<p>We had our oral surgeon do this before D’s procedure. They came back with the estimate and we made the appointment. A couple of days before that date, I realized that they only submitted the pre-d to the Dental plan and not medical…and that they were out-of-network for medical plan purposes… :eek: We were able to work something out with the oral surgeon’s office so didn’t need to cancel…but the moral of the story is to make sure that you have asked them to pre-d using both medical and dental plans.</p>
<p>My D just had this done (yes, impacted, and removed by an oral surgeon). It was (about half) covered by Delta Dental, up to a cap they have in our plan. There was NO coverage from our medical insurance. This had changed from five years ago – at that time our medical insurance had said they wouldn’t pay, but the oral surgeon submitted claim “just in case” and (yay!) they did pay the part not covered by the dental insurance after all. Even though they said ahead of time they won’t. We tried that again this time, and the medical insurance rejected the claim.</p>
<p>You need to get on the phone to your medical insurance and ask them. The thing is that coverage sometimes changes at the turn of the year, so you might want to confirm whether it will be covered next year as well. If they can and will tell you…</p>
<p>For my son with impacted wisdom teeth the medical insurance covered everything but the deductible. The other kid has wisdom teeth that were not impacted and Dental covered that. I don’t recall much of a difference in the out of pocket from the dental insurance vs. the medical insurance.</p>
<p>Medical insurance paid for both of my daughters’ removals. As long as there were more than two teeth removed, they paid for anesthesia.</p>
<p>The older one had them removed at a surgical center because of her asthma and clotting disorder - the insurance company insisted on that and paid for it. </p>
<p>The younger daughter had one “impacted” tooth erupt after insurance approval, and our oral surgeon felt no need to notify the insurance company!</p>
<p>Impacted wisdom teeth - our HMO does not cover this, we had to go through our dental insurance, which always leaves us with a lot to pay out of pocket. In this case, over $700. So obviously, the OP needs to check with HER specific plans.</p>
<p>Wish I knew that medical insurance often covered this. My dental plan paid for D’s at only 50% at the oral surgeon which was over 1K out of pocket. It wiped out mine and H’s medical savings plan. On the other hand, DS’s wisdom teeth, who was told he had impacted wisdom teeth at around the age of 16, grew out and were able to be pulled at $250 a tooth total ($125 out of pocket). If I had to do it over, I would have just had DD’s impacted tooth done by an oral surgeon and had her others pulled by the dentist.</p>
<p>Our Humana PPO medical plan paid for both son’s and daughter’s under it’s oral surgery coverage. You need to look at the detailed plan provisions, not just the summaries.</p>
<p>Medical insurance paid when S2 had oral surgery when he was 12. It wasn’t wisdom teeth though.<br>
His I-teeth were impacted (laying sideways) all the way up under his nose. I think it was $2700. We just paid the co-pay. Later, when there was a complication and some work had to be redone, medical would not pay again since they had already paid on that surgery.
Luckily, He only had one wisdom tooth. It came through the gum and was able to be pulled in the dentist’s office. Cost $75.</p>
<p>S1 had all four wisdom teeth removed at the same time. It was routine. Dental paid half I think.</p>
<p>My federal BCBS covered a small amount, but dental covered most of it. I had some out of pocket cost, but the dental insurance was well worth the cost. I suggest you call your company before it lapses.</p>
<p>You are best off checking with the oral surgeon’s office. Medical ins/dental ins varies so widely by region, carrier, and employer that anything others and I are offering is only based on our local experience.</p>
<p>In my area, medical almost NEVER covers third molars, impacted or erupted and everything in between.</p>
<p>When my D had her wisdom teeth (all 4) out 14 months ago I believe it was a combination of our medical and dental insurance that covered a majority of the costs. In the end I think we paid about $300 out of pocket.</p>
<p>In our case, only dental covered it. We had the oral surgeon get pre-approval from both dental & medical insurance companies so there weren’t any surprises. Our dental insurance required we submit first to medical (even though we knew it was excluded) and it took forever for the oral surgeon to get the dental insurance payment. They said that was very common and didn’t seem bothered by the delay. Ended up about $300 out of pocket.</p>
<p>My son just had this done and I learned a few things. 1. Call your insurance co and ask exactly what they cover. 2. If it’s not going to be covered 100%, then you may want to call diff oral surgeons and ask what they charge. You may be surprised at the variety of prices. The oral surgeon my dr recommended was more expensive than the person we ultimately used. I asked around for recommendations and this oral surgeon was recommended again and again.
3. Ask about anesthesia options. Some prefer sedation but we opted against that so my son only had laughing gas and Novocaine. This was fine for him but his teeth were not impacted. And his pain tolerance may be higher than others. Sedation is much more expensive. 4. The fee for anesthesia may be separate than the per tooth extraction fee.
5. See what kind of office it is. Some are very high tech. Some are very flexible while others are more rigid in their approach. </p>
<p>BTW, we paid entirely out of pocket for this. We do not have dental insurance and it was not covered by our medical plan.</p>
<p>ugh. Just spoke w Aetna (we have Choise POS II) and they do NOT cover any dental extractions. Guess I will ask the dentist how long he thinks S1 has before they need to come out.</p>
<p>I’m not sure why my post was deleted because I provided my opinion on the subject matter. Anyhoo … I’m hoping that you are able to get this done at a reasonable amount prior to your dental termination.</p>
<p>I would also consider looking into a dental plan because the amount that you’ll be paying out of pocket for COBRA is pretty high. Dental plans is an alternative and they offer discounts on most dental procedures.</p>
<p>Just curious- are the teeth bothering him or is it just the x-rays that show them? I ask because I was yelled at- yes, the dentist got really loud and nasty with me- 33 years ago when I refused to allow him to remove the two wisdom teeth that were sideways in my gum. Those teeth are still there and have never given me a moment’s trouble. The thing is, two of my kids have the exact same thing- they’re fine too.
I’d get another opinion- at least one- just because insurance companies routinely pay for these things doesn’t mean that they’re always necessary.</p>
<p>DS had all four wisdom teeth removed yesterday. He called me a few weeks ago to let me know that one seemed to be coming through the gum. Given that his dentist mentioned two years ago we should see the oral surgeon about removal, I scheduled it for his fall break. </p>
<p>We don’t have dental insurance, and it’s not covered by our medical plan. $1600 out of pocket. My advice to anyone with dental insurance–get it done before you lose dental coverage. </p>
<p>DS is doing well thus far. Keeping ahead of the pain and lots of ice packs to keeping swelling down. I do know that day two is often worse though. My DD reminded me that wet tea bags are great for helping to stop the bleeding. We went through an entire package of gauze so I “forced” the tea bags on the him. It seemed to help. Only problem was he had a lot of difficulty taking the first pain pill. He finally ate some luke-warm soup and ice cream last night. </p>
<p>I’m debating if I should let him take any remaining pills back to his off-campus house. I don’t think he would give them to friends, etc. but these pills are a pretty popular narcotic drug of choice for those that use other’s prescriptions. I guess a “talk” is in order.</p>