<p>Every person’s development of wisdom teeth is different. One of my kids began having jaw pain as a sophomore at university. She saw the dentist and planned for an extraction immediately after finals. By the time that appointment came, a couple of months later, two of her wisdom teeth had erupted, lowering the bill. Her sister who is several years older has still had no signs of wisdom teeth coming in nor problems.</p>
<p>All 4 of mine came in when I was in my early 20s and they caused me issues for 10 years (the issues were referred pain so it was no obvious that it was my wisdom teeth until I had one removed)</p>
<p>I say go for it when it is convenient. Also, my DD was surprised that she had headaches all summer emanating from her jaw. She says her wisdom teeth surgery was the worst procedure she has ever had and she has had knee surgery. Most people don’t have so much trouble, but perhaps as a competitive athlete she needed to use her body more strenuously than others do in the following weeks/months?</p>
<p>As I recall we paid around $2000, but it does seem very location specific.</p>
<p>Our bill was from NJ. In the NYC metro area, price is pretty comparable. We also decided to do it this year because we currently do not have any deductibles when it comes to medical, but with potential job change, benefit is not going to be as good.</p>
<p>D’s were angled in the direction of her molars, and we were advised that she needed to have them out soon or risk having her other teeth moved around as a result. </p>
<p>Dental insurance paid nominally 80%, but we hit the cap they’d pay, so it actually came to about 60%. I think it was about $2200 in total, so we still had to pay a chunk. </p>
<p>There are some standalone dental clinics that advertise pretty inexpensive prices (“Just Wisdom Teeth” in our area) that I’d probably have investigate if we hadn’t had insurance coverage, at least unless the primary care dentist indicated that there was some particularly complex aspect to D’s condition (which there wasn’t). Dentists in our state take pretty decent hands-on licensing tests, so I’m not as dubious about the clinics as I would be in some other areas of healthcare.</p>
<p>I have to say if you’ve invested in any braces whatsoever I wouldn’t mess around with this. My kids teeth were fairly straight until the wisdom teeth started moving around 18. One went to college with braces because of it. The younger son quickly had the wisdom teeth removed and braces on. The third will get away with retainers and wisdom teeth removed later. They can very, very quickly shift your teeth. Perhaps you could get a second opinion?</p>
<p>I (age 17) had my wisdom teeth out a few weeks ago, and it was a painless procedure and recovery for me. I had 3.5 years of braces, so it was a no-brainer for us to get my 4 impacted wisdom teeth removed.
It was not cheap, though ($2500), and our insurance barely covered it. We now have to pay for my second cleaning for this year out of pocket because our insurance is maxed out.</p>
<p>If you’re considering waiting, this is why I’m glad I didn’t… My cousin waited until he was in his 20’s and having problems with his to get them removed. He ended up with temporary jaw numbness, a side effect that is much more common in adults than in teens. I also know another person who was in their 20’s when they had theirs removed and had other complications with the removal that are more likely to occur as a person gets older.</p>
<p>Of course it’s up to you if you NEED to have them removed. My friend’s mom never had hers removed and never had any problems from them as far as I know. Maybe you should get a second opinion about the necessity of having them out for your sons?</p>
<p>One of the reasons we had D1 get hers out last summer before heading to college was because once she got to college on the otherside of the country it would have been more difficult to deal with having the surgery if one had become infected or something.</p>
<p>Three of D’s wisdom teeth had come in; one was impacted. The dentist removed them in her office; our insurance did not cover it; total cost was $1100 for all four. It took less than 20 minutes; there was a follow up appointment the next week. D had remarkably little swelling and pain after the procedure. </p>
<p>She had been experiencing pain prior to the extraction. Her mouth was crowded.</p>
<p>I would err on the side of caution and have wisdom teeth removed. My D stayed home for 2 days and was then back at work. Not a big deal and a huge relief.</p>
<p>^^ wow, that is a lot of wisdom teeth. Recently went through this with 1 of my kids- xrays said all 4 were impacted and would eventually impact the orthodontia work already done. I was very surprised by this as DH and I both still have ours. Anyways, oral surgeon removed - total cost was approximately $2200 and ours was covered by dental insurance, thankfully. Ask to see the xrays and if leaving them in place would cause problems down the road. If they don’t really need to come out I would leave them. Oral surgery does pose risks.</p>
