<p>I know 16yo S1 has impacted wisdom teeth. They aren’t bothering him but they wil eventually need to come out. Is this usually covered by medical or dental insurance?</p>
<p>This is important, as we are losing dental insurance at end of October, but can COBRA it for 24 months at full cost of $1000/yr. I’m trying to project possible dental claims as we otherwise never come close to making $1000/yr of dental claims.</p>
<p>Its better to take them out before they cause trouble.
I dont remember how much Ds were but it was at least $400 or $500 out of pocket with ins.</p>
<p>I can’t remember how it actually worked for our two kids…
I THINK that it went first through medical then through dental. Between the two, we had little out of pocket.</p>
<p>It’s worth a call or two to the oral surgeons office and insurance people since it could be some pretty significant dollars.</p>
<p>Usually covered under dental insurance, and most likely 50% of the cost. You do get the added benefit of a negotiated price if you pick an oral surgeon in your plan.
We live in the Chicago area. Our D four impacted wisdom teeth cost around $800 per tooth. You could try a dental school where they offer procedures at discounted rates.</p>
<p>D1 was covered by medical, Aetna PPO, with in-network oral surgeon. Best deal ever, only $20.00 copay plus prescriptions!</p>
<p>We don’t have a separate dental plan. H’s federal BCBS medical plan covered the removal of all four wisdom teeth for S and D. I believe the plan paid 50% or more. With some insurers, they cap how much dental per person they will cover in a calendar year, so it’s good to get an estimate. Better to get them out sooner than later. We had each kids extractions when they were on break from school.</p>
<p>We have bcbs for medical but it was covered under dental with wds.
But there was a cap & her fees went over.
But at least it’s taken care of.</p>
<p>Removal of wisdom teeth was fully covered under my MEDICAL plan, and partially covered under my dental plan.</p>
<p>Most dental insurance plans allow what is called a ‘pre-determination of benefits’. The oral surgeon would fill out the dental claim form as if he were submitting the claim, check the pre-D box, and you would receive something that looked like an explanation of benefits that would tell you exactly how much would be paid if the service were to be performed today. This will allow you to know your out-of-pocket costs and weigh if purchasing coverage via COBRA is worth the expense.</p>
<p>This is an interesting question. I never thought to check on medical insurance covering this procedure. I had no dental plan, and negotiated a fee of $1600 with oral surgeon.</p>
<p>seems you should first call your medical plan. Then get the fine print on the dental Cobra plan; does that include cleanings and X-rays, floride Rx? How many in your family? It could be a good deal.</p>
<p>Wow, our BCBS medical plan did NOT pay for the removal of my son’s wisdom teeth, except for the expensive medicine ($500+) that he needed to prevent bleeding to his clotting disorder. Sigh. And yes, the oral surgeon did submit it to BCBS first.</p>
<p>In my D’s case, it was covered by medical.</p>
<p>There are so many BCBC plans.
Ours doesnt cover dental either, although with predetermination we knew how much out of pocket would be.</p>
<p>Ours was covered by our medical insurance but we had to pay our deductible which was $1000. The only good news was that we met our deductible that year and so we had some things done. (Stress test for H, orthotics)</p>
<p>Ours was covered by medical insurance. We have two different insurers - one for medical and one for dental. We discussed insurance when we went to visit the oral surgeon for the consult. The one thing that wasn’t covered were the x-rays.</p>
<p>It depends. If the teeth are " full bony impacted", that is, completely covered by bone they are considered to be “in the body” not the mouth and are** USUALLY** covered by medical plans. If they are erupted (in the mouth) or only soft tissue impacted (covered by gum tissue but not bone, it often goes under dental insurance. The oral surgeon or referring dentist can often tell you how impacted the teeth are in your child’s case.
The sedation part ( anesthesia) depends on the coverage.
.</p>
<p>Our dental insurance covered my son’s wisdom teeth removal 100%. I didn’t even have a co-pay.</p>
<p>Clearly there is variation in which insurance is primary or would cover the procedures. In some case, it could be both. The only way to know is have the oral surgeon describe the nature and code of the procedure to you, so you can run specifics by your medical insurer and as others have said, the surgeon can also scope out dental coverage, perhaps medical as well. When our kids had theirs out, medical insurance covered it, but we certainly were asked to sign for financial responsibility should there by anything not covered. Good luck!</p>
<p>Medical here too. But be prepared…they do NOT cover the anesthetic!</p>
<p>medical covered my S’s wisdom teeth removal. I had a very small $20?? copay. I was expecting it to be submitted to dental which would have resulted in it costing me much more, but they submitted it to medical. I suggest you call your medical insurance and ask.</p>