so I got my teeth cleaned today and was told I have 4 impacted wisdom teeth

[libnnc]

I guess they'll stay in my head 'cause there's no way I can pay to have them out

Thankfully they aren't a problem now. I hope I can keep them free from decay.

Who has wisdom teeth stories to share?

:popcorn:

[soleft]

1. I had mine removed at NYU Dental School

The professors supervised the students, who I think were really like residents. Didn't have a problem.

[libnnc]

8. The closest university with that kind of program

is UNC dental school in Chapel Hill. I'll probably go that route. I have a friend who had some bridge work done there and she seemed pleased with their work.

[Sebastian Doyle]

2. I hope you can get them taken care of before they start to hurt

I wasn't even aware I had wisdom teeth, because they came in like regular molars. Eventually though, they started to break up (these things were never meant to be used as actual teeth apparently, and aren't anywhere near as strong.)

Didn't have dental insurance at the time, so I dealt with the occasional toothaches. "Dealt with" isn't really accurate... more like "barely survived", because toothache pain has got to be some of the worst agony on earth.

After years of putting this off, I finally got a nasty abcess in one of these, which made it not only intensely painful, but actually life threatening as well. Found out something I had never known before, that there was actually an emergency dental clinic in town that would take care of things like that. Had I known that before, I could have spared myself some painful episodes, and possible liver or kidney damage from eating ibuprofen like candy.

Once I finally got them yanked, it cost me about $15 for the whole thing. Obviously well worth it. And the pain of the empty sockets was nothing compared to the toothaches, so I got to use most of the prescription pain pills "recreationally" later.

I don't know if such a resource is available in your community, but if it is, I'd really recommend it. You'll save yourself some serious pain down the road. :)

[marzipanni]

3. I should have had them all out at once.

I had one side, upper and lower pulled. Put off having the other side done so long that the forward pointing, impacted wisdom teeth pushed all my teeth and made them uneven after having braces to straighten them when I was a kid.
If you get them pulled, do all four and get 'em out of the way!

[MilesColtrane]

4. Start saving $$.

Wait long enough and you'll be begging and crying for someone to take them out.

[Maine-ah]

5. the first two on my left side I had taken out while fully awake

no problems, but I asked to look at them, I advise against that btw. The other two were kind of messed up so I was put out for those. The stitches on the bottom right were coming out on their own, so I just pulled them out. My hubbie almost passed out when he was watching me do it.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

6. My lower left one decided to grow sideways, and into the next molar.

Hilarity ensued. Not.

[libnnc]

9. the hygenist told me my molars looked fine...right now

but if any decay happens, I'll have to have the wisdom teeth out

hope I can keep it from happening

[MilesColtrane]

10. All four of mine were impacted like that.

Glad they put me out cold to extract them.

Had very good drugs for the recovery, but it still sucked.

[LeftyMom]

7. I had one that was starting to hurt out last year.

I should have done four at once, but the price was obscene.

I'm going to try to have the other three out now while I've got insurance. Actually, this post reminded me to call and schedule that. The dentist my insurance assigned me to can't see me until November (wtf?) and I need a referral for the oral surgeon (luckily, the insurance covered the guy who took the first one out- I like him) so I'm going to see if I can get around that or pay out of pocket at my family's dentist for a cleaning and the referral- I want to get this done ASAP while I'm still covered.

[LeftyMom]

14. Whew! My old referral will work. I go in for my initial consult at the end of this month

and should be wisdom tooth free sometime before election day.

[billyskank]

11. All four came out in their proper places, but one went bad in 2004

Had to have it extracted. I got off ridiculously lightly though - no pain whatsoever after the anaesthetic wore off.

[EstimatedProphet]

12. It would really suck to have more than 4

I had 1 a few years back, hat had gotten so bad it warped the tooth in front of it.

[Shell Beau]

13. As long as they don't get infected, you should be okay.

They may be a pain in the ass though. But if infection sets in, you can get yourself into lots of trouble!!!!

[pitohui]

15. most dentists take credit cards

removing wisdom teeth in the office isn't actually expensive, considering the cost of most dental procedures, in fact a family member just had one out and it ran about $300 all in (he too had no insurance) -- the cost of the drugs needed were purchased through the $4 "generics" program at walmart so the pain pills and antibiotics were super cheap too

i would just charge it and make the minimum monthly payments to visa or whoever, rather than having impacted (and painful) teeth rotting in my head, there's really no upside to that

[LeftyMom]

17. It's only that cheap if they can be done with a local.

With four impacted wisdom teeth she'll almost certainly need a general, and just to knock her out it'll be at least $500, probably more. Just the x ray will be $100 or more- they do a single scan of your whole jaw and it's pricey.

The lowest quote I got to take all four of my wisdom teeth out (2 partially impacted, 2 impacted) was $1800. The first office I went to was $4300. The partially impacted one that was causing pain I got out with a local for $350, but some of the others can only be done under a general because they're still pretty high up.

