Best health insurance for wisdom teeth removal

unknown91 on 16/03/2021 - 15:54

Hi guys,
I need to get my 4 wisdom teeth removed. I a getting one removed in my dentist's chair this week.
The other 3 need to be removed at a hospital. My dentist does not recommend removing them under local.

I've read it costs ~$500 per wisdom tooth. I currently do not have any private health insurance.

Some questions I have:
- will medicare cover any costs when I get the 3 removed privately?
- Is it worth signing up to private health insurance, satisfying the waiting period and claiming the cost under private health insurance?

Thank you.

Health & Beauty Health Insurance Insurance

Comments

  • beeawwb on 16/03/2021 - 16:06

    You'd probably want to get an itemised quote to be sure but wisdom teeth extraction could fall under general dental / 2 month waiting period… and depending on the provider there's specials (e.g.) (edit: I see you're the top comment thread on that link as well) to waive the 2 and 6 month waiting periods.

    So potentially (but especially depending on the complexity of the work involved) you could sign up and claim for wisdom teeth straight away.

    Also, Medicare doesn't cover dental as far as I'm aware.

  • PissLUR on 16/03/2021 - 16:12
    +8

    waiting period is usually 12 months. not worth paying health insurance.

  • studentl0an on 16/03/2021 - 16:36

    With that price I'm assuming the expensive 3 are impacted (I don't think this is considered general dental) and you will want to be under general anesthetic for their removal, while 1 is an easy extraction and can be done at the practice with just local anesthetic (was less pain than a filling to get mine extracted).

    With droves of people leaving private health insurance I've heard of stories that people can get the waiting periods waved. Maybe call up a few insurers and ask them?

    It sucks about the 3 needing general, as you won't want to pay or go under general anesthetic twice and will have both sides of your mouth out of action and can't just chew on one side, but will need to rely on soft foods for a while.

    • unknown91 on 16/03/2021 - 22:02

      I will call up and see if I can get anything waived.

    • kingair on 17/03/2021 - 10:39

      May as well all 4 done at once?
      Everyone is different. I had to have my 4 done in hospital but never had any great discomfort, was eating about 6 hours later. Good luck, hope you sort out soon.

  • CheapandUsed on 16/03/2021 - 16:36
    +2

    Ask for some recommended places and then ask for itemised quotes. Highlight that you will be paying the gap between medicare, no private health insurance, this seems to get you less overinflated prices.

    You will likely find it will be less than 1yr of health insurance premiums, especially when you take into account plan limits on the types of procedures (i.e. Private health insurance may cover only 60% of costs up to a max of $###).

  • pharkurnell on 16/03/2021 - 16:38
    +2

    This week? Private health? 2-3 day Waiting period? Not asking much are you?

    Wait till they are removed and tell em you have no money /jk

  • avoidfullprice on 16/03/2021 - 16:40

    What's your age? Likely Medicare will not cover anything.

    There are two parts of the insurance that can help you with the cost:
    * Hospital - to deal with sedation or general anaesthetic part, theatre cost etc.
    * Dental - the cost you pay your dentist to extract. Likely to wait 12 months for payment.

    Both will not cover 100% of the cost.

    Get itemised cost from your dentist and suss out cost from a hospital.

    If you don't have the cash up front, discuss repayment plan with them.

  • Puglife on 16/03/2021 - 16:41
    +1

    When I was unemployed I had my wisdom teeth removed and it was free.I guess it depends on your income. That was 8 years ago so best to look into it.
    If you have a job you are likely to pay at least $2000 for a half day visit to the hospital. The anaesthetist (guy who puts you under) will walk away with about half the money.
    Yes, the dentist does all the work and the guy who gives anaesthetic gets half the coin. Clearly he picked the right profession!

    • iampoor on 16/03/2021 - 16:56
      +2

      The dentist does the dental work while the anesthetist puts you to sleep, keeps you asleep and hopefully wakes you up at the end. Happy for them to share the money!

    • DemocracyManifest on 16/03/2021 - 17:37

      Same. I got 2 out in the chair, got some endone for the ride home. Check what your local public dental situation is like and if you qualify, with covid though there’s probably a bit of a backlog

    • Godric on 16/03/2021 - 17:49
      +2

      It's fair enough they get half the coin though, their role is pretty delicate and important

    • unknown91 on 16/03/2021 - 22:03

      Who waived the fee for you and how was it waived?

  • dmbminaret on 16/03/2021 - 17:35

    I'm with westfund and have just had some dental done. I have had a policy for over 12 months, but the rebates have been pretty good. Not sure how it compares to others. Helps maybe if you go to their preferred dentists. At a guess on a $500 job, the gap might be $100.

    If you have a government issued health care card, you can get it done for free through public health (at least in QLD).

    Many dentists will offer afterpay. Do it one at a time and pay it off if this suits you. Alternatively, many also offer interest free finance periods if that's your thing (I'm not advising people to get into debt).

    Good luck. I hate teeth.

    • SnakeDoc on 16/03/2021 - 21:25

      1 at a time is a terrible idea. Better to get them all done at once and go on a payment plan.

      • dmbminaret on 16/03/2021 - 22:17

        1 at a time is a terrible idea. Better to get them all done at once and go on a payment plan.

        My bad. I forgot it was hospital. I was thinking normal chair visits.

