How I Managed My Cost of Wisdom Tooth Removal

Several months ago I wrote an article about how to get medical care if you’re uninsured. I happen to be one of those uninsured people, so I’m going to share my experience with you from this past week when I needed medical/dental attention.

When you don’t have health insurance you float between two worlds. The first world is one of worry and stress and fear that some health calamity could happen. The other is a pretty stress-free world, especially if you are taking care of yourself and doing everything you can to maintain your health.

I tend to live the last world because I have done all I can to maintain my health in various ways. I also do my best to make sure that my children’s health is maintained through healthy eating, exercise, and drinking plenty of water. It doesn’t always work out that way, but I do my best and so far we have had no major health issues.

It all started I began having pains from my wisdom tooth that was both annoying and uncomfortable. Then it escalated to just be downright painful, so I knew I had to do something. The first thing I did was call/email several dental offices to find out what the going rate was for wisdom tooth extraction. This is was relatively painless process, because I have several ways of narrowing down my choices, especially when so many dentist are available.

The Search

The first place I searched was Angie’s List, which is an online referral service that I recently signed up for membership (under discount of course). I looked through all the listings and reviews for local dentist in my area. Then I decided to call a few that were closest to me and seemed like a good fit for me.

The first place I called had pretty reasonable rates, but still was a bit of sticker shock. It had been a long time since I’ve had dental work done and the last dental work I had was under my insurance, so I didn’t have to pay the full price. But I knew I’d be paying full price this time so I needed to get the best price for the best work.

The lady I spoke to in the first I made assured me that I will be calling her back because all the other dental practices prices were very high. I told her that I would see and give her a call back if she proved right. I called a couple more places and it was as the first lady said; the prices were quite a bit above what she quoted me. So I ended up calling back and made an appointment for consultation and for x-rays. It’s had been a very long time since I had e-rays done and it was a requirement in order to get an accurate idea of what my teeth looked like.

In Talks About My Needs and Financial

The dentist and I discussed the x-rays and plan to fix my wisdom tooth problem. Of course he asked the standard “do you have health insurance” question. I told him I did not, but that I’d be paying cash for the procedure. The dentist and I both agreed that we that he would need to remove my wisdom tooth. He thought it would be a pretty straightforward process. He mentioned general anesthesia, as well as removing the bottom wisdom tooth. I told him that I would prefer local anesthesia. I explained I had wisdom teeth on the other side of my mouth taken out under local anesthesia, and I did not have any problems or issues all those years ago.

He and the dental assistant were both a bit shocked by the looks on their faces. I told him that would try the local anesthesia, but I agreed to do the general anesthesia in case something went wrong.

I went to the billing desk to find out what the cost would be for the entire procedure with the general anesthesia. The total fee came up to about $830. Now this would all come out of my pocket so I had to do some fast thinking and really take a look at my current finances to figure out if this is something that I could afford. I explained that I would just have one tooth taken out, which would cost me $250 and use local anesthesia, which was included in the cost. I also let them know that I will decide if I want to second wisdom tooth the day of my appointment. This would bring my total to $500.

The Beauty and Blessing of an Emergency Fund

You may be wondering where was she going to get all this money from but I have been following my own advice and saving away some money for a rainy day. This is what I considered an emergency, so I’d use that money for the procedure to alleviate the pain once and for all.

On the day of my procedure I decided, after much thought and consideration, to have both wisdom teeth taken out under local anesthesia. I did this because I do not want to have to revisit the dentist about this problem. Just wanted to get it over in one fell swoop.

The dentist thought it was going to be pretty easy case, but as he got into the procedure he found that my wisdom tooth was a lot stronger than he thought. It took some time and effort to get it out. I won’t go into all the gory details, but needless to say I needed to go under general anesthesia because the pain I was feeling was not pleasant, and I could not handle it.

Being Clear About My Limitations

Before I went under anesthesia I told the dentist that I only wanted have the top tooth taken out because, for financial reasons, I could not afford both teeth plus the general anesthesia. He said okay and proceeded. When I was finally coherent enough to know what happened about an hour or so later, I learned that the dentist went ahead and took out my bottom wisdom tooth as well. But I had a pleasant surprise of knowing that he did not charge me for that to so I only end up paying for the top tooth and the general anesthesia, which came to $570.

I won’t go into all the reasons why this happened, but let’s just say that this dentist was very generous with his services. I believe he was partly because I was very clear in the beginning about what I could afford. I am now recovering from my oral surgery, and I’m thankful that I did have the money in my emergency fund to take care of these charges and to finally be pain free.

Total cost for the to do the wisdom extraction $570. Total cost for a future pain free mouth. Priceless.