I often try to get all of the unpleasant medical visits completed at the beginning of the year, so that I am free to disengage from responsible-adult mode in that respect for the rest of the year. And thus, I will be calling this week to schedule my physical.
Open enrollment this year brings me a new challenge... besides being me who handles OE for all of my company's employees (hello, 470 employee forms due on Thursday!), it reminds me the debate about my dental insurance. I was told on my last dental appointment (and first in 8 years) that I needed to get my 2 bottom wisdom teeth pulled. I don't have the top ones, oddly enough. Not only is this cost prohibitively, but it also means I have to either go unpaid while I recover, or take vacation time, or a combination, since my full time employer does not provide sick leave or paid time off besides vacation.
This means an additional $13 taken out of every check (ok, that doesn't sound TOO bad, but it sucks regardless because it will come out of my food budget), plus saving for the actual operation and the aftermath. All the documents I've read seem to indicate I'm looking at $150-$500 per tooth, with insurance. The dentist who would do the work can't tell me without an evaluation visit.
I've opted to get this taken care of this year and signed up for dental. Despite going to visit a certain someone earlier this year, right after her son had undergone the same surgery and looked no better for the wear. I am envious of everybody else who had their wisdom teeth pulled when they were much younger.
Aww....poor Tanner. Just feel happy you don't have any top Wisdom teeth or your costs would be double what you are going to have to spend. lol
ReplyDeleteAnd unless you have some complication, you should only have to miss a day or two of week so schedule it for a Friday and it gives you 3 days to recover and you only miss 1 day off of work.
Your dental will prolly cover most of the cost for the extraction, but it's the anesthesia that a lot of plans don't cover and unless your reg. medical will cover that piece of it, the happy drugs will end up being the bulk of your OOP costs.
I've never had mine out either and keep crossing my fingers they don't start descending now at my advanced age!lol
Haha. I swear I had top wisdom teeth... these doctors are playing with me, I swear. First, I lost 3 inches of height, now I lost two wisdom teeth... I am afraid to wonder what's next.
DeleteAs long as you don't lose your mind, it's all good....lol
DeleteI had to have mine out when I was 25 and it was quite the ordeal. From my experience I learned (too late of course) that you need to apply ice externally immediately to keep the swelling down. My head was the shape, size and colour of a pumpkin for a week, but i think the surgeon was a quack! I'm hoping your experience will be much less traumatic than mine!
ReplyDeleteEep! Thanks for telling me the other side of the stories! I will have to research my would-be surgeons, since my dentist can't do the extraction himself.
DeleteIt's that time of year. We have a dentist appointment today (youngest son), a rheumatologist appointment tomorrow (me), a dentist appointment next week (me), and another dentist appointment the first week back from holidays (oldest). PHew!
ReplyDeleteHaha. Guess I do it at the beginning, you guys take care of it at the end. It works either way, as long as they get done.
DeleteI was 25 when I had mine taken out because I got married and my husband had dental insurance. I agree with Sluggy. Get it done on Friday and you will be back to work by Monday. I had mine out on Friday and went to the bar on Saturday night. The hardest thing was not smoking for me. At least you won't have that problem.
ReplyDeleteWow, that's lightning fast recovery!
DeleteThat's my suggestion too - have it done Friday and you'll feel well by Monday. The first 2 days are the worst.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking the Thu before Good Friday, since that's one of the few paid holidays we get at work.
DeleteWisdom teeth: Are you experiencing pain? Any gum problems since the top ones are not there? If not, there isn't any real reason why they need to be pulled.
ReplyDeleteIt also depends on whether or not they are impacted as to how much of a pain it really is. I missed one day of work. I wasn't 100% the next day, but it wasn't bad. A good oral surgeon knows how to do it with minimal pain.
I know it's a pain in the butt, and expensive. But make sure it's necessary, or put it off until you can save the money.
Peace <3
Jay
They're impacted and laying horizontally. My dentist suggested taking them off within the next year, because he's concerned of cavities breaking the tooth next to it. There's small pains, but sporadically. He thinks it may be related. I'm glad to hear it's not a whole week of pain and suffering, though!
DeleteMy daughter had hers out at 20 and did pretty well with recovery. My son is having them out over Christmas break and I am not looking forward to it...he hates dentists and is a baby when it comes to fillings so this will not be pretty
ReplyDeleteI agree though go for a friday/monday deal so that you have recovery time!
While there are some who are lucky enough to have enough space for their jaw to fit additional sets of molars, nowadays, it's more common that people need to have their wisdom tooth removed. And, depending on the state of your teeth and jaw, the procedure can be as minimal as pulling out a regular teeth.
ReplyDeletePearl @ Summerbrook Dental Group
I had mine removed in my teens but my husband hasn't had his removed. It really pisses me off his parents couldn't pay for that when he was younger bc i felt/feel like it was just an added financial obligation they shoved on me.
ReplyDeleteSadly, bc of his new job, I don't think we'll get it done next year either since he can't really take any time off. The dentist said he had to get it done, because they would keep crowding his teeth if he didn't but so far, so good...so what's one more year right?
That doesn't sound so bad. Actually a lot of people deal with this type of stuff all the time. But you will figure it out. I am lucky that I got mine taken out when I was younger in lethbridge by a dental doctor that new my family well.
ReplyDeleteA couple of months passed already, and I hope you now have the budget you need for the extraction. You can also look for a dentist who can give you financing options for your treatment, Tanner. How are you now? :)
ReplyDeleteCalandra Novak
I totally feel you, Tanner. It's really hard to try to juggle your finances and have dental problems come along. Some companies just really don’t give us enough dental benefits and consideration. I hope you were able to resolve this and had those wisdom teeth pulled out.
ReplyDeleteNishan Halim