give you gas for anxiety but for the anesthesia needed for some types of extractions our daughter had to see an oral surgeon.
I am jealous of those of you who have never had anything beyond a cleaning, were born without wisdom teeth or who have WT with no roots!
I have all 4 WT and they grew in fine without any issues. My husband was born without bottom WT. I asked my brother in law and he said in all of his years of practicing ( he is now 57), he has only met 2 people who have suffered permanent nerve damage after WT extraction. My guess is that the risk is low, but as with any procedure they need to inform you of all possible risks. I would only use an OS for WT extraction.