[Shell Beau]

18. I think mine was $300 a tooth or something like that.

But, I was able to pay in monthly installments and that really helped. That didn't count the X-ray either.

[LeftyMom]

20. I was able to get the one out because my Dad took care of it.

I was supposed to have medical dental, but my douchebag (now ex) boss couldn't be bothered to spend the whopping $150/mo that was going to be his share, even though it was in the ad for my job and in my interview I was told I'd be eligible after six weeks.

:grr:

[pitohui]

19. i had all 4 impacted wisdom teeth removed under a local

general anesthesia carries unnecessary risks--risks known by my oral surgeon even in the dark ages of the 1970s -- those risks are certainly better known now

who gets their wisdom teeth removed under general?

[LeftyMom]

21. No dentist or oral surgeon here will do it under a local- I called around and asked

It took a lot of digging to find somebody to do just the one with a local, and it was out in under a minute.

[Nikia]

28. I had my 4 impacted removed with local

It was sort of traumatic but given how much pain I was in starting about an hour afterwards, I don't know if having general would have made the total experience that much better.

[Connonym]

51. I had all 4 done with local

back in the mid 80s no clue what it cost as I was on my folks' insurance back then.

[libnnc]

24. I was told to have all 4 out it would run AT LEAST $1,600

She said they were impacted. NOT infected. No decay. I can wait.

I'd rather pay cash. I don't use credit cards.

[Nikia]

29. That's about what mine were 6 years ago

Luckily I had insurance and only had to pay $50 out of pocket. I am glad that I had them out before my employer switched insurance 2 months later because I would have had to pay 25% ($400).

[Shell Beau]

34. That is the thing. Impacted wisdom teeth get infected so easily.

Not sure why though. Good luck.

[libnnc]

35. well as soon as I scrape together the money I'll have them out

can't do much about it now

no pain...yet.

[Shell Beau]

36. You'll be all right. I waited a while before I did mine!

[libnnc]

37. it's weird I never noticed them really

then I started getting food stuck back on the right side of my jaw...

now that I think about it, that started when I was in my mid 20s.

that's what you get for not going to the dentist in a loooooong time :hide:

[Shell Beau]

38. Well going to the dentist does suck!

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

16. Make sure you make the extra effort to brush back there.

Got a cavity in one of mine and couldn't find a dentist for several days.

Worst pain of my life.

I finally got to the dentist and was so happy to get pain medicine I didn't mind the least when he pulled all for.

The last one came out with a piece of my skull with it. I laughed.

[pitohui]

22. impacted means it's ingrown where it can't be brushed properly

that's sort of what "impacted" means

brushing back there won't do much

mine were completely impacted (came in horizontally instead of vertically) which made for an interesting looking x-ray, at least one of them had to be sectioned into 4 pieces to be removed, but thankfully the details fade

it was not painful under local anesthesia

[libnnc]

25. no one will do it under local.

According to my hygienist

[Nikia]

30. Call around just to be sure

My impacted teeth were done under local in the dentist's office. I live in WI. I don't know if different parts of the country have different philosphy on that. You might want to check out other offices though. Your hygenist might say that no one will do it under local if that is the philosophy of the office that she works for.
I am suprised that having 4 out with general would only run you $1600. When I was put under for a different operation, the anaethesia and observation afterwards were probably more than that.

[libnnc]

32. she said "at least $1600"

they don't do surgery in their office--they would have to refer me to someone

so I imagine it will be more than that

[Runcible Spoon]

23. get them out before they abscess. you will be in a world of pain and it will be much more expensive

Leave them long enough and you can get a bone infection. No bueno. I had mine out 2 years ago, had to take out a special credit card offered by the dentist. It was called Care Credit; there was a deal where if you paid it off in less than a year, there would be no interest above a small monthly processing fee. Of course, if the payment was only ONE day late, the interest rate would kick in at 25% or so.

[NV Whino]

26. Capitol One has dental loans

If you pay it off within a year, it's interest free. Check it out. I'm paying for my front veneers that way. Ask your dentist or check it out online.

[Rabrrrrrr]

27. I lucked out with a large mouth - my wisdom teeth came in straight, and have room.

Whew!!

Sorry to hear about your impacted ones - that sucks. Really sucks.

Try a dental school - they often do teeth much more cheaply.

[Phentex]

50. I prefer to say I had extra space....

though I do have a nice-sized jaw for meat-eating...

I had extra space between the lower teeth so when the two wisdom teeth came in, they just came in like the other teeth and helped push the others to fill the extra space. I only have those two, and I have never had any problems with them (although the dentists would warn me about this for more than 20 years!).