<p>I’m sitting home right now with youngest D who had all 4 wisdom teeth taken out by the oral surgeon 5 hours ago. I think the total cost was $2800-ish. I had to leave a deposit of almost $900 to cover our share after insurance. This is my fourth time playing nurse to a wisdom tooth patient as her two siblings had theirs out a few years ago and my H had to do his around age 50. He had ongoing problems for many years but was a huge chicken. Long story but my advice is to get it over with while you can choose the timing. And don’t count on a quick recovery - do it when the patient can stay nearby for a couple of weeks just in case more followup is necessary. One of my kids had problems, other kid and hubby were average. This one, so far so good!</p>
<p>I agree with Puzzled88; get them out when you can plan the time for the surgery and the recovery. Our son had his removed just before heading back to college for a summer research position. He could have used another week at home. His four impacted teeth were close to nerves and required an oral surgeon. All went well, but he was bruised, swollen and could have used another week of recovery time. You can’t guarantee your kids will be home during the summer once they start college. Our son has yet to be home for more than three weeks at a stretch since he left.</p>
<p>I had my 3 wisdom teeth out this summer and it was quick and painless. I am not a fan of any elective surgery and would have kept them if they wouldn’t have caused any major damage, but the oral surgeon actually told me to wait a year before I eventually had them done to be sure that the teeth needed to be removed and save me money. Each tooth cost between $400 and $600 depending on the difficulty and $650 for the sedation, which probably wasn’t necessary. My insurance covered 90% of the costs, so I was happy.</p>
<p>Recovery rates differ, but I was shopping at Costco 20 minutes after surgery, was eating semi-soft foods the next day and could have flown back to school without any issues. I still stand behind my belief that wisdom teeth shouldn’t be removed unless needed, but the actual surgery is painless.</p>
<p>Between orthodontia, crowns and wisdom teeth extraction we have sunk a supertanker of money into my family’s mouths.</p>
<p>I’m going to ask that they say a few words about my teeth during my funeral, since so much expensive merchandise inside my mouth will be going under the dirt. </p>
<p>I’m also home right now with my 17-year-old son who had his wisdom teeth removed this morning (he only had three wisdom teeth removed as that’s all he had - x-rays showed there was no fourth wisdom tooth under the gum which is apparently a common genetic occurrance - as oral surgeon charges by the tooth, I got off cheap)! Both of his sisters also had their wisdom teeth removed in the past couple of years with no major problems. My son has been eating ice cream and room temperature mashed potatoes today and feels fine.</p>
<p>Here in Central California, removal of 4 impacted wisdom teeth was $2400. </p>
<p>Son’s orthodontist recommended removal when braces came off–sophomore or junior year in HS (sorry, early onset dotage), but son was strongly resistant to tooth removal. Roll clock forward to first semester, college sophomore year. Son can sense the wisdom teeth moving the teeth in his mouth. Has trouble wearing retainer (which likely was not in his mouth every night). Is having aches in head and jaws. But has to wait until winter break for surgery. So what would have been the best choice? Scheduling earlier would have saved discomfort. On the other hand, son had control over his own health and learned another life lesson . . .</p>
<p>Daughter was recommended to have them removed 2 years ago by her dentist. We saw the oral surgeon, seemed very competent. He also said they should be removed, but we had some time. My concern was that he was going to use a cocktail of 5 things for sedation, Propoful, ketamine, fentanyl, decadron and Versed. While my D wants to be knocked out, she welcomes whatever it takes. I researched this and apparently it is not uncommon to get these drugs. Well 2 yrs later, she has cancelled her appts, because she is not quite ready, plus she went to a dinner party and one of the other guest was a young dentist. My D happened to have a picture of her Panorax xray on her cell phone and showed it to hm, he thought that if they were not botherng her, then why is she getting them removed. Well that is all she needed to hear. Im just concerned that her expensive orthodontia will be affected.</p>
<p>Sorry to revive this, but mine are impacted right now, there’s some discomfort in my mouth for a few days; should I wait until they’ve fully come out to remove?</p>