Ok, so I know there are like 7 wisdom teeth threads, but they are a few years old and I have a few specific questions. I don't have dental insurance and my teeth are starting to hurt like hell again (this happens every few months). I could enroll in dental insurance with BCBS (I have an individual health insurance plan) but it looks like there would be a six month waiting period before they covered oral surgery. Also, the dentist said I should get all four removed, but the two on the bottom are impacted and the only ones that give me any trouble. So my questions are:

1.) Has anyone had theirs removed w/o insurance, and what was the cost like?
2.) If only two are bothering me, should I just get those, or from anyone's experience is it worse/better to just do them all at once?
3.) The only time I've had a general anesthesia, I got wicked sick. Is it worth being completely under or are there better options?
4.) Can anyone recommend a good (and affordable) oral surgeon in Raleigh/Cary?

Thanks!

8/8/2011 9:48:42 PM

This is pretty much the exact situation I'm in right now so I'm very interested in the responses.

8/8/2011 10:43:14 PM

me too, but not in pain at the current time, when pain does come, it's there for about a week

8/8/2011 10:44:05 PM

1) always negotiate with health care providers, especially if you don't have insurance. offer to pay in cash (check and debit cards are also considered "cash" because it's instantly paid) and see if you can get a discount. 10% is typical, see if they can do more. if not, try asking about payment plans..

2) depending on the price you could do 2 now & do the other 2 when the insurance kicks in. it sucks either way, its probably more about price. depending on how you react to the first two, you might wish you had done it all at once or it could be easy breezy and the second round is no big deal. crap shoot kinda.

3) your doctor is the best person to talk to you about this. if you've had a bad reaction in the past it could be due to the type of anesthesia used and your doc could give you other options. depending on if your wisdom teeth are impacted or not depends on the type of anesthesia they use, i think

4) that's the easy part, get your list & call around for pricing & flexibility on working with you

8/8/2011 10:48:35 PM

They quoted me $1500, but I was insured and only paid about $300 of that. If you can manage to wait, I'd definitely wait, but obviously if you're writhing in pain the cost is well worth it.

Generally it's better to do them all at once. There's a base cost for anesthesia, or Lidocaine if you end up going that route. I think 2 of mine were a problem, 2 were borderline/ish, but they said they might as well.

If you don't want to do anesthesia, I'm sure you can find a dentist that will do Lidocaine. In high school I had 4 molars pulled with just Lidocaine shots. Basically they stuck me in my mouth about and asked if I could feel it. It took well over 20 shots. But after the first few they feel less and less intense, and as much as I hate needles I can handle those. (Getting the IV for anestheia was much worse imo..its one of the only things I remember before blacking out)

Wish I remembered the name of my guy, I had zero pain and little bleeding after. I asked my dad for a mirror like in the first batman movie. I was pretty happy as he drove me home. Didn't even get to use the vicodin

Good luck!

8/9/2011 1:34:00 AM

one thing to seriously consider is the cost of the pain medications after the procedure. you might want to ask what the doctor prescribes and ask if there are generic options then calling around to get pricing without insurance

also if you get dry sockets, you'll have to make return trips to the doctor, racking up more bills

bad situation to be without insurance, but 6 months is a really long time to wait if you're in a lot of pain

8/9/2011 11:08:11 AM

I had insurance but the bastards wouldn't approve the procedure. I don't remember how much the oral surgeon quoted me for out of pocket expenses but I remember going when he did. It was at least $500.

So I went to the UNC Dental School and had to done for free. They did a great job and I no longer have wisdom teeth

8/9/2011 11:15:18 AM

^^if i have regular medical insurance, will that cover the cost of pain meds, even if it's for oral surgery?

^please tell me more about the dental school. how did you get it done there for free??

8/9/2011 11:25:15 AM

They have need based programs at the dental school. Show them you don't have insurance and are a poor college student or whatever. It took a few weeks to get an appointment, but I also wasn't in pain so it may go faster for you. One of their professors doped me up on laughing gas and cut the teeth out while some students watched. They even let me keep the teeth lol.

I'm sure they have all the details on how to get into the program on their website. The sooner you start the process the better off you'll be.

8/9/2011 11:32:57 AM

I just had all 4 of mine taken out at once.

I cant comment on no insurance, since i have it and the entire thing cost me 100 bucks. gogo work!

Personally I can't recommend being knocked out for it enough. A buddy of mine just used local anesthesia and he said the grinding and pressure and tugging was horrible.

But if you get really sick, puking with fresh stitches and holes in your gum will probably be even more uncomfortable.

In summary

I am very glad I got them all done at once
I am very glad they knocked me the fuck out
I went to Triangle Implant Center (919)8062912. They were recommended by my dentist who is awesome.

good luck!