[Nikia]

31. My mother had always told me her wisdom teeth horror story

According to her, it was worse than giving birth. I avoided having my wisdom teeth out until they started to hurt when I was 23. I decided that she must have been exaggerating and that even if she wasn't that technology had improved enough that it wouldn't be so bad. I haven't given birth yet (that happens in a couple months) but it was one of the worst medical experiences that I have had. The pain afterwards was probably worse than my kidney stone.
Despite this, you probably should have them out sooner than later. I was lucky because I was able to have them taken out less than a week after complaining about the pain. Others aren't so lucky.

[libnnc]

33. well I'll be 38 next week and I haven't had any pain yet

this was a routine cleaning and they looked at my xrays to determine the wisdom tooth situation. I'll start saving some money now and plan on having it done in the near future.

[greendog]

39. I had mine extracted two weeks ago.

I just turned 50. Two were abscessed and one other was pretty decayed. They just started to bother me in the last year so I decided to "get it done".

The surgical assistant got me ready and about two minutes before surgery the doctor came in, looked at the x-ray, took a peek in my mouth, looked at me and said "Procrastinate much?" :rofl:

He said most people have worse problems a lot earlier.

That's the last thing I heard before I woke up without my teeth. Took 35 minutes. Cost $1,100.00.

[Roon]

40. I had my wisdom teeth pulled at 16-years-old

The surgeon gave me an IV of demoral and Valium. I was knocked out and the only thing I remember was 3 crunches. I was born with only three wisdom teeth. CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH! I woke up and the nurse handed me a box of tissue because a lot of people weep after having been knocked out and having their teeth pulled. My step-father laughed because I wanted to sue the Dentist for putting me through such hell!! I survived though. The worst part was I tried eating peanut brittle a couple of weeks after the surgery and got messed up again.

[1]

41. the only thing i would worry about...

i was born with only three wisdom teeth. which is probably why i lack wisdom. two were removed, one was impacted and pointing toward the rest of my teeth.

i never got that one removed. it never got infected, but it did continue to grow sideways, slamming into the rest of my teeth and causing a shift in all of the others to the point that my lower front teeth got all crammed and crowded together. like a car wreck.

i wish that i had taken care of that 20 years ago before it was a problem. now it just hurts. and dude, when your teeth just hurt when you are old like me, it totally sucks.

i only had the one, but i would suggest removal.

good luck.

[libnnc]

42. Hopefully I'll be able to get it taken care of by the end of the year

That can be my gift to me for Christmas x(

[1]

43. you are wise...

and trust me, that could be the greatest christmas gift you could ever give yourself...

[PfcHammer]

44. Widsom teeth are a cottage industry up there with liposuction, gastric

bypass, boobies, noses, butts, and the such. If they could, they'd extract all 32 regardless, replace them, and then extract them all again. Brush, floss, and if they aren't bothering you, leave them be.

[1]

47. and you are just ignorant...

what part of "impacted" don't you get?

[VeggieTart]

45. Oh, man, that sucks

Mine were so badly impacted they were growing in sideways. I had to have them removed. Luckily, I was a teenager and on my parents' insurance when this happened. They sedated me with an IV drip in an oral surgeon's office (I think), and when I woke up, there was cotton wadding in my mouth behind my molars. By evening, I was feeling fine, but the next day, I had the worst cold of my life.

This was over 23 years ago and I STILL remember it. Sheesh.

You might want to ask your dentist about the risks of not having them removed and let him/her know about your financial situation.

[DeepBlueC]

46. If they are growing sideways, they will push all your teeth crooked.

I had mine out in college, at my parents' expense. I would have left them there but they were pushing into my back molars & crooked-ing up my teeth. REALLY couldn't afford braces, nor did I want them at age 20. I had two out in the office (torture) & two in the hospital under general anaesthesia. I recommend the latter. Or at least deep sedation in the office by a dental anaesthesiologist. Quick, marry someone with a dental plan. If already married, take appropriate steps.

[1]

48. "Quick, marry someone with a dental plan."

*raises hand*

i have a dental plan.

any du cuties have a wisdom tooth problem?

:rofl:

[libnnc]

49. Well if I can wait long enough for Obama to get elected

maybe he'll extend medical benefits to same-sex spouses of federal employees

my SO works for the FAA and has a dental plan. :silly:

[JCMach1]

52. Had the same thing- growing sideways

had them all out in grad school because they were giving me terrible migraines...

The pain after the oral surgery REALLY hurt. The drugs were nice though.

[moriah]

53. I was lucky, they got impacted and painful while I was still on my parent's dental plan.

Went to an oral surgeon, they were all cut out under the "twilight anesthesia" -- Demerol and Versed IV.

Was prescribed Mepergan, slept with the gauze in for 2 nights in a row, no dry sockets, wasn't a smoker then tho.

Then I got in the car and rode up to Pennsylvania to see my fiance's grandparents. With chipmunk cheeks and on Vicodin. Fun trip.