Wisdom teeth extraction for teen ds

[Anonymous]

How long does it take, how bad is recovery and how much did it cost you with pretty good dental insurance? I had mine removed ages ago and don't remember what it was like. His need to be removed as they are growing sideways.

[Anonymous]

This was a few years ago for us but it doesn’t take long (as in a couple hours all told). Mostly recovered in 2-3 days.

A lot of doctors don’t take insurance and our dental rejected a lot of the claim we filed because they said braces had already exceeded the lifetime limit or something.

[Anonymous]

Our DD had hers out this summer, all four impacted. She was home within two hours of when she left the house. Our oral surgeon only advised over the counter pain meds which actually seemed adequate but required pretty active management to stay on a schedule at least at first.

She was relatively functional within 24 hours, quite careful about what she ate for about three days, then just avoided particularly difficult foods like chips for a few weeks.

She plays a sport where she has to wear a mouth guard and was back at practice five or six days later. I was expecting it to take two weeks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our DD had hers out this summer, all four impacted. She was home within two hours of when she left the house. Our oral surgeon only advised over the counter pain meds which actually seemed adequate but required pretty active management to stay on a schedule at least at first.

She was relatively functional within 24 hours, quite careful about what she ate for about three days, then just avoided particularly difficult foods like chips for a few weeks.

She plays a sport where she has to wear a mouth guard and was back at practice five or six days later. I was expecting it to take two weeks.

+1

Same experience for DD this summer, just turned 16. She was done with braces and wisdom teeth growing in would have started pushing everything around so ortho advised getting them out as soon as practical. Other benefit to doing it early was her roots weren't fully formed yet so extraction was easier than it would have been had she waited a few more years. Still had some pain and swelling for a few days but manageable and not as much as I remember when I had mine out. I think she took the prescription Tylenol with codeine once and used the 800mg Advil for the first day but otherwise cycled regular Advil and Tylenol. Out of pocket cost was $800 after insurance (MetLife through FEDVIP).

[Anonymous]

We can't answer how bad it is. Mine got plucked out really easily. They were all above the gum line and straight. I was in the chair for a total of 26 minutes. Used ice on my jaw for an hour, took four hydrocodone over two days and then my gums ached for two weeks and other than I was fine. But that was a super easy extraction! Plus different people have different pain tolerances. It cost less than $300 with dental insurance.

[Anonymous]

DS a couple of years ago over spring break. He was referred to 2 oral surgeons, neither of which took insurance.

DS took Motrin for 2 days and was totally fine (we were not comfortable using the script for opioids; when asked about chance of gateway to dependency, pharmacists said kids can get dependent, even using a small amount of the meds appropriately).

Needed lots of gauze for his mouth day 1.

What I recall most was that he was very nauseous right afterwards in the recovery area when they brought me back. He could not talk, but signaled for my phone and let me know he felt like he was going to vomit (he did not, thankfully).

Although his dentist had given us a script for anti-nausea meds, I had the pills at home. If you get a script, perhaps bring 1 tablet to the surgery appt. just in case you need it.

He also had a script for mouth rinse. Tasted terrible, probably used it less than he should have.

[Anonymous]

Dd had hers out in late Aug. We have great insurance, and it still cost us $850 put of pocket. DD used the wrap-arpund-your-head ice packs (said they helped) and took Tylenol for 3-4 days (never took the strong stuff).

[Anonymous]

We do not have dental insurance but it was covered by our medical (fed bcbs). We paid $100. Both kids were ok by the second day. They took ibuprofen.

[Anonymous]

Mine had 4 removed and all impacted so more serious. It went smoothly. Procedure was maybe an hour including the time for prep and sedation. Healing was remarkably quick, but we followed every direction and he was compulsive with keeping it clean. He never needed opioids. Discomfort was minimal and only the first day.

We may have been lucky. Have heard horror stories with dry sockets. I would not do it during a stressful time. I would do it over a break where there is additional recovery time built in if needed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We do not have dental insurance but it was covered by our medical (fed bcbs). We paid $100. Both kids were ok by the second day. They took ibuprofen.

Fed bcbs did not cover it for us— don’t know if that depends or what.

[Anonymous]

I don’t remember, but I do know the doctor kept pushing the heavy meds until I finally said that was inappropriate for him to keep pushing. Had there been excessive pain I might have reconsidered and kept the pills completely under my control, but there was no need.

[Anonymous]

It really depends. My daughter had four impacted wisdom teeth. It was a complicated case but took a few hours and went well.

Her recovery was rough. I’d say 48 hours of constant pain management and then a week where she was unable to eat normally and was swollen.

[Anonymous]

If they’re sideways, or deeply rooted, the extraction is more involved and the holes will likely be larger, so the pain will be a bit worse.

Mine had one that was sideways, and 3 coming in actually fairly well, but already crowding all the lovely straight teeth the braces and expander and headgear had spent several expensive years fixing. She’d had new pain in her (now free from everything) teeth for about 4 months because the new wisdom teeth were squeezing them together.

The extraction pain was worse, and lingered longer, on the one side with the sideways tooth. The others were OK within a few days. Ice as directed is key, as is proper cleaning and disinfecting. And if you’re pretty sure it’s inevitable, do it before the roots get too deep. Don’t “wait and see”.

[Anonymous]

I think it’s wholly unnecessary

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our DD had hers out this summer, all four impacted. She was home within two hours of when she left the house. Our oral surgeon only advised over the counter pain meds which actually seemed adequate but required pretty active management to stay on a schedule at least at first.

She was relatively functional within 24 hours, quite careful about what she ate for about three days, then just avoided particularly difficult foods like chips for a few weeks.

This was similar to my kids’ experiences. Two had them removed on a Thursday and were back in school on Monday. One had it done over the summer but again, after 4 days was able to start her summer job.

We have pretty good insurance that we have had for many years. Our portion was about $400 each time. The total cost of the procedure exceeded the max benefit per year per person, but since they all had accumulated a healthy rollover amount, that rollover amount covered the rest. We just paid the coinsurance amount.