8/9/2011 11:59:17 AM

Get KTFO. I had mine done while I was stationed in Panama years ago. I still distinctly remember hearing and feeling the teeth crack when he got the pliers involved. I had no real pain but it was a horrible experience nontheless.

8/9/2011 1:04:28 PM

I was knocked out, but I guess not that knocked out, because I could still hear them drilling/cracking shit. Either way, I was so high that I didn't care.

8/9/2011 1:12:54 PM

Y'all are a bunch of pussies. I didn't give a damn that I could hear the cracking but the laughing gas probably helped with that.

8/9/2011 1:20:21 PM

Got my right upper and lower taken out a few years ago...Only did two b/c i hit my yearly insurance max and my others didn't bother me so I wasn't gonna pay out of pocket for it (currently still have the left ones w/ no problems).

knocked out and woke up w/o any problems and virtually no pain throughout the whole surgery and recovery (they were completely grown in though, so all they had to do was jerk em out). If it came down to it, id rather be sick afterwards than be awake and numb for the procedure, but thats just me.

I had it done at scott hum's office...he was good, but his front desk staff was horrible, a nightmare to work with on insurance stuff.

8/9/2011 1:30:34 PM

NC dental society Misson of Mercy is this weekend. Aug. 12/13 at RBC center, and the week after its in charlotte.

free dental work. and they extract wisdom teeth. dont expect anything fancy, but its free.

http://www.ncdental.org

expect to get there early on both days.



[Edited on August 9, 2011 at 1:59 PM. Reason : ]

8/9/2011 1:49:12 PM

^that's neat but our household income is too much for that


has anyone else heard that if they are impacted, you can get regular medical insurance to cover it (i think if its done at a hospital or something...)?

thanks for the info guys keep it coming. im going to call around tomorrow to get a consultation. ill take other recommendations for good and (somewhat) affordable oral surgeons if ya got em

8/9/2011 3:03:41 PM

Http://www.ncimplant.com for all your wisdom teeth and dental implant needs.

8/9/2011 4:22:30 PM

Quote :

"has anyone else heard that if they are impacted, you can get regular medical insurance to cover it"

I seriously doubt it. That's what dental insurance is for

8/10/2011 8:49:08 AM

I had all 4 of mine taken out before they breached the gum line, back in high school. I was knocked out for it and highly recommend it. Then again I never have any side effects to general anesthesia.

what sucks in recovery is the major shift that is required for your diet for a week or so when you can only eat very soft foods. Real PITA.

[Edited on August 10, 2011 at 10:50 AM. Reason : y]

8/10/2011 10:49:33 AM

so i called around to a few places today. looks like BCBS medical wont cover any of the procedure, but can cover prescription drugs afterward. which is kinda what i figured.

a found a few places that will do a cash discount, anywhere from 3% - 5%. Although one chick, when i asked about it, told me that was illegal. im pretty sure if its a private practice they can charge whatever the hell they want, but maybe im wrong.

8/10/2011 3:31:09 PM

i know you want to try to find the "cheapest" place.

but something like this, id like to spend the money and get it done right.

not saying you need to find the best and most expensive, but we arent shopping for wedding dresses.

if you're in pain, and you want them out, you'll gladly pay the fees

[Edited on August 10, 2011 at 4:21 PM. Reason : ]

8/10/2011 4:20:43 PM

yeah im not trying to sound like a cheapskate. but since i don't have dental insurance (and for the benefit of others too who may be in the same boat) i'm just trying to explore all options, because it is a big chunk of change and i want to make sure i know whats available to me

[Edited on August 10, 2011 at 5:04 PM. Reason : .]

8/10/2011 5:03:08 PM

i think the girl who said it was illegal misunderstood you. it's not illegal

and you're right to do your research. you get what you pay for and i'm sure you know that. nothing wrong with doing research, collecting prices and making a decision on the best value that you can afford.

did you find anything out about payment plans? also... if you're having to wait 6 months for dental insurance to kick in (if you decide to wait to do it) also look into FSA or HSA if you have access to one. you can put pre-tax dollars into an account to use for healthcare expenses and i'm pretty sure this counts (the rules are always changing) so you can save up to 30% (depending on your tax bracket) if you pay for it with pre tax dollars. however, you have to opt into that around annual enrollment time for insurance (end of the current year in prep for the up coming year)

so the point is, if you are going to wait until jan or later due to insurance or whatever, take a good look at fsa or hsa to pay with pre-tax $ to save more money

8/10/2011 9:59:06 PM

It's really not this big of deal.

I had two extracted several years ago. The other two pulled a few weeks ago. Went back to work the same day both times. It's obviously different for all people. All teeth are different. This was just my experience.