    • unknown91 on 16/03/2021 - 22:04

      I can pay to get it done all at once (dont want to do it multiple times). Just wanted to check the most cost effective way of doing it.

    • jv on 16/03/2021 - 22:06

      If you have a government issued health care card, you can get it done for free through public health (at least in QLD).

      In VIC, the waiting list for dental work is around 3 years…

      • dmbminaret on 16/03/2021 - 22:15
        +2

        In VIC, the waiting list for dental work is around 3 years…

        In VIC, the waiting list to leave your house is around 3 years…

        • jv on 16/03/2021 - 22:16
          +2

          that's fortunate then that they align…

  • bargain huntress on 16/03/2021 - 23:29
    +1

    Medibank ultra gold whatever it's called since gold silver bronze change will pay thousands
    Waiting period will be a year unless you can get it shortened

    But

    Are you sure you need to do it? Maybe consider a second opinion

    I've heard all kinds of conflicting opinion about its general necessity. Even people going so far as suggesting it's a bit of a money making over-treating conspiracy.

    As for me ive been told mine need to come out and I've been told they don't - all conflicting opinions from qualified dentists and surgeons
    Who do I believe?
    And yes they are impacted and possibly growing into sinuses and would need general
    So if it's so necessary why can't they agree?
    I've been ignoring mine for a good couple of decades now and it's the least of my many health worries
    Doesn't mean it will always be though

    Nor that it would definitly be for you
    Surgeon who wants them out scared me with tales of broken jaws and other calamities from not doing it

    • studentl0an on 17/03/2021 - 08:54

      Are yours impacted? Generally with impacted wisdom teeth it is better to get them out sooner rather than later to save having to extract them from infected jawbone.

      Mine were/are not impacted and while my dentist wanted them out many years ago, I only got 2 out when they needed to be and still have my bottom 2 wisdom teeth.

      • bargain huntress on 17/03/2021 - 14:03

        yes
        one is erupted but still counts i guess?
        two are straight but cant get out and maybe in sinuses
        one is sideways

        i continue to ignore them

        Mine were/are not impacted and while my dentist wanted them out many years ago, I only got 2 out when they needed to be and still have my bottom 2 wisdom teeth.

        see but why do they need to come out? your fine right? they're not even impacted. what is this bs?

        • studentl0an on 17/03/2021 - 14:09
          +2

          I think with the ones that have a high chance of issues later are best removed as soon as you can afford it, as it may possibly save you a lot of grief and money if you need emergency dental surgery.

          I've required an emergency root canal after leaving one tooth in pain too long so that one morning I woke up with an abscess covering half my face.

          It's really not fun requiring emergency dental surgery, it really isn't. I would have paid extra money to save the experience of needing pus vaccumed out of my face through my jaw.

          • bargain huntress on 17/03/2021 - 14:13

            @studentl0an: ok im shivering

            i just have so many other things going on with my health

            last time i saw the surgeon she didnt want to do it at that time anymore because of everything else

            i also i guess disagree idealogically with the concept of preventative surgery

            • studentl0an on 17/03/2021 - 14:25
              +1

              @bargain huntress: Sorry about that, I think in my case it really was a worst case scenario as I cracked a tooth that was already decaying. I was a poor student at the time so I just kept munching on pain pills for 2 weeks hoping the pain would miraculously go away. It did not.

              I also disagree with the concept of preventative surgery unless there's a good reason for it. I still have 2 of my wisdom teeth that my dentist wanted to get out but said was not really necessary. The 2 that I have removed were due to them decaying and the cost of fillings was more than extraction so the time was right.

              If your dentist didn't want to do it at the time and you're not in pain then I would think you have quite a while before any issues.

              • bargain huntress on 17/03/2021 - 18:08

                @studentl0an: thanks lets hope so

                how are your teeth nowadays?

                • studentl0an on 17/03/2021 - 18:29
                  +1

                  @bargain huntress: Had some issues over couple of years a while back back due to diet and xerostomia. They look great but the ones far back would have decay after decay and required many fillings. Some of my molars are more fillings than they are tooth. This time last year I thought I'd have dentures by now, so I made some lifestyle changes to really tackle the issues at the cause.

                  After quitting smoking, switching to a high fluoride toothpaste for the morning brush and chewing recaldent gum 3x a day I haven't had an issue in close to 6 months. They were always white despite smoking, but now they are bright white and not translucent at all which they were looking slightly early last year.

                  I think the biggest thing was quitting smoking.

  • Bargain80 on 17/03/2021 - 08:41

    You can try the dental payment plan (I can't remember the name).

    • studentl0an on 17/03/2021 - 08:50

      smile.com.au?

      I just had a look at their site and it looks like they only cover simple extraction of wisdom teeth, not impacted wisdom teeth.

      • Bargain80 on 17/03/2021 - 09:07

        I didn't know about smile.com.au but that looks interesting.
        I was thinking about denticarepaymentplans.com.au

  • fenikkusu on 17/03/2021 - 10:50

    I had mine out last July, in the chair. As for the others, my dentist said to keep an eye on it because one of them is growing sideways but has not erupted. I have a friend who’s kept all four and there’s no issues. Agree with comments about whether or not you need them removed. If you don’t need private health insurance and your teeth don’t bother you, you’re probably better off going on a waitlist at a public hospital.

    • unknown91 on 17/03/2021 - 23:32

      How do you get on the public waitlist?

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