I only skimmed through most of the replies, so I apologize if this was already mentioned: I don’t know what insurance plan you’ll have in January, but most, if not all insurance plans have a pre-existing condition clause. If you go in the day your dental insurance kicks in at 100%, the insurance company can bounce back the claim as a pre-existing condition. Check with the insurance company about this. My advice? Go now. If your teeth are falling apart now, you’re going to be really sorry in January.
I just went through this and I hope you don’t delay treatment. I have the same situation, where the wisdom teeth are crowded and create a pocket, along with being too close to the next tooth so you just can’t clean them adequately, even with floss. I ended up having the wisdom tooth removed (dentists don’t usually recommend a root canal in a wisdom tooth). I have no dental insurance right now, either, and was afraid of the cost. But ya know what? I had an x-ray done and an extraction at an oral surgeon’s and it cost me $175. That’s it for everything except the penicillin and pain reliever I needed cause I had let it go long enough that I had developed a gum and bone infection. And the penicillin was only $9 or something. I was a little sore after for a day or tow, but it wasn’t excruciating by any means. Mostly it hurt where they’d put the novacaine in. The procedure itself was very quick and painless.
I really tried the ignoreitanditwillgoaway approach to dental medicine and unfortunately it really, really didn’t work. If you don’t find someone near you, email me, cause the office I went to was really good and they aren’t that far from you. Up until last Thursday, I was really feeling your pain. Hope you feel better soon!
Yep, the ignoreitanditwillgoaway idea didn’t work very well for me, but as of yesterday I have what I think is a cool-looking metallic molar. If I could go back and kick myself and get myself to a dentist back when all I’d have needed was a filling…sigh.
It wasn’t too bad after all. The general anesthesia was pricey (compared to what some of you are saying for the local), but it was very well done. I don’t remember a thing, and they told me my roots were exceptionally gnarled and difficult. That is why they wanted to do general to begin with (well, so they say – it might have been for the money, what do I know?). It is pretty achy now, 48 hours later, but honestly not much worse than the tooth pain I had been having. Good luck to everyone who is going in for the procedure in the near future.
Sam I Am, thanks for the kellymom link. It just goes to show you how braindead tooth pain was making me. Duh! Why didn’t I think of that? Actually, I got crappy advice all around the board on breastfeeding and meds in general, with the exception of a licensed Lactation Consultant, and a woman from La Leche League who actually mailed me copies from the Hale bible on Medications and Mother’s Milk for free.
Salem, long time no see! I wish I’d got your dentist reference before I had the procedure done, but oh well. It’s done and that’s a relief. Drop me an email some time; I think it’s going to be a long winter!
I think this is going to be my new philosophy on dentistry. I hope your new metallic molar matches your wardrobe. Do you look like this?
Nope…it’s not even visible unless I yank the side of my mouth around, since it’s the back top molar on the right. But it’s all silvery (he said it’s a high gold alloy…something like white gold, maybe?) and cool.
Now if the dang thing would just stop ACHING. It’s getting better, slowly, but I’m getting really sick of this tooth bugging me. Which is another reason for going in sooner rather than later; it never gave me so much as a twinge until I started getting it fixed. Thank Og for ibuprofen.
I’m glad your visit went well. I know I’ve learned my lesson!