8/10/2011 11:47:48 PM

you're not gonna go back to work the same day if they put you under

8/10/2011 11:52:34 PM

Quote :

"I had two extracted several years ago. The other two pulled a few weeks ago. Went back to work the same day both times. It's obviously different for all people. All teeth are different. This was just my experience. "

This was my experience too. I don't really get why people are so worried over this procedure that they insist you should be put under for it. I thought when I had a root canal done that was much worse and nobody puts you under for those

8/11/2011 9:52:58 AM

if your wisdom teeth are erupted (through the gum) im sure its not as big a deal. i had my eye teeth removed when i was probably 13 and those were deeply rooted. they just gave me laughing gas and i was back to school later that day.

but two of mine are really impacted which requires carving into my gums to get out

8/11/2011 11:28:34 AM

None of mine had ruptured when they took them out. My mouth got plenty of scalpel action!

8/11/2011 11:32:47 AM

Quote :

"but two of mine are really impacted which requires carving into my gumsbone to get out "

fixed that for you. i was a little tramatized by having mine removed under local + laughing gas and they were errupted, but 2 of my teeth didn't go numb, even with extra novacaine. If my teeth were impacted and i had to do it over again, i might go for the general.

8/11/2011 12:28:51 PM

In order to facilitate my braces I had to have 6 six removed - all four third molars and two of the top premolars. The bottom right wisdom tooth was impacted yet had not erupted so I had to go to the oral surgeon for that one. The other 5 were simple extractions (about $600 total) that I had all done at the same time. I was paying for all of this out of pocket and didn't want take a $400 nap so they numbed me up and went to work! A few days later I had the oral surgery on the impacted tooth and it was about $400-500 and again I didn't want to take an even more expensive nap so I got to hear and mildly feel the drilling, cutting, cracking, breaking and crunching as they cut out that tooth piece by piece. On top of all of that I had my braces put on about 5 days later.

Dentist: I went to Riccobene Associates out in Clayton. I had to go to Selma for the extractions. They now have an office in Cary.
Oral Surgeon: Dr. Cusumano in Garner. He did a nice job but wasn't overtly personable *shrug*
Braces: Dr. Griffin in Cary. If you are looking at braces I can't recommend him highly enough. He did my sister's braces when she was in 5th grade and now doing mine. I am about a year and a half into my treatment with about a year to go and they look marvelous thus far.

tl;dr - If you are paying out of pocket and don't mind some discomfort there is nothing wrong with just getting numbed up for the extractions. They will likely have to do x-rays though which will be a few hundred $$$.

**Also** If you have a non-erupted tooth and/or they give you a little syringe thing to rinse out the socket with. For the love of all that is holy and otherwise, use that thing as often as you can. Everything and I mean everything will try and get stuck in the socket and the last thing you want is an infection. Thankfully, I avoided such a calamity but you will be amazed as to the lengths food will go to in order to get lodged in there!



[Edited on August 12, 2011 at 1:03 PM. Reason : .]

8/12/2011 12:58:36 PM

Yeah, don't fuck around with the cleaning schedule. It doesn't hurt; its just weird to aim a syringe full of fluid at a hole in your mouth.

8/15/2011 2:05:54 PM

I had all 4 of mine removed by an oral surgeon in Newport, if I recall. No dental insurance at the time.

Cost was ~$1,500, and worth every penny. I didn't feel or hear a thing, I didn't get dry socket, and didn't have much pain at all. I was essentially pain-free after 3ish days.

My top two teeth weren't too bad -- they were growing down as normal teeth do, but pointing outwards just slightly. The surgeon was they were quickly and easily removed. My bottom two teeth were growing in at a 90-degree angle to the rest of my teeth and had to be cut in half for removal.

I did get sick (threw up in the car on the way home) from the anesthesia but that wasn't a huge deal.

8/15/2011 7:11:50 PM

bump

3/29/2012 9:45:55 PM

Well I finally got mine out today. So to wrap up from my original post for posterity,

1.) cost was almost 2400. 3 impacted, 1 erupted, and 1hr of anesthesia.
2.) doc convinced me it was better to get them all out at once. even though the top ones weren't bothering me now, they might later with the bottom ones gone and nothing for them to rest against. and I didn't want to have to go through the recovery twice.
3.) had general anesthesia and didn't get sick at all this time.
4.) I went to Dr. Kozacko in North Raleigh. They seem to have done a good job. I looked around for a while and I don't think there is really a "more affordable" surgeon. Anywhere you go will be $texas.

Overall the actual procedure was a breeze. And so far I've had no major issues with nausea or eating soft foods (drugs help). I think if I had to do it again I'd get dental insurance, cause even though I'd have to pay into it for six months to a year before BCBS would have covered anything, it still probably would be cheaper. But I have a flex card so the money to cover it is from a pre-taxed account.

3/29/2012 9:52:10 PM

I had all mine removed even though only a few were going to cause problems. I figured I didn't want to go through that recovery experience twice if the others became a problem later on. And there is the economy of scale issue. A little cheaper to have them all removed at once, than to have one surgery now, and another one later.

3/29/2012 11:02:34 PM