Teeth on the Cheap?

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alasta

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#917106 18-Oct-2013 16:35

langers1972:
jonb:

$2100 for 4 wisdom teeth? oh no..

+GST and that's for IV sedation not general so gawd knows what that'd be

About six years ago I had six teeth extracted including wisdom teeth, and needed a GA due to the position of the teeth and the fact that a cyst was complicating things. If I recall correctly the total cost was about $4500, consisting of $1500 for surgeon's fees, $500 for anaethetist's fees, and the remaining $2500 for hospital charges.

If you think that's bad it's going to cost me $8500 for the orthodontic treatment that I'm planning to do over the next couple of years!

How did you find the IV sedation? Was it good for the pain? Did it take long to get over it? I have a couple more impacted teeth that need to come out before the orthodontic treatment and I've been assured these ones are simple extractions so I will only need local anaesthetic, but I'll probably want IV sedation too just to make the whole process a bit more bearable.

naggyman

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#917109 18-Oct-2013 16:41

I had 4 teeth extracted before orthodonic treatment. I think it cost about $400, they offered to do two visits, I decided that I should only do one and get it over with. Getting extractions (or even visiting the dentist) is so much worse than orthodontic treatment. Everybody thinks that ortho work is that painful but in reality I prefer it over even going to the dentist for my adolescent checkup every year.

So currently on the tail end of ortho treatment, currently wearing a retainer 24/7 (but not for long now). The ortho treatment cost about $6.5k and they had payment plans so you paid it of $200 at a time.

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khull

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#917116 18-Oct-2013 16:54

I had mine done under insurance and paid nothing.

If you do not have health, contents, car and house insurance these days, you should really consider

friendlymonkey

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#917247 18-Oct-2013 23:58

Do shop around. I recently had 1 wisdom tooth extracted (a straight pull). One dentist quoted $300 another $140..

mattwnz

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#917250 19-Oct-2013 00:07

khull: I had mine done under insurance and paid nothing.

If you do not have health, contents, car and house insurance these days, you should really consider

ALthough you pay for it over time in the premiums, or they raise them, or teeth are excluded. You have to have a pretty good comprehensive one for teeth to be included.

I had oral sedation to remove 4 impacted wisdom teeth, and that method over a general was fine. But the next day is painful as, and it takes a few weeks for the pain to totally go. You don't feel anything, and you are pretty out of it during the OP. With a general, there are potential risks. I would get the advice of the surgeon.

bazzer

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#918898 20-Oct-2013 23:58

naggyman: When I got the panoramic xrays for my braces they found that I only had 3 wisdom teeth. Hopefully the braces means that the wisdom teeth don't encounter any problems later on in life.

I don't follow that logic. If anything, they will want to take them out at the first sign that they might undo any of the good work the braces have done.

Geektastic

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#918942 21-Oct-2013 09:17

I have a number of teeth that need removing. However I also have a number of pre-existing medical issues that mean it has to be done in hospital with access to things like cardiac emergency specialists, Intensive Care etc..

They quoted me $10-12,000!

Why on earth this is not part of the Health Service remit I cannot imagine - whilst cosmetic dentistry certainly is not health related in most cases, normal dentistry certainly is (especially for patients with things like heart conditions because teeth/gums are a primary entry route for bacterial endocarditis).

The cost of it here certainly must present a dilemma to many people which is going to result in some pretty poor oral health nationwide soon.

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Jaxson

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#918998 21-Oct-2013 10:22

Geektastic:

The cost of it here certainly must present a dilemma to many people which is going to result in some pretty poor oral health nationwide soon.

As I said right back at the start, this seems very likely to be a future national health issue. We have fairly good access to assistance for other health issues, (is that accurate?...), but dental seems incredibly out of reach for many people. Optometry could be a similar situation, but you can get an eye test for say $100 and then some cheap glasses for $199 or cheaper on line. Dentistry just seems like a completely unsubsidised world that does effect every New Zealander at some stage.

Kingy

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#919217 21-Oct-2013 14:27

My parents live in Aussie where dental work is probably worse than it is here. They make a yearly trip to Thailand for a holiday/dental check. They said that every dentist they have seen is either an American or American trained. The facilities are also some of the best they've seen. I'll be doing this if I ever get quoted >$1000 for work.

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