Having wisdom teeth extracted means the patient has to take time from school or work for the surgery. Several factors can affect the final cost of surgery. One factor affecting cost is whether one or more wisdom teeth is impacted. The patient or his family also needs to find out if the insurance company will cover the cost or not. If not, the family needs to find a way of paying for the fees.
Paying for wisdom teeth removal
Features
Ready for surgery?
If you need wisdom teeth removed, you are looking at a dental surgery that will take you out of action for several days. Because you will be likely be sedated under general anesthesia, you will have to take time from school or work for the surgery and for a significant post-surgical recovery time.
Most wisdom tooth extractions are done in the oral surgeon's office with the dentist and his staff working on the patient. Some oral surgeons will charge one price for all four wisdom teeth to be extracted at the same time, although this is not a practice all oral surgeons follow, according to BracesReview.com.
Average Costs
Extracted tooth
As of 2008, a typical oral surgeon's office charged an average of $400 to $500 per tooth for extraction surgery, according to BracesReview.com. This does not include the cost of general anesthesia, which runs from $300 to $500 at a minimum. On average, the patient's family can expect to spend more than $2,000 for wisdom tooth extraction surgery, according to BracesReview.com.
Considerations
Oral surgeons set their wisdom tooth extraction fees depending on whether the removal is a complete (non-impacted) removal or if the wisdom tooth was impacted in the patient's jaw, according to MyDentalHealth.net. If the tooth is not impacted and comes out fully during surgery, the cost is about $100 per tooth. If one or more of the teeth are impacted, the cost per tooth will rise to more than $250 to $350 for an oral surgeon; if a general dentist removes the impacted wisdom teeth, the cost will be more within the $250 to $350 range.
Another estimate from animated-teeth.com puts the cost of extracting an impacted wisdom tooth at $350 to $650 (bony impacted removal). If the oral surgeon finds he is working with a soft tissue impaction, the cost per tooth will range from $175 to $330.
History of Costs
The cost of extracting a non-impacted wisdom tooth in 2009 could range from $100 to $330 per tooth. The cost of removing a wisdom tooth in 1991 ranged from $70 to $175 per tooth.
Insurance Coverage
Some insurance companies will not cover the costs of wisdom teeth removal and others will cover part or all of the cost. If your insurance doesn't cover it, or if you don't have insurance, you may be able to negotiate a price for the surgery that will work for your budget, according to BracesReview.com.
Tags: average, cost, wisdom, teeth, removal, wisdom teeth, wisdom tooth, according BracesReview, oral surgeon, tooth extraction, will cover, according BracesReview Average
